Best of the Genea-Blogs - May 2-8, 2010

Hundreds of genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

* Wrap-Up Report from the NGS Conference in Salt Lake City by Dick Eastman on Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter blog. An excellent summary of the NGS Conference highlights with good photos of important events. Check out Dick's presentation online at http://www.eogn.com/handouts/backups too. Is this the future of presentation software?

* Miss Conduct by Footnote Maven on the footnoteMaven blog. The recently proposed Genea-Bloggers Code of Conduct is discussed by fM. I agree with her - we don't need one...

* A Contrary Code of Conduct by Chris Dunham on The Genealogue blog. Chris proposes an alternative genea-bloggers code of conduct - how many of these do you already follow?

* My Mom went to NGS ’10 & all I got was a 15-Generation Pedigree Chart by Elizabeth on the Genealogy Geek blog. Elizabeth learned a few things at the NGS Conference and talks about them - and brought home some charts for her kids too!

* How I spent my Genealogy Vacation by Donna Pointkouski on the What's Past is Prologue blog. Donna talks about her NGS Conference experiences - more learning, the FHL and lots of fun!

* A Celebration of Family History by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. An excellent summary of the NGS Conference highlight, with links to the videos and performances (except for the podium speakers).

* Maps: Learning about your community by Schelly Talalay Dardashti on the MyHeritage Genealogy Blog. Schelly delves into the Sanborn Map collections that are available, for a fee, for many U.S. cities. However, many of them are available, in full scale, at local historical societies.

* Seven Great Lessons from Who Do You Think You Are? by Jeanie Croasmun on the Ancestry.com Blog. Jeanie lists one lesson learned from each of the WDYTYA? episodes. Are those your lessons learned also?

* Carnival of Genealogy, 93rd Edition by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. The topic for this carnival was a "How-To Series." There were 13 submissions, and Susan A. Kitchens entry on Family Oral History Using Digital Tools From Digital Audio Recording to Audio CD: Part 1 - Audio into Audacity posted at Family Oral History Using Digital Tools [News] was the Featured Article.

* Graphics in Genealogy Programs -- a review by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James reviews how several genealogy software programs handle images - very helpful discussion!

* The Online Time Machine: Seeing How Genealogy Sites Looked in the Olden Days and The Online Time Machine, Part 2 by Robert on the MyHeritage Blog. These posts show examples of several genealogy blogs from the past and how to find them on the Wayback Machine.

* Why Can’t You Get It Right? by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI laments that Ancestry.com and FamilySearch don't do evidence and source management the way it should be done, but they are getting there. He has some good advice...

* A Genealogist in Mathmagic Land by Daniel Hubbard on the Personal Past Meditations - A Genealogical Blog. Daniel addresses the mathematics behind pedigree collapse and how it contributed to world history.

* Songs and Stories Keep the Past Alive: A Reflection on Kids' Camp at NGS by Jean Hibben on the Circlemending blog. There was a daylong Kids Camp at the NGS Conference, and Jean provides her observations.

* Copyright and Collaborative Family Trees by Thomas MacEntee on the Geneabloggers blog. Thomas summarizes some of the problems and actions that can be taken to minimize copyright problems.

* Follow Friday: Into the Light by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog. Greta provides her weekly list of good genealogy reads.

* Weekly Genealogy Picks by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John highlights his favorites from genealogy blogs, newspaper articles and elsewhere.

I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 630 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.