Sunday, August 28, 2011

Best of the Genealogy Blogs - Week of 21-27 August 2011

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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:


* Google News Archive and Footnote.com: A Strange Week or Sign of Things to Come? by Megan Smolenyak on her Huffington Post blog. Megan comments on Geni.com, the Footnote name change, and the Google News Archive access change.

Genealogy Highlight of the Week by Susan LeBlanc on the Gopher Genealogy blog.  Susan meets a cousin and shares her family history with her. 

My Genealogy "Job Description" by the writer of the Nuts from the Family Tree blog.  Since her mom has done the genealogy, she is checking it for accuracy and completeness.  Good job description.  We all should have one.

My Thoughts after Teaching at BYU Education Week by the writer of the Memoir Mentor blog.  Here is a teacher's perspective on writing life histories.

Tracking the Tract by Michael John Neill on the Rootdig.com blog.  Michael describes how he follows land transactions in the records. 

Insider Ketchup for 23 August 2011 by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  Mr. AI summarizes the recent news as it pertains to Ancestry and FamilySearch in his own inimitable way.

In Which We Debate The Value of Great Big Trees Online by guest author Chris Whitten on Kerry Scott's Clue Wagon blog.  Chris makes the case well, and sells WikiTree as a collaborative interlinked online tree site in the process.

Sears Catalogue of Genealogists  by Genea Pop-Pop on the Stardust 'n' Roots blog.  Bart classifies genealogists into nine categories.  A brilliant and witty post.  Hmm, what am I?

Free Databases Found at fold3.com by Leland Meitzler on the Genealogy Blog.  Leland helpfully created a list of the free databases at fold3.com (formerly Footnote.com). 

A New FamilySearch Database Causes Me Genealogical Grief and Questioning by Chris Staats on the Staats Place blog.  Chris has mixed emotions about looking at an online database.  Understandable.

IntelliShare: An Alternative to Great Big Trees Online by JL on the JLog blog.  JL describes a feature in Legacy Family Tree that can synchronize shared Legacy trees.

*  Land Terms Greek No More and Looking at a Deed by Susan Farrell Bankhead on Susan's Genealogy Blog.  Here is an excellent, concise list of terms used in land records. 

Analyzing Brick Walls -- a genealogical myth or reality?  by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James discusses terminology here - are brick walls something you can overcome?  What are the ones you cannot overcome called?

*  Q&A Recap with Geni CEO Noah Tutak by Thomas MacEntee on the Geneabloggers blog.  Thomas provides Noah's answers to Thomas's questions during the radio show.

When Did They Die? by Valerie Craft on the Begin with Craft blog.  Valerie provides a great list of resources to find a death date when there is no vital record.

Evidence by Judy Wilkenfeld on the Provenance blog.  Wow.  Powerful.  Now they know.

These Ancestors Cannot Be Displayed  by Michael John Neill on the Rootdig.com blog.  This is the funniest genea-blog post of the week, I think.

The New England Geneablogger Bash by Heather Wilkinson Rojo on the Nutfield Genealogy blog.  Heather hosted this even on the eve of Hurricane Irene and shares some pictures of geneabloggers.

Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:

* Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.

Links, 8.22.11 by Liz Haigney Lynch on The Ancestral Archaeologist blog.

Monday's Link Roundup by Dan Curtis on the Dan Curits ~ Professional Person Historian blog.

Ruth's Recommendations by Ruth Blair on The Passionate Genealogist blog.

Genealogy Round Up, August 25 by Megan Smolenyak on the Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak Roots World blog.

Follow Friday: This Week’s Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing the Family Tree blog.

Follow Friday Gems - 08-26-11 by Deb Ruth on the Adventures in Genealogy blog.

Genealogy News Corral, August 22-26 by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog
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Best Bytes for week of August 26, 2011 by Elizabeth O'Neal on the Little Bytes of Life blog.

Week In Review by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.

I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Google Reader, RSS 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 1030 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

4 comments:

Heather Wilkinson Rojo said...

Thanks for mentioning our pre-Hurricane party, Randy! I just got my power back, no immediate damage in our neighborhood that I can see. Everyone got home safe last night from the party, and even the Worthingtons are safe in New Jersey. We are waiting to hear how Shari Strahan and Sara Campbell made out this afternoon in Western Massachusetts, which was hit harder than our area.

gophergenealogy said...

When I looked at my stats tonight I knew something was up. Thank you Randy for including my blog genealogy gopher in your best of the week. I find these types of family meetings, whether my own or my clients, always prove to be very emotional moments.

Geolover said...

Thank you for pointing to Judy Wilkenfeld's blog post. It is an awesome piece of writing, and her piecing together the story is a wonder.

Kerry Scott said...

Thank you for the mention!