Best of the Genea-Blogs - January 20-26, 2008

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week.My criteria are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy, address current genealogy issues, are funny or are poignant.

I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or my own posts (hopefully, others will do that!).

* "Essence of New Mown Hay" by Lee Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee's comments struck me as funny at first (the thongs, you know) ... but then as very true. I need to review the account books, letters and journals and see if I can come up with some idioms of my ancestors.

* "These Ten Things: Ten Things That Every Man Worth His Salt Should Know How to Do" by Thomas MacEntee on the Destination: Austin Family blog. Besides having one of the longest blog titles ever, this intriguing list is splendid, I think. I don't cook much...

* "Reflections on GPS" by Sharon on the Family History Research:Methods and Writing on Genealogy blog. Sharon discusses the Genealogical Proof Standard, along with the earlier Preponderance of Evidence standard. I think she makes excellent points! I can't wait for succeeding posts to explain GPS in more detail.

* "The Big Bang Already Exploded" by Denise Olson on the Family Matters blog. Denise discusses her views on Jim Beidler's article about declining genealogy society membership, and has totally different views from Mr. Beidler!

* "What If ..." by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. Jasia discusses the Jim Beidler article about declining membership in genealogy societies, discusses her own ambivalence about renewing, and makes suggestions for genealogy societies to improve their renewal rates. All good - and the comments are too.

* "Tips: Surnames" by Ben Nettesheim on the Ancestry.com blog. Ben provides useful tips for getting those pesky little prefixes into the surname in FamilyTreeMaker 2008. They apply to most other programs too.

* "Qualities of a Good Genealogist" by Brenda Joyce Jerome on the Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog. Brenda lists four interesting qualities and I agree with all of them, especially the humor part!

* "10 Top Web Sites for African-American Genealogy" by Kimberly Powell on the About:Genealogy blog. This is a great list of resources, especially for those of us without much experience but some interest in this topic.

* "Research Toolbox: Lulu Publishing Service" by Denise Olson on the Family Matters blog. Denise is going through her technical toolbox to help all of us understand what sites and services are available to us - this week it was the Lulu publishing service, which I hope to use at some time.

* "Winter on Tug Hill" by Apple on the Apple's Tree blog. I had not heard of Tug Hill before - but it is the exact area that I'm studying presently, so Apple's dissertation on geography, weather and settlements is much appreciated!

* "Give It Your All" by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE Blog. Pat provides wonderful advice for readers who want to be "real genealogists" - she tells it like it should be.

* "America Letter" by Chery Kinnick on the Nordic Blue blog. Chery provides a fascinating transcribed letter from Norwegian immigrants to Wisconsin to the folks back in Norway, dated from the 1850's. My wife's has immigrants in this time and place.

* "The Bad Side" by Drew Smith on the Rootsmithing: Genealogy, Methodology and Technology blog. I linked to Drew's neat desk picture last week - here's the picture of the other side of the room! Looks familiar to me! Compared to my piles, it looks manageable!

I want to welcome Lisa Alzo back into the land of regular bloggers - she has started the Gen365 blog to talk about her genealogy activities every day of 2008.

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

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!