Local historical society blogs are gems

Have you checked for blogs written by staff at the city and county historical societies in ancestral localities? You might find one for a place where you lived as a child. These cover a variety of topics including photos of people and places, overviews of research collections, local historical events, biographical notes on local families, historical sites, history of area buildings, cemeteries, churches, and  local disasters.

• Edina, Minnesota:  http://www.edinahistoricalsociety.org/blog.html
• Altadena, California:  http://www.altadenahistoricalsociety.org/about.htm
• Geneva, New York:  http://genevahistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/
• Brown County, Indiana:  http://www.browncountyhistorycenter.org/historical-society-blog.html
• Whatcom County, Washington:  http://whatcomhistory.wordpress.com/
• Yellow Springs, Ohio:  http://whatcomhistory.wordpress.com/

Citing a Tweet

The Modern Language Association has debated and published "How to Cite a Tweet." The moment I read their example, the first thought I had was "in 50 years will someone have a clue what 'Tweet' means?" I giggled a bit at the citation example:

Athar, Sohaib (ReallyVirtual). “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).” 1 May 2011, 3:58 p.m. Tweet.

I read about this in the American Historical Associations blog which gave me the link to the Modern Language Association's site.  Read the AHA post to see that many questions have arisen about the correctness of this citation. Good questions are being asked and references are given to other articles. The main questions relate to the provenance of the actual news in this example.

40 Best Genealogy Blogs nominee!

In the July 2011 Family Tree Magazine, they will name the "40 Best Genealogy Blogs—the Family Tree 40." I am honored to be among the nominees. Now I need your vote and please do vote for your other favorites, too!I like this way of letting other genealogists know about the many bloggers who share knowledge, experience, and tips with other researchers.

To vote, use the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/ft40-2011voting.

The nominees are divided into eight categories. In each category, please choose five blogs (you'll get an error message if you choose too many). Thomas MacEntee has prepared the full list on another blog and he added the author/editor of each blog. Click here for that list.

Voting is open until 11:59 p.m. Monday, Dec. 20. You may vote multiple times.(That's Family Tree Magazine's phrase -- not mine, but of course I think it is a great idea.)

Some websites and blogs you might want to check

• Ohio Historical Society Blog  http://ohiohistory.wordpress.com/  [If you encounter a problem with this live link, please type the URL directly rather than using the live link.]
   
• ResearchBuzz  http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/  Be sure to click on the older entries link at the bottom of the page.

•  Blog of the Archivist of the United States  http://blogs.archives.gov/aotus/

• California Genealogical Society Blog  http://blog.californiaancestors.org
   
• Tennessee Methodist History Blog  http://historytnumc.wordpress.com/
   
• Utah State Archives Blog http://archivesresearch.wordpress.com/

Have you seen these blogs?

Special collections departments or libraries on college and university campuses often hold much for the study of local history and genealogy. Yes, they likely include the university's archives but the other manuscripts, oral histories, newspapers, and books can be a gold mine for research. Local history collections in city and county public libraries are also the home of many resources for family history research. Check out these blogs that are produced by staff at such collections. 

• Haverford College Libraries, Quaker and Special Collections http://news.haverford.edu/blogs/special/
   
• University of Montana, Missoula, Archives & Special Collections at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library http://content.lib.umt.edu/spcoll/
   
• Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, Sandusky, Ohio http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/
   
• The Top Shelf, University of Texas, San Antonio Libraries Special Collections http://libtmp.lib.utsa.edu/blogs/index.php?blog=7
   
• University of Kentucky Archives and the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History http://www.ukyarchives.blogspot.com/
   
• Iowa State University Special Collections Blog http://isuspecialcollections.wordpress.com/
   
• The San José State University Special Collections & Archives http://sjsuspecialcollections.blogspot.com/

National Archives Launches Blog

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2009

NATIONAL ARCHIVES LAUNCHES NARATIONS BLOG
New blog to focus on online public access to records of the U.S. National Archives

Washington, DC . . . On Wednesday, August 12, the National Archives launched the NARAtions blog to begin a discussion with researchers on the future of online public access at the National Archives. The public is invited and encouraged to share opinions on ways to enhance the online researcher experience and to increase access to archival materials.

This online community will continue to be a work in progress as we develop new features and content. Questions will be posted to invite discussion, and the blog welcomes feedback and suggestions for new questions to raise. The blog will also inform researchers about newly available online records descriptions and digitized archival materials.

We would like to hear from you! What sort of things would you find valuable from NARAtions?

* Should we allow the public to tag descriptions in our online catalog? Why or why not?

* What groups of photographs should we post on Flickr next, and why?

* Do you have a favorite NARA photograph or document? Is it already available in our catalog or on our website?

The URL is http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/. Please visit often and share this web address with others.

DearMyrtle debuts a new blog

I hope you readers know about DearMyrtle and her genealogical activities. This lady has energy. She has begun a new blog and this is what she had to say about her new venture:

"Well, after much anticipation and behind-the-scenes effort, Ol' Myrt here is pleased to announce the birth of a BRAND NEW Genea-Blog namely the Internet-Genealogy Blog featuring my take on topics presented in Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, Discovering Family History and History Magazine. NOT TO WORRY Ol’ Myrt here is not abandoning her own DearMYRTLE’s Genealogy Blog.

You can count on me to continue to opine” here on a regular basis. (Opine is a word Genea-Musing's Randy Seaver used recently to characterize one of Ol' Myrt's posts.)

WHY ANOTHER BLOG? As if six to twelve DearMYRTLE blog entries each week aren’t enough, eh? Seriously though, all sorts of great things are happening in the magazines from Moorshead Publishing, Ltd. and I’ve jumped at the chance to spotlight the work of some mighty talented genealogy experts.

Hmm, does Myrt really jump? You betcha. Just ask my grandchildren.

Visit http://blog.internet-genealogy.com today, and subscribe to the RSS feed using whichever blog reader you are familiar with.The best part is they’ve turned on “comments” so you can freely share your feedback with the other blog readers. I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy family tree climbing!

Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE, Your friend in genealogy.

Myrt@DearMYRTLE.com

Blogs:
http://blog.dearmyrtle.com
http://blog.teachgenealogy.com
http://blog.internet-genealogy.com"

Page 161, 6th Sentence

For some time now, bloggers with a connection to genealogy have been "tagging" each other. This is tagging as in tag, you're it! Challenges are made, information is requested, and so on. Some is very serious, other tags are just interesting and some are humorous. Randy Seaver issued a tag to me yesterday, November 17th in his blog. I don't always have time to accept the challenge, but I did today. The tag this time around is to open the book you are currently reading to page 161 and post the book title, author, and the 6th sentence on that page. Yes, Randy, I do read your blog, Genea-Musings. Reading the blogs of others is something that I do when I am trying to avoid other work that is calling to me. After all, keeping up on the genealogy world in general is important!

The first book I am reading is really going to tell you something about me. Actually, I can blame Eileen Polakoff, another professional genealogist for this one. A few years ago when I was going through one of those trying times in life, she sent me a big box of romance novels. I became hooked on this mindless fluff. I can find the best romance novel sections in used books stores everywhere. The current trashy novel is Daring by Jillian Hunter. Why did I pick this book -- it was on sale at Wal-Mart and had Scottish plaid on the cover. After all, my maiden name is Stuart. I was hoping that page 161, 6th sentence would be one I could post! The sentence is "She jumped, putting her hand to her heart." No, I will not tell you the rest of the story!

The second book on my nightstand is Nathan Philbrick's Mayflower. The 6th sentence on page 161 is "But for William Bradford, who had come to American to recreate the community of fellow worshippers he had known in Scrooby and in Leiden, there would always be something missing." I can blame this gift book on another professional genealogist, Josh Taylor.

I no longer have genealogy periodicals on my nightstand. A break from genealogy is important now and then. As someone who works full time and then some in this field, those breaks are great therapy.

More Free Blogs and Electronic Newsletters

A few more free blogs that you can check online and some electronic newsletter that you may choose to be emailed directly to you:

http://www.genealogue.com/ Chris Dunham's blog that he self described: "Genealogy News You Can't Possibly Use." Some of the posts are humorous, others ironic. Is there good genealogical news on this too -- YES. I love to read this for both humor and education.

http://randysmusings.blogspot.com/ Randy Seaver's blog that combines info on his own family digging and pertinent general genealogy info. The right side of the main page contains a lengthy list of other blogs, electronic newsletters, and helpful websites. I have enjoyed reading this one for a while.

http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ Both members and non-members can subscribe to the informative eNews, the New England Historic Genealogical Society's electronic newsletter. The news is about more than just New England research.