Web sites to check out

Aaarrrggh!!!!! How in the world did it get to be February already? I'm feeling a little cheesy (do people still say that?) because it's been a while since I posted any links to other interesting blogs and posts that I have seen on the Internet. For the record, if I ever let you down again, make sure you head on over to Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings (you do read Randy every day, right?) and check out his best of the week's post that he usually runs Mondays or Tuesdays. 

This week's entry (http://randysmusings.blogspot.com/2008/01/best-of-genea-blogs-january-20-26-2008.html) mentions Kimberly Powell's post at About.Genealogy.com entitled “10 Top Web Sites for African-American Genealogy” (http://genealogy.about.com/od/african_american/tp/best_sites.htm) which I had tapped as a must read also. Funny, I had actually just visited three of the Web sites she mentions in her post. Great minds?

As promised, Denise Olsen of “Family Matters” talks more about what a Skype account can do for the family genealogist — and anyone else who might be interested in talking with up to 10 people at once. Check this out at her post at http://moultriecreek.us/family/2008/01/26/research-toolbox-skype-account/. I want some time to play around with this one.

OK, this is an older post, going back to December 31, but I like it so much, I am printing it out and hanging it on my bulletin board as a reminder. On Juliana's “24/7 Family History Circle,” she posted “Avoiding Assumptions” by Michael John Neill at http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2152. I won't tell you how many of these assumptions I would have to plead guilty to in the past, but I'm betting some of you will be shaking your heads in agreement when you read what Mr. Neill has to say. Good stuff! 

My friend, Terry Thornton, of “Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi” had a good week last week. It seems he broke an existing record for the number of readers and number of pages read in one day, which he blogged about of course, http://hillcountryofmonroecountry.blogspot.com/2008/01/thanks-from-hill-country.html. You probably realize that I love a good Civil War story, and Terry linked us to two of them on his Martin Luther King Day post, “Hill Country Unionism: Civil War Revisited” http://hillcountryofmonroecountry.blogspot.com/2008/01/hill-country-unionism-civil-war.html. OK, I don't usually do this, but there's a really good piece that Thomas MacEntee wrote for the 41st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. I know. I know. I should wait until the Carnival is posted. But this entry is funny, it's touching and I loved it! 

If you don't want to wait until the Carnival either, you can read it here at “Destination: Austin Family,” http://destinationaustinfamily.blogspot.com/2008/01/dinner-of-remembrance.html. Thomas really writes some great pieces. He's on my must read list for sure.

Finally, I wanted to mention two local blogs that you should stop in and give a read. If, like most genealogists you also have a love of history, you will be interested in knowing that Sandusky Library Archives Research Center and Follett House Museum has a blog (http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/) devoted to Sandusky and Erie County History. Showcasing the material of their local history collections, the blog is rich in historical content. I have to admit I'm a little jealous of those working in a place with such an abundance of interesting treasures — it must be like having Christmas every day! (Thanks Dorene for the nice note and the link!) 

The last blog that I want to mention is Derek Davey's “Genealogy — Northwest Ohio.” Derek brings a lot of meat to the topic of Northwestern Ohio research. He has posted information helpful to researchers in various counties of Northwest, Ohio. He did a series of recent posts, for example, on resources in Williams County. He also, check this out, takes brick wall problems from readers, researches them and then posts his results, usually on his Saturday postings. If you have a brick wall you'd like some advice on, Mr. Davey is your man. You can read his blog at http://nwogenalogy.blogspot.com/. He also has blogs for northeast Ohio and southeast Michigan. 

As usual, there is more than enough good reading to go around. Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging! 

Note this post first published online, February 1, 2008, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 1 February 2008, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder