November is upon us once again! Do you know what that means? Its “National Blog Posting Month.”
I first learned of National Blog Posting Month (“NaBloPoMo”) in 2009. At that time, I was only writing my “National African American Genealogy” column on Examiner. I asked other genealogy bloggers to join me in the celebration. That month, though I was unsuccessful at posting every day, I managed to post quite a few articles:
- “American Experience on PBS – ‘Reconstruction: The Second Civil War’ – Watch it free online” (2 November 2009)
- “National Blog Posting Month – Can genealogy blogs meet the challenge?” (2 November 2009)
- “Are census records reliable for genealogy research?” (3 November 2009)
- “Case study for Y-DNA testing in NGSQ” (4 November 2009)
- “Civil War pension application files – a rich source of detail” (5 November 2009)
- “Crafting a research plan, part one: Defining your problem” (6 November 2009)
- “Crafting a research plan, part two: Investigating the location” (7 November 2009)
- “Crafting a research plan part three: Identifying records of interest” (8 November 2009)
- “State online resources for African-American genealogy: Georgia” (9 November 2009)
- “State online resources for African-American genealogy: Maryland” (10 November 2009)
- “Happy Veterans Day! Military databases available free online at Archives.gov” (11 November 2009)
- “Catholic slaves of the Carroll family of Maryland” (12 November 2009)
- “Angela Walton-Raji launches new ‘Beginning Genealogist’ website” (13 November 2009)
- “The value of meeting together” (17 November 2009)
- “Using maps for your genealogical research” (20 November 2009)
- “FBI begins ‘Civil Rights-Era Cold Case Initiative’ seeking next-of-kin for unsolved murders” (24 November 2009)
- “Civil War pension depositions depict horrible realities of slavery” (25 November 2009)
- “Discovering where slaves lived” (27 November 2009)
- “African-American Genealogy Examiner receives Kreativ Blogger award” (28 November 2009)
How did I do that first year? There are 30 days in November, and I posted 19 articles. Not bad, but not perfect.
Between November 2009 and November 2010, I started writing a second column for Examiner: the “Baltimore Genealogy & History” column. When NaBloPoMo came around, I decided to try to write an article every day for both columns! Once again, I did not achieve my lofty goal, but I did make (in my opinion) a noble effort:
- “It’s National Blog Posting Month again!” (National African American Genealogy, 1 November 2010)
- “African Ancestry reveals DNA results of historical African-American figures” (National African American Genealogy, 1 November 2010)
- “New database for African-American genealogy in Virginia” (National African American Genealogy, 2 November 2010)
- “National Blog Posting Month – Can genealogy blogs meet the challenge? redux” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 2 November 2010)
- “Baltimore City Star-Spangled 200 Conference” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 2 November 2010)
- “Soul of a People: the WPA’s Federal Writers Project” (National African American Genealogy, 2 November 2010)
- “Colonial church records in Maryland – Does religion even matter?” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 2 November 2010)
- “Online resources for researching Maryland in the Civil War” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 4 November 2010)
- “The 1860 Presidential election in Maryland” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 4 November 2010)
- “Exploring Your Roots Cruise – two new genealogy cruises in 2011” (National African American Genealogy, 5 November 2010)
- “Upcoming Maryland Genealogy and History Events (11/06/2010)” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 6 November 2010)
- “Anatomy of the 1850 and 1860 federal census ‘slave schedules’” (National African American Genealogy, 6 November 2010)
- “Colonial Maryland probate index, 1634-1777” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 8 November 2010)
- “‘Direct’ vs. ‘Indirect’ evidence in genealogical research” (National African American Genealogy, 8 November 2010)
- “Elizabeth Shown Mills’s newest Quicksheet for citing your sources” (National African American Genealogy, 8 November 2010)
- “Vital registration in Maryland in 1865” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 8 November 2010)
- “Continuing your education with online genealogy videos” (National African American Genealogy, 9 November 2010)
- “Maryland genealogy resources on Ancestry.com – Birth, Marriage, and Death” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 9 November 2010)
- “Maryland genealogy resources on Ancestry.com – Military” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 9 November 2010)
- “Maryland genealogy resources on Ancestry.com – Immigration” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 9 November 2010)
- “Information is only as good as the source” (National African American Genealogy, 11 November 2010)
- “The Civil War through the eyes of its soldiers” (National African American Genealogy, 11 November 2010)
- “Summary of the Jefferson Clark online case study” (National African American Genealogy, 12 November 2010)
- “Using city directories to identify your ancestor’s home” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 13 November 2010)
- “NEW BOOKS: The Civil War Draft in Maryland – Lists of Drafted Men” (National African American Genealogy, and Baltimore Genealogy & History, 15 November 2010)
- “Do you write up your genealogy research?” (National African American Genealogy, 18 November 2010)
- “Search hundreds of genealogy books with the click of a button” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 18 November 2010)
- “Upcoming Maryland Genealogy and History Events (11/19/2010)” (Baltimore Genealogy & History, 19 November 2010)
- “Researching the family history of potential slave owners, part one” (National African American Genealogy, 19 November 2010)
- “Researching the family history of potential slave owners, part two” (National African American Genealogy, 30 November 2010)
Two columns, 30 days. Should be 60 articles, right? Well, I managed to write 31. Only about half of them.
So this year I still have both Examiner columns, and now I have this blog as well. Thirty days, three blogs–that’s 90 articles! It’s going to be difficult, but I will try. We’ll see how well I do at the end of the month.
Anyone else want to give it a shot?
I also signed on with NaBloPoMo for November. I have tried for 3 years to post every day for the month of November and have yet to accomplish it. Maybe this is my year!
I’m up for giving it a shot Michael, although only with one blog! I’ll be interested to see if we both make it 100%
Good luck!
It is an interesting concept, but it doesn’t fit my style of blog. My most recent blog post has had responses, with responses from me, with more responses, with my responses yet to come. Still that counts only as one blog. The blog plus the responses amount to a learning experience for me. The final result will be another blog on the same subject, checking to see how well my adaptations work. If I’m lucky the same response cycle will work. 2 blogs in 14 days, with various responses equals continuing education of the blogger.
Just for general information, the topic is the Search Log (or Research Calendar) and how to ensure that others who come after you will be able to follow your trail.
This type of blog is also a good type of blog, but it doesn’t lend itself to a daily output.
Thanks for the reminder, I’ve always wanted to try this but never actually did. I guess we’ll see how we did at the end of the month!
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I’m in. Thanks for the push.
Sheri, Nigel, Valerie and Michelle —
Thanks for sharing in my NaBloPoMasochism! Good luck to all of you (and to myself)!
I’m in! Thanks for the reminder. Looking forward to flexing those writing muscles.