[Please forgive the premature posting of an empty list yesterday. A case of auto-scheduling and sleeping in on Father’s Day gone wrong. I have compensated by spending the day reading over a month’s worth of blogs, so this list is longer than usual.]
The following recent blog posts are those that I consider important or notable. Unlike other similar blog lists, I cannot guarantee that they will all be from the past week. (Some weeks I simply do not have time to read any blogs.) But I will try to write this on a fairly regular basis.
Ramona Martinez, “Unknown No More: Identifying A Civil War Soldier,” NPR, posted 11 April 2012 (http://www.npr.org/sections/around-the-nation/ : accessed 18 June 2012).
John F. Cummings III, “Still Unknown… Despite Diligent Detective Work, NPR Story Makes Critical Error,” Spotsylvania Civil War Blog, posted 11 April 2012 (http://spotsylvaniacw.blogspot.com : accessed 18 June 2012).
Ramona Martinez, “Photo Mystery Solved, Then Doubted, Then Deciphered, Thanks To Readers,” NPR: The Picture Show blog, posted 17 April 2012 (http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/ : accessed 18 June 2012).
The three above articles/blog posts are brilliant examples of some historical detective work used to identify the subject of a newly-acquired Civil War tintype at the Library of Congress. Start at the beginning, and don’t neglect the comments.
Barbara Mathews, CG, “Follow Friday: Resources for Studying Genealogical Standards,” The Demanding Genealogist blog, posted 24 May 2012 (http://demandinggenealogist.blogspot.com/ : last accessed 18 June 2012). Barbara has created a new website discussing standards in genealogy research, writing, and teaching. The site will be in constant development, but provides invaluable information to those who want to study these standards.
James Tanner, “Community or Communities? That is the Question,” Genealogy’s Star blog, posted 29 May 2012 (http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/ : accessed 18 June 2012). James Tanner discusses the genealogy “community” as a series of overlapping affinity groups. I love the sociological theory of networks!
Lynn Palermo, “Mind Mapping for Genealogists,” The Armchair Genealogist blog, posted 30 May 2012 (http://www.thearmchairgenealogist.com/ : accessed 18 June 2012). I have been using mind mapping for over ten years. I usually hand-draw my mind-maps for articles I am writing or presentations I am creating, but I have also used mind maps in the way Lynn describes. A mind map provides a different way of organizing and reviewing the information you have and the information you need.
Angela McGhie, “Elizabeth Shown Mills Ten-point Study Blueprint,” Adventures in Genealogy Education blog, posted 6 June 2012 (http://genealogyeducation.blogspot.com : accessed 18 June 2012). Angela reprints, with permission, an educational blueprint that Elizabeth Shown Mills had submitted a few years ago to the Transitional Genealogists Forum (TGF) mailing list. It is interesting to note that several of these then-non-existent opportunities have since been created: notably the ProGen Study Group of which Angela has been the major engine driving it forward.
James Tanner, “Navagating [sic] the Maze,” Genealogy’s Star blog, posted 8 June 2012 (http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/ : accessed 18 June 2012). James presents seven rules for searching for information online. My favorites: Rule One, “Assume the information you are looking for is on the Web” and Rule Three, “Look for categories of records and sources rather than individual documents.”
Elyse Doerflinger, “The Genealogy Generational Disconnect,” Elyse’s Genealogy Blog, posted 8 June 2012 (http://elysesgenealogyblog.com : accessed 18 June 2012). Elyse responds to a post from the TGF list (which I have mentioned on numerous occasions) in which a young 20-something genealogist reported being largely dismissed by older genealogists. Many of you may be familiar with Elyse, whose YouTube genealogy videos while still a teenager were a huge hit. As a “younger” genealogist myself–though less so every year–I would like others of the “under 40” ilk to start making our impact.
Marian Pierre-Louis, “The Complexity of Online Digital Records,” Marian’s Roots & Rambles blog, posted 12 June 2012 (http://rootsandrambles.blogspot.com/ : accessed 18 June 2012). Marian discusses the five main types of online genealogy content, and some considerations for each.
Marian Pierre-Louis, “The Complexity of Online Digital Records – Part 2,” Marian’s Roots & Rambles blog, posted 13 June 2012 (http://rootsandrambles.blogspot.com/ : accessed 18 June 2012). Marian discusses the three “views” of content: index view, record view, and image view.
I noted several other posts of interest, and have only made it through half of my unread blog posts in Google Reader. Now that I am back home from my “world tour” I hope to be able to list many more next week. Stay tuned…
Planting the Seeds 
Michael, I didn’t realize that you *ever* slept.
Thanks for including my genealogy education blog.
I’m a little late, but thanks for shout out, much appreciated.