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.
Duncan Watts, “The Importance of Studying the Obvious,” Harvard Business Review Blog Network, posted 25 June 2012 (http://blogs.hbr.org/ : accessed 2 July 2012). Duncan Watts is one of my favorite authors for the work that he has done on the science of networks. Here he discusses the importance of researching the liberal arts in addition to the “hard sciences.”
Taneya Koonce, “Death Has a Preference for Birthdays,” Taneya’s Genealogy Blog, posted 12 June 2012 (http://www.taneya-kalonji.com/genblog : accessed 2 July 2012). Ms. Koonce discusses a very interesting study about the prevalence of people dying near their birthdays. I have noticed this phenomenon as well—I wonder why.
Judy G. Russell, CG, “Intro: primary law resources,” The Legal Genealogist blog, posted 25 June 2012 (http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : accessed 2 July 2012). Ms. Russell proposes the compilation of online resources for state laws, and …
Diane L. Richard, “Genealogy Community Encouraged to Create a Primary Law Resources Library,” UpFront with NGS blog, posted 25 July 2012 (http://upfront.ngsgenealogy.org/ : accessed 2 July 2012). Ms. Richard responds to Judy’s post, offering several sources for North Carolina law.
Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, FASG, “QuickLesson 8: What Constitutes Proof?,” Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Citation & Source Usage (http://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-8-what-constitutes-proof : accessed 2 July 2012). Ms. Mills offers a concise description of what proof actually means and how one achieves it.
James Tanner, “What is an original?,” Genealogy’s Star blog, posted 21 June 2012 (http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/ : accessed 2 July 2012).
James Tanner, “Comments on the Original Document Dilemma,” Genealogy’s Star blog, posted 23 June 2012 (http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/ : accessed 2 July 2012).
In the two above articles, Mr. Tanner discusses the use of original records (as opposed to copies) in court and in genealogy.
Kathleen Nitsch, “The Sailors Index to the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database,” in Randy Seaver, “Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database – Part 1,” Genea-Mustings blog, posted 25 June 2012 (http://www.geneamusings.com : accessed 2 July 2012).
Kathleen Nitsch, “The Soldiers Index to the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database,” in Randy Seaver, “Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database – Part 2,” Genea-Mustings blog, posted 26 June 2012 (http://www.geneamusings.com : accessed 2 July 2012).
Kathleen Nitsch, “Confederate Soldiers in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database: Special Considerations,” in Randy Seaver, “Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database – Part 3,” Genea-Mustings blog, posted 27 June 2012 (http://www.geneamusings.com : accessed 2 July 2012).
The three above articles, hosted on Randy Seaver’s blog, dive into the National Park Services’s Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System database. If you are using this database for information on Civil War veterans, it is important to know who is included and who is not included.
Harold Henderson, CG, “Professionals and amateurs, together forever,” Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 29 June 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed2 July 2012). Genealogy shares certain qualities with driving and writing: many “do it,” but only a few do it professionally. Standards exist to separate the two groups. Harold offers a great comparison of the fields.
Planting the Seeds 
thanks for the mention Michael!