Week 41 of Abundant Genealogy

Week 41: Past Genealogy Resources. Nothing good lasts forever and that is definitely true in family history. Think of all the genealogy tools, magazines or websites that no longer exist. Which one stands out in your mind and why? Are there still archives of this tool that can be accessed by the public? Share any information you may have.

Well, this post is where you all realize that I have not done this obsession very long. Nothing I have used in the last 2 years has gone by the wayside. Okay, I will take that back. I really loved, LOVED, the Geneabloggers Radio. It is no longer published but the information in it is still relevant. I particularly recommend the episode on Land Bounty Records.

To be honest, I will be reading the other posts more closely on this thread so that I can learn what these old tools were. Of course, you should feel free to comment here as well. I would love to hear about magazines and tools that were of great use that are no longer published. Maybe I can find an archive of them online and read the back copies too!
 
photo credit: yewenyi via photopin cc

So many blogs, so little time

I have fallen in love.  Completely, and totally, head over heels, with Google Reader.  Why did it take me so LONG to find this thing and use it.  Oh I know… I am afraid of change and sometimes technology scares me.  This is why I married a tech savvy man with a CS degree.

In the past I have read a few blogs, very sporadically.  This usually happened when a friend would post a link on Facebook, or to an email list.  I would casually wander on over and check it out, but never stick around past one or two posts.  It was like I was having casual flings with various blogs, but never intrigued enough to settle down. 

Then I heard, over and over again, how I should create a blog for my genealogy research.  What?!  Me?! I know nothing about that stuff, how am I going to figure it all out?  Well 3 months of investigation and I was sold.  What sold me you ask?  Reading other people’s blogs of course.

This leads me to why I am madly in love with Google Reader.  Instead of going to each one individually, and having to remember how to get there, I just subscribe using my reader.  Anytime one of the blogs I read has a new post, it pops up on there.  How cool is that?!  Currently I am subscribed to 56 genealogy related blogs.  Anytime I find a new one I enjoy, it just gets added to my list.  Then at my leisure I can browse the taglines of the posts and read when I have the time.  Like at the school waiting to get my kids.

If you have not done this yet, go and do it.   You will love it, I promise!

*Image: Pensiero via photopin cc

New Year goodies

You may have noticed the badge on the page.  This is a series that I am going to be participating in for the next year called "52 weeks of Abundant Genealogy".  The idea comes from AmyCoffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog, and is the 4^th set of yearly blogging prompts she has done.  Way cool!

It is my hope that this will keep me going here.  At least there will be one post a week for sure for the next year!  Over the last week I have also been looking at the daily blogging prompts from Geneabloggers.  At least now I know if I run into a brick wall on what to write I can always go out there and get an idea from a creative person.

Looking up blogging prompts was only the tip of the genealogical iceberg from the holiday.  Mom and I got through 1 of the 3 Rubbermaid boxes that I packed for her from her mom’s house.  There were some mighty awesome things in there.  Including a WWII ration book with stamps still in it!  Hubby had a good time educating the boys on what rationing was.  Lots of pictures, very few labeled…kills me every time.  Also, much to the amusement of my mom, report cards from when my grandparents were in high school.  You should have heard her talk about her dad’s grades…something like “I got in trouble for better grades than that!”

In addition to that I also spent a day, yes a whole day, scanning in photos and documents.  Mostly from my mother in law, but I got quite a few of my parents images as well.  200 scanned images in total, which means I am going to be very busy for a while.  Be on the lookout for those images to come up in future posts!

=>  After I posted this I found another set of prompts...adding to the list as we speak.  This is from Olive Tree Genealogy Blog, by Lorine McGinnis Schulze.  Called "Sharing Memories" and looks very good.

*Image from the Library of Congress, What shall I write to Grandpa