Musings on family history, regional history, book reviews, and miscellaneous observations and comments by a genealogist and librarian living near the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Kidnapped
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Today's Research
Monday, September 22, 2008
Internet Privacy
I gave an assignment to my classes which they submitted late last week in which they were to "Google" themselves and find out what they could find out about themselves. They were also to check their MySpace and/or Facebook profiles to see what a person just browsing the Web could find out about them. I also gave them links to government databases of various states so that they could check the information available for viewing there.
Many of my students found very little about themselves; others found a great deal of information about themselves or about their families, some of which was disturbing to them.
Any time that I reveal personal information about myself, I am very careful to weigh that and its potential consequences. I'm simply not comfortable putting too much into one post about myself. When I choose to reveal something, I make sure it is something that I'm comfortable revealing and that there is a point to revealing it.
I do not like to blog about living persons. Most of the time such persons remain unidentified by given name in my posts if I find it useful to include a slight mention. Many of you may have noticed that when the carnivals are on topics where I would have to reveal personal information about a living individual that I have not participated in that carnival.
I simply read about too many security breaches involving too much personal information. Take for example a post that has been in the news this last week. Gov. Sarah Palin's email was hacked because of information in a news story about her. Apparently her password was too easy to guess and a hacker cracked into her email account. Those of us here in East Tennessee are far too well acquainted with the story as a student at a nearby university appears to be the chief suspect in the breach.
I do reveal information about myself in the blog, but that information is revealed over a long period of time. I am not criticizing those of you who have chosen to reveal personal information, but I also do not criticize persons who choose to blog anonymously or under a pseudonym. For a long time, I simply signed my articles with "Lori." I ended up signing articles with both first and last name because it became common knowledge because other bloggers revealed my identity. We, as bloggers, need to be sensitive to the privacy of our fellow bloggers as well.
When is the last time you checked to see what personally identifiable information about you was available out on the Internet? Is there enough there that someone could assume your identity if they so chose? If so, you better be studying up on what to do if your identity is stolen! [Class dismissed.]
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Review: St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh
Friday, September 19, 2008
Which Musical Instrument Should I Play? - I Already Do
You Should Play the Piano |
You are a true music aficionado who loves many musical style and eras. You find music to be an escape. And you'd like to be relaxed and comfortable when you're making it. You're very innovative, and you have a unique way of knowing what may sound beautiful. There's a strong possibility that you could compose some of your own work songs quite easily. While you have a lot of creative energy, you are also serious and conscientious. Your musical talent needs time, practice, and lots of privacy to flourish. Your dominant personality characteristic: your painstaking attention to detail Your secondary personality characteristic: your natural tendency to be whimsical |
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Carnival of Genealogy - 56th edition - Part II
Mills / Evidence Explained
Mills / Professional Genealogy
Board of Certification for Genealogists / BCG Genealogical Standards Manual
Greenwood / The Researcher's Guide to Genealogy
One could also argue that The Source belongs here. Because of the different authors of different editions, it makes two appearances in the 3 times list.
Mills / Evidence!: Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian
Rose / Genealogical Proof Standard
Carmack / Your Guide to Cemetery Research
Eichholz / Red Book
Hansen / The Handybook for Genealogists
Carmack / Organizing Your Family History Search
Eakle & Cerny / The Source
Hoffman / Polish Surnames
Hone / Land and Property Research in the United States
McGinnis / Michigan Genealogy
Rising / The Family Tree Problem Solver
Shea & Hoffman / In Their Words
Szucs & Luebking / The Source
Carmack / You Can Write Your Family History
Croom /Genealogist's Companion & Source Book
Croom /Unpuzzling Your Past
Crowe / Genealogy Online
Dollarhide / New York State Censuses and Substitutes
DuMelle / Finding Your Chicago Ancestors
Geyh et al. / French Canadian Sources
Hatcher / Producing a Quality Family History
Hinckley / Your Guide to the Federal Census
Hoffman & Helon / First Names of the Polish Commonwealth: Origins & Meanings
Humphery-Smith / The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers
Morgan / How to Do Everything with Your Genealogy
Morgan / The Official Guide to Ancestry.com
National Genealogical Society / National Genealogical Society Quarterly
Shea & Hoffman /Following the Paper Trail
Sulimierski, Chlebowski & Walewski / Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich
Taylor /Preserving Your Family Photographs
Taylor / Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs
Thorndale & Dollarhide / Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920
One could also argue that The Everything Family Tree Book goes here. Different submitters gave different authors, but it may be the same title. It is listed once under each author in the "1 time" list.
Abbot / Our Company Increases Apace
Abbot & Abbot / A Genealogical Register of the Descendants of George Abbot, of Andover
Adolph / Tracing Your Family History
Akenson / Some Family
Allen / First Steps in Genealogy
Anderson / The Great Migration Begins (3 v.)
Anderson & Thode / A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Germanic Ancestors
Anderson, Sanborn, & Sanborn / Great Migration: Immigrants to New England (7 v.)
Armbruster / Brooklyn's Eastern District
Association of Gravestone Studies / AGS Field Guides
Baer & Breeze / Finding Indiana Ancestors
Baker / A Guide to Historic Plymouth
Barran / The Stadte-Atlas of Pommern (Pomerania)
Barrons / 301 Polish verbs
Barth / City People
Baxter / In Search of Your British & Irish Roots
Beard & Demong / How to Find Your Family Roots
Beider / A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire
Beider / Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names
Beider / Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland
Beider / Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galacia
Bell / Out of This Furnace
Benardo & Weiss / Brooklyn by Name
Bennett / Elaine
Bennett / Nell
Bentz / If I Can, You Can Decipher Germanic Records
Billingsley / Communities of Kinship
Bonnen / Sangre Judia
Boyd / Family Maps of Monroe County, Mississippi
Brandt / Germanic Genealogy
Brown / History of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary of the Woods
Burroughs / Black Roots
Burton-Cruber / Cemetery Markings: Itawamba County, Mississippi
Butler / History of the Town of Groton
Butler / Everyman's Dictionary of Dates
Byrne / The 2,548 Best Things Anybody Ever Said
Carmack / Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogists
Carmack / A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Immigrant and Ethnic Ancestors
Carmack & Gaunt / Carmack's Guide to Copyright and Contracts
Carter / Searching American Probate Records
Case / The Hollister Family of America
Cerny & Eakle / Ancestry's Guide to Research: Case Studies in American Genealogy
Chambers / Early Germans of New Jersey
Chavez / Origins of New Mexico Families
Chorzempa / Polish Roots
Christensen / Parishes and Registration Districts in England and Wales
Christensen / How Do I Prove It?
Clearfield Progress / A View From . . .
Clemensson & Andersson / Swedish Roots
Clifford / Becoming an Accredited Genealogist
Conwill / The Diary of Henry Jackson Lentz (1819-1869) of Limestone County, Alabama & Itawamba County, Mississippi Covering the Years 1847-1869.
County Dunham Environmental Education Curriculum / Coal Mining in Co. Dunham
Crichton / America 1900
Croom / Unpuzzling Your Past Workbook
Curran, Crane & Wray / Numbering Your Genealogy
Daniel / Genealogical Resources of New Mexico
Darrah / Cartes de Visite in Nineteenth Century Photography
Dearden / The German Researcher, How to Get the Most Out of LDS FHC
Delorme Corp. / Mississippi Atlas & Gazetteer: Topo Maps of the Entire State
Drake / What Did They Mean By That?
Dunkle & Lainhart / The Town Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1647 to 1730
Eismann / Photoshop Masking & Compositing
Eismann & Palmer / Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching
Ellis & Evans / The History of Lancaster County
Esquibel & Colligan / The Spanish Recolonization of New Mexico
Evans / Mother Monroe
Faiguenboim / Dictionary of Sephardic Surnames
Feldblyum / Russian-Jewish Given Names
Filby / Bibliography of American County Histories
Fisiak et al. / Nowy słownik Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej = The new Kosciuszko Foundation dictionary.
Flanders / Atlas of American Migration
Forkner & Dyson / Historical Sketches and Reminsces of Madison County
Franks & Turner / An Itawamba Sampler: A Researcher's Guide to Itawamba County, Mississippi
Fretz / A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Martin Oberholtzer
Gingerich & Kreider / Amish and Amish Mennonite Genealogies
Gitlitz / Secrecy and Deceit
Gormley & Lord / The Official Guide to Rootsweb.com
Gorr / Jewish Personal Names
Greene County History Book Committee / Historic Greene County, Tennessee, and Its People: 1783-1992
Gronlund / Pioneer Register: Pioneers of British Columbia, Pre 1900
Grover / U. S. News & World Report Stylebook for Writers & Editors
Gutkind / Keep It Real
Gwin / Olden Times Revisited: W. L. Clayton's Pen Pictures
Hagstrom / Hagstrom's Pocket Atlas New York 5 Boroughs
Hakim / The History of US
Harding / Mayflower Families Through 5 Generations: Vol. 3: Family of George Soule
Hartley / The Everything Family Tree Book
Hatcher / Researching Your Colonial New England Ancestors
Heidgerd / The Freer Family
Herber / Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History
Hicks / Adventures of a Tramp Printer,1880-1890
Hill / History of Coshcocton County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, 1740-1881
Hinckley / Locating Lost Family Members and Friends
Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico / Marriages: Socorro 1854-1900, San Ignacio, San Cristobal, San Marcial, La Jolla
Hoes / Baptismal and Marriage Registers of the Old Dutch Church of Kingston, Ulster County, New York, 1660-1809
Holt / Encyclopedia of Etiquette
Hornberger & Hudson / The Historical Atlas of New York City
Howe / Genealogy of the Bigelow Family of America
Hunt / Historical Collections of Coshcocton County, Ohio, 1764-1876
Hunter / Marriages of Coshcocton County, Ohio, 1811-1930
Irwin / Robert Irwin’s Brothers and Sisters and their Families from County Cavan, Ireland to Fenelon Township, Ontario
Jackson / The Encyclopedia of New York City
Jaslan / Wiedza Powszechna Compact Polish and English Dictionary
Jonas / A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Scottish Ancestors
Jones / German-American Names
Kelly / Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire
King / King's Handbook of New York City
Knab / Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore
Kobbe / Kobbe's Guide to New York
Kriter, Kriter, Thompson, & Thompson / Monroe County, Mississippi, Chancery Court Record Index 1821-1900
Labrosse-Purcell / Researching Canadian Uncommon Sources
Lambert / A Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries
Lehnhof & Kaiser / Zauberhafter Niederrhein, Eine Farbbildreise durch Landschaft und Geschichte
Lindberg / Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research
Lindsay / Mayflower Bastard
Linkman / The Victorians
Linkman / The Expert Guide to Dating Victorian Photographs
Loveland, Fremont & Loveland / The Genealogy of the Loveland Family in the United States of America from 1635 to 1892
Luthy / Amish in America
Mace / Collector's Guide to Early Photographs
Malka / Sephardic Genealogy
Mann / The Oxford Guide to Library Research
Markham Berczy Settlers Association / A Story of the Markham Berczy Settlers
Markham Historical Society / Markham, 1793-1900
Mautz / Biographies of Western Photographers, 1840-1900
McCulloch / Card Photographs
McCullough / Truman
McCutcheon / The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s
McWhorter / The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language
Melnyk / Family History 101
Melnyk / The Weekend Genealogist
Menk / Surnames
Merriman / Genealogy in Ontario
Merriman / United Empire Loyalists
Merriman / About Genealogical Standards of Evidence, A Guide for Genealogists
Meyerink / Printed Sources
Millennium Committee / Churches in the Diocese of Dunham
Minert / Deciphering Handwriting in German Documents
Mississippi Department of Transportation / Mississippi Road Atlas
Mokotoff, Sack & Sharon / Where Once We Walked
Moore / A Genealogy of the Descendants of Robert Austin of Kingstown, R.I.
Mullerowa & Zuchowska / Roman Catholic Parishes in the Polish People's Republic in 1984
Murff & Murff / The Descendants of Randolph S. Murff 1784-1955
National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution / Lineages Books of the Charter Members of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution
National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution / DAR Patriot Index
National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution / Catalog of the Seimes Microfilm Collection
New England Historic Genealogical Society / New England Historical and Genealogical Register
Nugent / Cavaliers and Pioneers
O'Laughlin / Co. Kilkenny Ireland, Genealogy & Family History Notes
O'Laughlin / Book of Irish Families Great and Small
Olmstead / New Mexico Spanish & Mexican Colonial Censuses: 1790, 1823, and 1845
Olmstead / Spanish and Mexican Censuses of New Mexico 1750-1830
Palmquist & Kaibourn / Pioneer Photographers from the Mississippi to the Continental Divide
Palmquist & Kaibourn / Pioneer Photographers of the Far West
Pearson / Contributions for the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and City of Schenectady, from 1662 to 1800
Pfeufer / New Mexico Baptisms: San Miguel de Socorro Church 1821-1853
Philbrick / Mayflower
Poles in Michigan / Poles in Michigan (vol. 1)
Poliniak / When Coal was King
Polking / Writing Family Histories and Memories
Polley & Thornton / Descendants of Richard Thornton
Pols / Family Photographs 1860-1945
Poucher, Terwilliger & Heidgerd / Old Gravestones of Ulster County
Powell / The Everything Family Tree Book
Proko, Kraska & Stickles / The Polish Community of Worcester (Images of America)
Putnam / Genealogy of David Putnam and His Descendants
Putnam / A History of the Putnam Family in England and America
Quillen / Secrets of Tracing Your Ancestors
Rael / Reading, Writing, and Researching for History
Rainer / Your Life as Story
Ramirez Alief et al. / New Mexico Censuses of 1833 and 1845
Reed / Itawamba: A History; Story of a County in Northeast Mississippi
Renick / Genealogy 101
Reynolds / Hudson and Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs
Riemer / The German Research Companion
Rineer / Churches and Cemeteries of Lancaster County
Risley / The Risley Family History
Romano / Per a Una Historia de la Girona Jueva
Rose / Courthouse Research for Family Historians
Rudisill, Sandweiss, & Palmquist / Photographers
Ryan / Irish Records
Sanborn & Sanborn / Vital Records of Hampton, N. H.: to the End of the Year 1900
Sanchez / San Miguel de Socorro, New Mexico: Marriage Records, 1821-1853
Schaefer / The Hidden Half of the Family: A Sourcebook for Women's Genealogy
Schickel / The World of Carnegie Hall
Secall i Guell / Els Jueus de Valls
Severa / Dressed for the Photographer
Seversmith / Colonial Families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut
Shanet / Philharmonic
Sherman, Sherman, & Wakefield / Mayflower Families Through 5 Generations: Vol. 13: William
White
Skulnick & Moorshead / 500 Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems
Skulnick & Moorshead / More Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems
Sledge / Monroe County Post Offices: 1827-1950
Smart / Index to Upper Canada Land Books
Smith & Weiser / Trinity Lutheran Church Records
Southwest Pennsylvania Genealogical Society / Pennsylvania Line
Spector / Encyclopedia of Jewish Life
Spence / Legacy
Sperry / Reading Early American Handwriting
Strangstad / A Graveyard Preservation Primer
Stratton / Applied Genealogy
Stratton / Plymouth Colony
Streidl / Häuserchronik der Stadt Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm
Streidl / Stadt Pfaffenhofen a.d. Ilm
Szucs / They Became Americans
Tademy / Cane River
Taylor / The Canadian Genealogical Sourcebook
Taylor / Scrapbooking Your Family History
Thiry & Dolader / El Libro Verde de Aragon
Thornton / New Hope Cemetery, Parham, Monroe County, Mississippi
Thornton / Index to Online Burials in Monroe County, Mississippi
Thornton & Thornton / The Thornton News
Tilden / History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts, 1650-1886
Todd / First Alabama Cavalry USA
Torrey / New England Marriages: Prior to 1700
Treat / The Treat Family, A Genealogy of Trott, Tratt and Treat
Turner / 1850 Census, Itawamba County, Mississippi
Ueland / If You Want to Write- A Book about Art, Independence, and Spirit
Valencia y Valdez et al. / Aqui se comienza
Vrabel / When in Boston
Wakefield / Mayflower Families Through 5 Generations: Vol. 18: Descendants of the Pilgrims Who Landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620
Warrilow / Tracing Your Ancestors in Bruce & Grey
Wheeler / Old Homes of Stonington
Wheeler / The History of Stonington, Connecticut
White / Guide to Quebec Catholic Parishes and Published Parish Marriage Records
White / White's Directory of Lincolnshire
Williams & Jaggar / Saving Stuff
Wood / Mayflower Families Through 5 Generations: Vol. 12: Francis Cooke
Woodtor / Finding A Place to Call Home
Wright / Lancaster County Church Records of the 18th Century
Yates / Publish Your Family History
Young & Miles / Itawamba County, Mississippi Families (1836-1986)
Zubatsky / Sourcebook for Jewish Genealogies and Family Histories
The Denison Genealogy
German-English, English-German Dictionary
1864 Atlas of Lancaster County
The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Family Bible information included)
History of Wilsons Mills and the Magalloway Settlements
La Catalunya Jueva
Perpignan: L'histoire des Juifs dans la ville
La Via Judia en Sefarad
The Oxford Companion to United States History
United States Official Postal Guide
The New York Chronology
Deutsche Namenkunde
Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language
Rand McNally Road Atlas
Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus
Oscola Mills
100 Years in Brisbin and Houtzdale
75th Anniversary of Barnesboro
McCutchen Family Trace Newsletter
British Columbia War Memorials: An Index of Names
American Genealogist
Chicago Manual of Style
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
We also had a few non-specific resources mentioned such as a good history of the United States, an historical atlas of the United States, a good regional cultural history of whichever area in which you are researching, a cultural or social anthropology book, a current road atlas of the United States, and the Internet.
Call For Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the COG will be: I read it in the news! Newspapers can be a wonderful source of family history information. Share some aspect about your family history that you learned about in a newspaper. Articles, advertisements, obituaries, classified ads, photos... all are fair game if they appeared in a newspaper. What did you learn about your family from this information? Was the information accurate? How did you learn about this information... online search? Perusing old newspapers? A clipping saved by a relative? Fill us in on your family scoops... who in your family was in the news? The deadline for submissions is October 1st. The next edition will be hosted at the Creative Gene blog.
To All COG Participants: Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!
Carnival of Genealogy - 56th edition - Part I
Robert Baca presents 10 Essential Books in My Genealogy Library posted at The Baca / Douglas Genealogy and Family History Blog. His list focuses on New Mexico Hispanic research.
Terry Thornton presents Ten Books I Use Most Frequently in Writing Hill Country posted at Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi. He explains his entry: "Because I am not a genealogist, I own few reference books in that field. There are, however, a group of books and references materials I use on a daily basis to write about the hill country of Monroe County, Mississippi. This article takes a look at each of those ten books, unpublished documents, digital files, and CDs."
Myrt :) presents 10 essential books in my genealogy library posted at DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. The first few books in her list are some of the ones that I expect to see on a lot of lists.
Jasia presents 10 Essential Books for Polish, Michigan, and Detroit Genealogical Research posted at Creative Gene. She says: "I can't imagine doing Polish and Michigan genealogy research without these books. They are largely responsible for the success I've had with my research. I owe a debt of gratitude to the authors. See if there aren't some books here that would help you with your research! "
Bob Franks presents Ten Essential Research Books in My Personal Library posted at Itawamba History Review: The Itawamba Historical Society. In describing his choices, he states: "As most of my research relates to Mississippi and Itawamba County in particular, most of my essential research books, both genealogy and history, pertain to Itawamba County, Mississippi. ."
Midge Frazel presents Slate & Sandstone: New England Books posted at Granite in My Blood. Midge says, "My state trio of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island ancestors makes using research materials in print a necessary part of my day despite my always-wired lifestyle. My list reflects compiled genealogies and gravestone studies with a splash of research tools. "
Linda Stienstra presents Seriously? My Ten Essential Genealogy Books? Only Ten? posted at From Axer to Ziegler. Linda says, "I decided to just concentrate on the essential books for Lancaster County research. I have a lot of essential books, but some of them cover all research, and some of them cover other areas. Since I live in Lancaster County and concentrate my research her, I picked Lancaster County books. Obvious choice for me. " Since I had Amish ancestors in Lancaster and Berks Counties, I have actually used several of the titles she mentioned.
While this next post doesn't really fit our call, it is of interest to many of us. Fiona King presents 100 Awesome Blogs for History Junkies posted at Best Colleges Online. Check out her list.
Julie Cahill Tarr presents GenBlog - 10 Essential Genealogy Books posted at GenBlog. Julie includes several general titles as well as some specific to Irish and German ethnicity.
Sheri Fenley presents 10 Books I Have Used in the Last 6 Months posted at The Educated Genealogist. I'm sure you'll all get a smile when you find out the theme of this edition of the Carnival helped Sheri!
Janet Iles presents Janet the Researcher's 10 essential genealogy books posted at Janet the researcher. She has several selections that reflect her interest in Canadian genealogy and several on writing family histories.
Bill West presents ON MY BOOKSHELF posted at West in New England. Bill describes his ten choices as "books that either have given me information on my ancestors or insights on the times in which they lived."
Schelly Talalay Dardashti presents Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog: Ashkenazi, Sephardi: Essential Jewish genealogy books posted at Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog. Schelly says that these are "essential books for Jewish genealogy." She tells us about the challenges of those who have and don't have Eastern European ancestry and presents two lists, one for each of these groups (Ashkenazi and Sephardi genealogy), which present different sources, languages and challenges.
Laura presents 10 Favorites from My Genealogy Bookshelf posted at Life at the Home20. Her selections are mainly general genealogical books and case studies.
Stephen J. Danko presents Ten Essential Books in My Genealogy Library posted at Steve's Genealogy Blog. Stephen's titles include some of interest to those researching Polish and French Canadian ancestry.
Wendy Littrell presents Books for Genealogy « All My Branches Genealogy posted at All My Branches Genealogy. Wendy's list includes books from family histories to county histories. She says, "I return to them time and again and learn something new each time."
Donna Pointkouski presents 10 Essential Books in My Genealogical Library posted at What's Past Is Prologue. Her list includes many on researching Polish genealogy.
Craig Manson presents Ten Books Essential for Genealogists: Some ?Different? Thinking posted at GeneaBlogie. Craig describes his selections this way: "Everybody can probably agree on the top books by the top authors in our field. But how about books that add context and broaden our perspectives? Here they are." Craig isn't quite as specific on exact titles, but he does describe some books that all genealogists should use in their research.
Msteri presents 10 Essential Books in my Genealogy Library posted at Heritage Happens. Her selections include a couple of fictional titles with a setting very important to her research. Because there is truth in the mix, she includes these in her top ten.
Kathryn Lake Hogan presents Books on My Shelf; Books on My Desk posted at LOOKING4ANCESTORS. Kathryn at LOOKING4ANCESTORS says "I have a large wall unit in my office which houses a lot of things including my genealogy books. Often, I have books laying open or stacked on my desk as well. Does this count as a library?" Be sure to check out her list at "Books on My Shelf;, Books on My Desk".
P. Taylor presents What's on my nightstand? Why my ten favorite genealogy books of course! posted at Taylorstales-Genealogy. She includes quite a few titles focusing on online research and some Midwestern research titles. She even mentions a title that she'd love to obtain.
Lidian presents The Virtual Dime Museum: Ten Indispensible Books posted at The Virtual Dime Museum. Lidian describes her choices this way: "These are the ten books that are either on my desk, acessible through Heritage Quest (and therefore also on my desk, in a way) or nearby - the ones I turn to constantly as references for history and genealogy."
Thomas Macentee presents Destination: Austin Family: My Ten Essential Genealogy-Related Books posted at Destination: Austin Family. Thomas says he "cares more for e-books than actual tomes and seeks them out whenever possible." He shares his top 10 and tells us about a new, free, on-line tool that instantly formats your source info for you!
Becky Wiseman presents The Indispensable Bookshelf posted at kinexxions. Becky says, "It is truly embarrassing to have to admit this, but I do not have 10 genealogy-specific reference books on my bookshelf! Gasp! It's true though. That said, there are several very useful items on my indispensable bookshelf."
My own entry is Ten Indispensable Books in My Genealogical Library. I include five general sources and five regional or ethnic ones.
Bob Kramp presents Representatives of Essential Books in my Genealogical Library posted at Life's Journey. Bob says, "I present several books in my personal library which I use to expand the stories of my ancestors in both a historical and geographical context. The are not so much general reference books in genealogy, as one-of-a-kind books and pamphlets that will be difficult to obtain some day." He gave us a few more than ten!
M. Diane Rogers presents Ten Genealogical Books I Can't Do Without - Carnival of Genealogy posted at CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'. She says, "I wish there were 10 books written about my ancestors! Although there aren't, I do have a good number of books at home and I use libraries a great deal, especially the British Columbia Genealogical Society's Walter Draycott Library. Here are a few I rely on or re-read often. I'm cheating a bit here with the #10 for my list; I'd have another 10 I'd recommend, especially for Canada or British Columbia. Quite a few of these are Canadian books - but only four cover Canadian topics - and some of those IRWINS did live in the United States."
Elizabeth O'Neal presents Tops in my Genealogy Library posted at Little Bytes of Life. Elizabeth's featured selections focus on American, French-Canadian, and Irish research, genealogical standards, and resources for filling out those DAR applications!
Jessica Oswalt presents 10 Essential Genealogy Books That I Have Or Wish I Have posted at Jessica's Genejournal. She includes books she owns and books she wishes she owned.
Dru Pair presents My Ten Favorite How-To Genealogy Books posted at Find Your Folks. She focuses on "how-to" books.
Randy Seaver presents 10 Essential Books in my Genealogy Library posted at Genea-Musings. Randy includes ten basic titles and a baker's dozen of regional books.
footnoteMaven presents 10 Essential Books In My Genealogy Library X 4 + 6 posted at footnoteMaven. Her description says it all, "I tried. I really tried, but I'm just not good at following directions!" She groups her selections into the categories of research, writing, history, and photography.
Miriam Robbins Midkiff presents Miriam's Ten Essential Genealogy Books posted at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors. She lists only books she owns.
Call For Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the COG will be: I read it in the news! Newspapers can be a wonderful source of family history information. Share some aspect about your family history that you learned about in a newspaper. Articles, advertisements, obituaries, classified ads, photos... all are fair game if they appeared in a newspaper. What did you learn about your family from this information? Was the information accurate? How did you learn about this information... online search? Perusing old newspapers? A clipping saved by a relative? Fill us in on your family scoops... who in your family was in the news? The deadline for submissions is October 1st. The next edition will be hosted at the Creative Gene blog.
To All COG Participants: Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Ten Indispensable Books in my Genealogical Library
Another general title that I use quite a bit is Ancestry's Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources. I actually own the second edition which was edited by Eichholz. I really do need to update my edition because I'm aware of several errors as well as many changes because of natural disasters. I debated whether or not I should include this book of The Handybook for Genealogists in my top ten. I have both books, but I really do use the "Red Book" more so I decided to include it as my "go-to" source for that type of information. I own a hard copy of the "Red Book" as well as a CD version.
I'm down to my final pick. This is going to be a tough call because I have so many books that are worthy of inclusion. I can come up with books in so many locations that I use a lot when I'm doing research; however, I'm going to choose another New England title for my tenth selection, simply because I've been focusing more on those lines recently.
My last pick is Vital Records of Hampton, N.H.: to the End of the Year 1900 by George Freeman Sanborn and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. It's a two volume set. I had so many ancestors who lived in Hampton for awhile that I've found these volumes extremely helpful.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Sticker Shock at the Pump
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Great Great Grandma Nancy
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Carnival of Genealogy #55 Is Posted
Many of you may have noticed that I'll be hosting the 56th edition. The deadline for submissions is September 15. The topic is "10 essential books in my genealogy library." It was actually inspired by a meme that was going around the book bloggers this summer called the "Top 10 Books I Can't Live Without." It will be interesting to see which books each of us find to be our most used books. I suspect that many of us will have a few similar ones, but I also suspect that some of us will have very different ones because of our specific research interests. For example, some of you focus heavily on one ethnic group. You are likely to have at least one title that is indispensable to you in researching that interest. Someone who lacks that ethnicity will likely find something else more useful. It's interesting to browse various genealogists' libraries on LibraryThing, but sometimes when you are seeking one volume on a topic, you wish that you had some way of knowing which title that person thinks is the best. [Most of us are guilty of not rating or reviewing the books we initially cataloged because we were focused on adding all the titles. Hopefully more of us will add reviews and ratings to assist other researchers in determining the worth of a source.] I think it will be fun to see the lists of books created.
Chickamauga Celebrates 145 Years!
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Tuesday Thingers - September 2, 2008
For those who wonder, Tuesday Thingers is a weekly meme for users of LibraryThing who blog. Question from Boston Bibliophile:
Members who have your books. Do you ever look at this feature? Do you use it to make LT friends, or compare notes? There are three tabs- weighted, raw, and recent. “Weighted,” which means “weighted by book obscurity and library size” is probably the least self-explanatory of the three, whereas “raw” and “recent” are more so. Do you get any kind of use out of this feature?
I do look at the future. I have actually found some fellow genealogists that I know through the said feature. I will almost always browse the libraries of my fellow genealogists to see if they have some book of which I'd been previously unaware. I then might try to order that book if it is something that I really really need for my personal research or I might add it to a wish list to order. My Amazon.com wish list is getting really really long thanks to LibraryThing.
I do pay attention to all three tabs, but I probably pay the most attention to weighted simply because it is the default. When I get bored with seeing the same folks in the list, I check the others. I really do like the "recent" feature because it shows new LibraryThing folks with similar interests or people who've recently been adding a lot of books with similar libraries.
My largest categories are history and genealogy, cookery, and mystery. The people who tend to show up at the top of my list are fellow mystery lovers. I get a lot of genealogists in the top 50, but it is understandable that they are not at the very top of my list because of the size of my collection and because genealogists tend to collect heavily in places that are important to their own personal research. I'm really glad to have the matches I do have with genealogists.
Do I add them to my friends? No. Most of the time I just add them to my interesting libraries or to my private watch list if I really want to keep track of their new additions. I have added very few recently because we now get automatic recommendations based on the top 50 libraries in our weighted score. I have corresponded with a few people, but it's pretty rare.