Follow Friday: Genea-Musings, a3Genealogy, and SavingStories

It’s Follow Friday and I’m always honored to feature extraordinary genealogists that I’ve had the good fortune and pleasure to learn from online. Enjoy!

If you’re looking for a genealogist who writes and maintains a blog that just about covers it all – genealogy research tips and techniques, news items and commentary, family history research and stories, genealogy humor and engaging “Saturday Night Genealogy Fun” activities — then I know the perfect blog for you. It is Genea-Musings! When I feel that I’ve missed something important in the world of genealogy, I just head on over to Randy Seaver‘s special place in cyberspace, and get caught up with “all things genealogy” online and offline. My favorite label/topic to access on his blog is “Treasure Chest Thursday.” All of the artifacts and documents that he shares are EXCELLENT and often provide tips and information that I refer to when I’m looking at similar documents in my own family research collection. Be sure to stop by Genea-Musings as time allows today!

Make no mistake about it, genealogy is a lot of work that requires accurate genealogical investigation. A blog that immediately comes to mind with its accurate, accessible answers to analyzing genealogical evidence is, a3Genealogy.com, penned by Kathleen Brandt. Kathleen is an International Genealogy Consultant, speaker, and writer who specializes in military, naturalization records, Native American and African American Ancestry. Pick any post or topic on her blog to read and you will instantly be pulled into the information and/or instructions she gives about the subject. Some key elements I’ve taken away from her blog that I use in my own research: – 1) always determine the reliability of your documents; 2) decide which facts are accurate/correct in each document you’ve found; 3) defer making any judgments until all the facts are in (this is a tough one for me – LOL!), and 4) give an explanation that includes all the facts and be sure to analyze all information from various perspectives. Yep, Kathleen Brandt definitely knows her stuff! Don’t delay; plan on visiting a3Genealogy.com right away!

When I say family historian, Robin Foster’s passion for “all things genealogy” and  technology rivals mine, you better believe it! The title and subtitle of Robin’s blog – Saving Stories: Connecting to the Past, linking to the future – definitely expresses one of her goals which is to preserve oral history and historical records using social media and technology. So how is she accomplishing this goal? She publishes genealogy related online newspapers at Paper.li;  she’s the blog editor/owner of About Our Freedom, Over Troubled Water, Genealogy Journey, and Go Social with Genealogy; she’s the National African American History Examiner at Examiner.com; she’s the host of “Over Troubled Water” BlogTalkRadio Show and Genealogy on Location; she’s a FindAGrave Contributor (and a BillionGraves Contributor too); she’s social via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and YouTube. She has published an 8×8 personal storybook, Eyes to See: My Testimony to the World, via Heritage Makers where she is an award winning Book Publishing Consultant. Can you say WOW?! All I could say was WOW when I first started following Robin online last year. And I have a strong feeling that I haven’t listed for you today ALL of the online networks and blogs that she contributes to – LOL! So if you enjoy genealogy and technology, refer to any of the links I mention above and connect with Robin Foster today!

 

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Follow Friday: Once Removed Family History, Taneya’s Genealogy Blog, and Red River Sankofa Project

Today is Follow Friday and I’m honored to call special attention to some excellent genealogy professionals I’ve had the pleasure to connect with recently. Enjoy!

Have you ever tried to explain the “once-removed” concept to someone to only have them get that glazed look in their eyes? I’m sure you have because you know exactly what glazed LOOK I’m talking about – ROFL!!! Well, if  you have a difficult time explaining this concept, or even understanding it yourself, I invite you to visit Genealogist & Family Historian, Anna Burroughs‘ (@Njambi2/@OnceRemoved_AB) webpage titled, “So what IS a cousin ‘once removed’???, for a quick and easy explanation! I had the pleasure of personally meeting and chatting with Anna at the Houston Family Expo 2012 in April. She’s WONDERFUL and if you’re thinking of hiring someone to assist you with your family history research, then explore her website while you’re there for more information!

If you enjoy using technology with your genealogy as much as I do, then you should really think about adding Taneya’s Genealogy Blog to your feed reader — quick fast and in a hurry! Taneya (@Taneya) is a medical librarian who really knows her stuff! But what I love most about her is the way she uses her professional experience in information management & organization to demonstrate and disseminate information about how to use various types of technology in genealogical research. Her reviews on all the tools of the trade that she samples via her blog are on point. In short, I can always count on learning something exciting and new whenever I visit her special place in cyberspace. Check her out for yourself; visit her online today!

I had the pleasure of virtually meeting Genealogist & Family Historian, George Allen, when a branch of my family tree linked to his wife’s family tree on Ancestry.com! I sent him a message through Ancestry, we exchanged phone numbers and family information, and my connection with him as I grow my family tree online has been AWESOME! George’s excellent and informative website is the Red River Sankofa Project. This project and historical society functions as a non-profit historical data repository committed to researching, documenting, and preserving underreported African American burial grounds in NW Louisiana and NE Texas. Why these areas? The area along the upper Red River of Louisiana and along the Texas Louisiana border has long been forgotten in historical text. Therefore, this project’s goal is to honor the African American ancestors who settled in this area by telling their stories, sharing their contributions and rich legacy with future generations!

Follow Friday: Family Tree’s Tech Tips, Lowcountry Africana, and About.com Genealogy

Today is Follow Friday and I want to call special attention to a couple of blogs and online resource that I think beginners and experienced genealogists will enjoy!

If you’re looking for a blog site that’s loaded — and I do mean LOADED — with up-to-date instructions, tips, and explanations on best practices for using technology with your genealogy research, then I highly recommend you grab the RSS feed to FamilySearch’s Tech Tips and drop it in your news aggregator, or save it’s link to your social bookmarking web service or browser’s favorites today! I love technology and use it every chance I get with my research! But just when I thought I was using a couple of my mobile devices to the fullest, I came upon two tech tips, “Be Prepared for Genealogical Research with Your Smartphone” and “Kindle’s Personal Document Service,” that has taken my  technology + genealogy to a whole new level.

A FREE website dedicated to African American genealogy and history in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida that I want to encourage you to visit as soon as possible (even if you aren’t doing any family research in those particular states)  is Lowcountry Africana! I became aware of this site on Twitter and I  started following them; I’m so glad I did! This site just went through a very elegant and smart re-design that allows you an opportunity to — explore, discover, research, and leave enlightened by all it has to offer!

One of my favorite online resources for all things “Genealogy” is About.com Genealogy. About.com, a New York Times Company, is divided into topic sites, which are grouped into channels that cover diverse subjects. All content is written by a network of writers called Guides. Professional Genealogist, Kim Powell, is the Genealogy Guide over this channel that’s divided into 4 main sections – Genealogy, Learn How, Search Online, and Share & Preserve. Each section is filled with original information, downloads, news, and advice that beginners and seasoned genealogists will find helpful with their research. There’s even a Genealogy Forum available to connect with Ms. Powell and other genealogists in conversation!

 

Follow Friday: Finding Eliza, Reclaiming Kin, and Historic American Newspapers

Today is Follow Friday and I want to call special attention to a free online resource I’ve used a lot lately, as well as a couple of excellent genealogy bloggers whose rich content and research methods have been the inspiration behind my family research this month and beyond; enjoy!

•  If you’re a fan of genealogy blogs filled with rich documented history and beautiful sepia photos, then Kristin Williams‘ blogs – Finding Eliza is a blog you MUST add to your list of favorites! My visits to Kristin’s blogs are always lengthy because I cannot help getting caught up by all she has published there. When I say she needs to write a book about her family, I’m not kidding and to help you better understand why so many of her fellow bloggers feel as I do, check out her post titled, “The Illustrated News – Walk to Freedom.”

• Whenever you visit Robyn Smith‘s blog – Reclaiming Kin – have paper and pencil ready because you just might need it!  There are a lot of great genealogy bloggers out there who are wonderful about sharing information and who will go the extra mile to recommend resources that will aid anyone in their family research. But at Robyn’s space in cyberspace, I love how she not only recommends resources, but gives detail information and step-by-step instructions on how she uses those resources in her research. If you haven’t used maps yet in your family research (I had not until I read her post), then check out her post, “Maps Lead the Way to Better Understanding,” to learn how!  I had the pleasure of connecting with Robyn a few months ago and we’re kindred spirits for genealogy; so visit her blog today!

• Search Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers for ancestors when you are online! After the Civil War, the rise of black newspapers became an important resource in capturing black life in this country. So if you’re not searching these newspapers for your African-American ancestors, you maybe missing out on a valuable resource that just may hold the answers you’re looking for to questions you have about members of your family tree. But what I’m also discovering is that some of the white newspapers in the cities and counties where my family members lived published information about my ancestors too!