Ruth’s Recommendations

Here are my favourite blog posts from this past week.

Irish Genealogy News had two interesting posts this past week. The first is “Images of Belfast burial records now available.” There are about 360,000 records for Belfast City Cemetery; Dundonald Cemetery; and Roselawn Cemetery.

The second is “Ill-conceived” merger attracts more criticism” which looks at the proposal to merge the National Archives of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland.

The 16th of June is Bloomsday in Dublin. There are celebrations and events relating to James Joyce’s book “Ulysses.” The National Library of Ireland blog has a post called “Joyce Manuscripts Online – Beta but Beautiful.” I haven’t had a chance to go in and look at them yet. It took me three months but I read “Ulysses” and am very glad I did. It was a challenging but wonderful experience.

Anglo-Celtic Connections has a post called “Blame, or credit, the ancestors” which looks at “Epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of altered stress responses.” You need to read the post to find out more. It is an interesting theory and I can see instances of it in my own family history.

Since the 1000 days of remembrance of the War of 1812 began this week there is an interesting post from ActiveHistory.ca called “Podcast: “Whose War Was It, Anyway?” A Roundtable Discussion on the War of 1812.” If you are stuck inside with the heat, humidity and smog this might be a way of spending some of your time.

I enjoy the National Archives of England blog and this week it didn’t disappoint. They had a post called “A challenge and a solution” where they look at the photographic projects they are working on in the Collection Care studio. This is what an archives blog needs to be. They don’t only tell you stories regarding their collections; they also walk you through the process of conservancy and sorting their collections. This blog truly helps you understand what an archive does and the importance of supporting all that they do to preserve our history.

Marian’s Roots & Rambles has a post this week that says “Seriously, Not Everything is Online.” Everyone needs to remember that you cannot find everything online. I heard a statistic that said less than 1% of the information genealogists access is actually found online. The internet is a wonderful tool but not the only stop in your research process.

Find My Scottish Ancestors is starting a “(semi) regular” series on unusual words that they have come across during their research. The first post is “Old Scots Words – Afaldly or Afauldly.” I am looking forward to more of these posts.

What were your favourite blog posts this past week?

Let me know in the comments below.

Other bloggers that write their own lists are:

Genea-Musings – Best of the Genea-Blogs

British & Irish Genealogy

Ruth’s Recommendations

4 Comments / By Ruth Blair

Here are my favourite blog posts from this past week.

The National Archives UK blog had a post called “Dastardly Digital Dilemmas: 3) Telling Stories” which looks at the fact that the digital age can mean no written notes on documents. These written notes sometimes provide more information than just the document themselves.

The Family History Writing blog had a post called “The Record Keeper.” Anyone who does family history would be considered the family record keeper. This is a story about one such person and their adventures in preserving family records.

Brenda Dougall Merriman’s blog has a post this week called “The Power of the Record” where she is lamenting the lack of support from genealogy societies and groups in Canada to the decimation of Library and Archives Canada.

Canada is not the only country whose national institutions are in crisis. Ireland is having a similar problem. The Irish Genealogy News blog posted a press release from the Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland called “APGI: Ireland’s cultural institutions are in crisis.”

The one glimmer of good news in Ireland was that Eneclann and a partner have taken over the genealogy services at the National Archives of Ireland and National Library of Ireland.

I would like to congratulation the other bloggers who were mentioned in the Family Tree Magazine “Around the World in 40 Blogs” article, in particular Family History Across the Seas and British & Irish Genealogy. These are two blogs that I follow and enjoy reading.

What were your favourite blog posts this past week?

Let me know in the comments below.

Other bloggers that write their own lists are:

Genea-Musings – Best of the Genea-Blogs

British & Irish Genealogy