Wow, it’s May already! Anyway I must apologise to you for not keeping up with my Inspiring Genealogy Blogs posts. I had intended to do them at the end of each month, but with tripping off on the 3rd History & Genealogy Cruise in February then, off to Utah for RootsTech in March – it left me playing catchup for some time.

So this is kind of a combined January to April collection of blogs that I’ve read, loved, and wanted to share with you.

I know that I’ve mentioned before that I find that reading blog posts helps me keep up with the latest news, products as well as what’s happening in general in the world of genealogy. And if you happen to already follow me on Twitter, and to some extent Google+, you already know that I like to share with you the interesting things I read.

Anyway I hope you find the following Genealogy Blogs … useful, and well, inspiring.

Who Belongs on the Family Tree?
Kirsty Wilkinson is the author or The Professional Descendant blog, and like many of us, and has limited time to add research her own family history. So she asks the question, “Just who should I be researching?” Or, to put it another way, “Who belongs on the family tree?”. Or putting it another way again, “who should she spend her time researching”? All the husbands of a 4x great grandmother, and for that matter, all of the children from each marriage as well? What about all of your 3rd and 4th cousins … and so on? Read the full story …

Keeping the Lights On
Craig G. Scott’s (President of Heritage Books) guest post on The Legal Genealogist blog really struck a cord with me, and it is most certainly written from a perspective that most people don’t consider. He write how genealogists greeted the announcement that the Family History Library would provide free lookups and page copies from its books with applause. The same enthusiasm is shown for the book snippets that appear on Google Books. But I can’t join in. Because this sort of conduct, by libraries and by Google Books, will harm authors and book publishers to the point where authors will not write and publishers will not publish. That will harm us all. Read the full story …

The Worst Genealogy Blogs of 2012
I admit the title hooked me in, as I’m sure it has you too, but I’m not going to spoil it by giving telling you the ending. So you can find out about the Worst Genealogy Blogs for yourself by reading the post. Read the full story …

A Blog is More Attractive than a Website
In this post, Carole Riley gives us good reasons as to why publishing your family history as separate articles in a blog rather than putting your full family tree online on a website is better. What are your thoughts? Read the full story …

Focusing on One Ancestor at a Time Keeps the Work Simpler
I’m pretty sure everyone can relate to doing multiple families (or branches) all at once, and it can get not only a little confusing, but rather overwhelming. In this post Barry tells us about his “Power of One” and how he focuses on one ancestor, one question and one record at a time. Read the full story …

A 10 Step Plan: Getting Sources & Citations Under Control
Let’s face it, sources and citations can really get you bogged down. They are important, as it is guaranteed that you will not remember that you got that piece of information from the book you borrowed from the library, or when you went and visited your aunt Jane. In this post Lynn has a plan on how to keep citing your sources in check and under control. Read the full story …

Protect Your Newspapers and Clippings
OK, maybe this isn’t a blog post as such, but it is an article that I found on the State Archives of Florida website which is most useful in advising about how to protect your newspaper clippings. And we ALL have newspaper clippings, and while scanning does give up a digital image, it’d be nice to keep the orginial too. This article tells you how to go about it. Read the full story …

Grabbing the Next Generation in Genealogy
This is Stephanie Pitcher Fishman’s report on RootsTech. Now she didn’t physically attend the conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, but thanks to the power of technology, she took advantage of the RootsTech livestreams and was able to listen to an amazing keynote address given by three gentleman greatly admired: Dennis Brimhall, Syd Lieberman, and Josh Taylor. They were all engaging, informative, and inspiring. And her take on it all  … we need to grab the next generation. Read the full story …

5 Guaranteed Ways to Mess Up Your Genealogy
Archives.com have some up with some sure-fire ways that you can mess up all your work. Now why would they do such a thing? To use as examples of to NOT do of course. Read the full story …

Online Family Trees – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Have you put your family tree online in the hope that relatives will contact you and you’d have connections, only you then discovered you family tree and photos appearing on other websites. So someone took your tree and ran. Sadly, courtesy seems to have have died, at least in this instance. Read Lorene’s take on online trees.
Read the full story …

Is Genealogy History or is All History Genealogy?
It’s a good question isn’t it. And trust me the most you think about it, the more you’ll get confused! Anyway in this post James. L. Tanner asks us “when was the last time you took a class on the history of the country you live in? When was the last time you took a class on the history of the country your ancestors came from?” In many cases, trying to find your ancestors may be impossible without a clear understanding of the local history of the area. Read the full story …

Scott’s Third Set of Tips for ‘Real World’ Family History and Genealogy Fans
Scott focuses on keeping his tips valuable, yet simple and as cheap as possible! He starts off by saying “toss the term genealogy in the trash bin”! Read the full story …

There really is a bit of everything covered in these blogs from preservations, to general research tips, to social history, to tips on what not to do in your blog.

Happy reading 😉