Inspiring Blogs 300Welcome to April … I know, no-one can believe that it is actually APRIL already.

I had a wonderful March reading LOTS of fabulous blog posts, and so we have a super-duper bumper bunch for you this month.

In this March list of Inspiring Genealogy Blog posts we have several that cover the topic of copyright, several on organisation, manners, how to search, what you need to do other than simply digitising your collection, collections at archives, how history is boring to the young generation and how to change that, breaking the stereotype … and a whole heap more!

As I mention every time, 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 Facebook, Twitter, and to some extent Google+, you already know that I like to share with you the interesting things I read.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat …
Jill Ball’s post on the Worldwide Genealogy blog made it into the list, because she writes about how there is “no one right way to do genealogy”. But as part of that, this also applies to the various stages of the research process, and the tools used to facilitate and record your research. Read the full article …

How to Organize Your Genealogical Digital Files
The We Are Cousins blog has been writing a series of posts to do with “Going Digital With Genealogy”, and this one about organisation, is the ninth in this series. Organising digital files is something that I believe almost everyone needs help with. On your computer you end up with text files, PDFs, scans, photos, you own camera photos, as well as those from your smartphone … so how do you find what you need … quickly? Read the full article …

Are Genealogists Wired Differently?
This is a post I discovered through social media, and doesn’t the title grab you? I know many wouldn’t hesitate in saying yes, I mean, afterall we do like searching for the dead. However Melody believes we are, but for a different reason. Read the full article …

Copyright and the Photo Negatives
Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist get some wonderful questions from her readers, which she answers, and in the process informs others about things they’ve never thought of. Such as this one “Reader Phyllis McLaughlin is a collector of old photographs and is struggling to balance her desire to use the photos she buys with the mandates of copyright law.” Read the full article …

Asking for Help the Right Way
When we are young, we are taught that there is a right way, and a wrong way to ask for something. And the same goes for genealogy as well. With social media and mobile devices, it seems that some have lost their manners. Barb totally nails it with this post. Read the full article …

The Status of Genealogical Searching
Think about this, a race car drive by a race car goes the way it should because he knows how to drive it to its best ability. But a race driven by anyone else, just wouldn’t perform the same. The same goes for genealogy database websites. To get the most out of them, you have to understand how the work! Read the full article ..

Dare I Do It
Recently Jill Ball hosted a Hangout on Air on the topic of ogranisation and how we handle our “filing/piling” system. Pauleen has had a look over her filing (paper files and digital files) and sees what works and what doesn’t, and what works for her. Read the full article …

Every Last Scrap of Information
Once again Judy Russell’s blog makes it into my “inspiring” list. We know about extracting EVERYTHING off of a document (whether we do it is another question, but we know we should). But rather than write about that as you would expect from the title, Judy writes about local histories (or as she calls them “vanity books”). She reminds us not to dismiss these books, because they can contain the most amazing bits of information, as she found with her own research. Read the full article …

Are we Wrong About Preserving Old Photos?
We all know about the importance of scanning old photographs to ‘preserve them for the future’, but is that enough? Marian has some great points as to why scanning alone is not enough. Read the full article …

Protecting Your Donated Collections
Michael from Mocavo writes this post which covers the all-important question “how to ensure your materials are preserved, and protecting your donated collections”. Trust me, it’s well worth a read. Read the full article …

Digital Preservation, or Why I Worry About Evernote
There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of talk about digitizing your collection/s, as well as people talking about how good Evernote is in helping you file and organise everything. Yvette Hoitink writes a fabulous article on the Worldwide Genealogy blog. It’s interesting to hear her suggestions, particularly as she’s worked in archives. Read the full article ….  

The Case of the Missing Bible Collection
Items get donated to archives to make sure they are preserved … right? Linda from the Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog, writes about a collection of family bibles in an archives. Which incles ones relating to her family. But what happens when an archives closes? Where do the items go? Where has this fabulous collection of family bibles gone? Read the full article …

Has Ancestry Dot Com Made Us Lazy As Researchers?
Do you like to follow the shaky leaves, or the search hints? Obviously some do, but not everyone does. They’re like me and enjoy playing detective by yourself. But the way the big-name-companies are going about things, they don’t give users a choice. Christine voices what I have been thinking for some time now. Read the full article …

Genealogy: What’s the Point?
Have you had anyone (family or otherwise) say “Genealogy, what’s the point?” to you. I’m sure most of you have. Kris from the Key to Your Tree blog, nails it with the answer “EVERYTHING”. Read the full article …

Breaking the Stereotype
When most people think of genealogy, they tend to think of an older demographic or those who have ample time on their hands to conduct family history research. Crestleaf recently interviewed D. Joshua Taylor, host of Genealogy Roadshow who is most certainly changing traditional genealogy “stereotype”. Read the full article …

6 Genealogy Sources You May Have Overlooked
Judy Webster gives readers more fabulous tips with a bunch of sources that you may have overlooked. So if your ancestor has vanished, and you think you’ve looked “everywhere’’, these might give you new avenues to look. Read the full article …

Objectify Email to Get a Grip on It
This post is actually nothing to do with genealogy, but rather a good read for those who struggle with their inbox. If you find it a constant struggle to cope with the daily emails, this will give you tips on how to tame the inbox. Read the full article …

What’s Wrong With Genealogy
I’m a fan of The Ancestor Hunt’s posts. Kenneth Marks comes up with such interesting topics, and this is yet another one. It’s an interesting question (or two) that he asks – and answers. I totally agree with him, but you can make up your own mind. Read the full article …

Seven Reasons Historians are Failing to Inspire the Next Generation
Some would say that the interest in history (particularly military history) has never been greater, however well known in military historian, Scott Addington has come up with some very valid points as to why not everyone is getting into history. Read the full article …

Copyright and family history: A Personal Perspective
Mark writes a very thought-provoking article in which he talks about writing an article, and wanting to include a bunch of family items. But then he realized he didn’t know if he could use them, as they could well be under copyright law. He then mentions the Orphan Works Licence which you can apply for (at least those in the UK can anyway). Once again, good stuff to know. Read the full article …

Happy reading 😉