Genealogy of Today

Genealogy of today is varied and interesting in ways it has not presented it self so much in the past. At least it seems to me that there is a greater awareness of
genealogy in the community.

Sure we can say the programs on Television has helped to create this but I still think it has more to do with the events that Genealogists and Societies are doing.

I am a firm believer that the blogging concept created by whom ever, has a much larger impact on genealogy than many people thought would happen. I read an article that blogging is becoming blasse'. Maybe for the youth and business world but I do not think so for the genealogical community.

I agree that writing a blog story on your ancestor if you reiterate your information in a concise manner, better helps the search engines to pick up the data.
I think the more we blog properly and the more we encourage blogging the more
information we are going to garner.

Barbara Renick made a good point about cousin connections and family groupings.

I doubt if there is a blogger on line unless new that has not had some degree success with their blog since it's conception.

Hank Jones mentioned the being aware of the other than normal methods of locating kin. Sometimes our kin come hunting for us in a subtle way.

Randy Seaver this morning wrote about a blogger on the east coast in NY. I read this man's blog and somehow I knew what was coming and the thrill of his discovery by
accident, is a lot of how my genealogy develops.

I have a talk I presented a couple times about what I call my backwards genealogy.

There are times when we have to step outside the box to get into the box. At the many events I have recently attended it was interesting how many speakers, quietly eluded to the concept. I have found more information chatting to people than digging on the computer, I have located more kin with information I was so anxiously seeking right up the road and down the street so to speak than in a library.

Now this does not apply every day but I have learned the co mingling of genealogists can promote your genealogy ever bit as much if not more than going to
a library or meeting and then immediately leaving with out the community interaction that takss place by many.

I remember joining, many years ago a Genealogy Society in the San Diego area that did awesome presentations and great bits of information. But the person setting next to me had no idea who was searching for what name where in the society and they
had neglected themselves for information. I remember it clearly because one
presenter got up and gave a talk about his ancestor and I kept shaking my head. I had not heard that story from anyone but family all the years of my research. I asked him afterwards if his story true and he said, "yes" and I said then we share kin because that man was also my ancestor.

It amazes me how some stories are carried down with nary a beat being missed and others get all tangled and disorientated over a period of time. Stories are a vital
part of genealogy. If you have a memory or a story write it down. You can always go back and add tidbits as the brain recalls them. You do not need to share them but
I suspect over time you will. But it saves the story from being lost and the information that is garnered from the story there in is not lost forever.

Indians and Blacks( I don't like that word) but they carried their family history down only by stories for many generations. As the ancestors are tracking today they are finding the data to be most accurate in their research.

Maybe we should also start a story night once a week to share family events for the younger generations to remember. I look at blogging as a way of story telling and it is growing so we are doing it non oral but electronically verbal.