Blogging for Genealogists
Birdie Monk Holsclaw, CG — 7472 Mt. Sherman Road, Longmont, CO 80503 — <birdie@holsclaw.net>
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Blogs and bloggers are in the news, and we genealogists can tap in to
this tool. Learn about this low-cost method of storing and sharing
information on the Internet, and the add-on tools which allow you to
keep family and fellow researchers up-to-date on new discoveries. |
What is a blog?
A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged
chronologically — like a what's new page or a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies
greatly — from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea,
to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction. ... Blog posts are like instant
messages to the web. —— Blogger.com
What is blogging?
- Finding and reading blogs (see "Recommended Blogs for Genealogists")
- Creating your own blog (see "Blogging Services")
- Sharing your blog with the world (indexing, syndication) (see "Additional Blogging Tools")
- Adding comments to other folks' blogs
Blogging Services (free and paid)
Additional Blogging Tools
- BlogThis! button on Google toolbar (for Blogger.com and Internet Explorer)
- Download from < http://toolbar.google.com >
- Similar "blog buttons" may be available as extensions for other blogs and other browsers
- Picasa (graphics organizing) and Hello (graphics sharing) software
- To submit your blog's URL to Google, go to < http://www.google.com/addurl.html >
- News readers (aka news aggregators)
Recommended Blogs for Genealogists
Holsclaw blogs:
- "Blog experiments," last updated 28 September 2004. Shows 8 types of posts: regular text, 3 kinds of Web site links — post from a post, post from a Web page, post from a subscription web page; e-mail,
another blog, photo, audio clip. < http://cogennews.blogspot.com >
- "Willard Brittell," last updated 9 October 2004. Has 20+ posts all related to research about Willard Brittell, who attended the 1904 and 1926 reunions of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (not
a Colorado student, however; he attended the Illinois school); consists of citations, some extracts & transcripts, and links to numerous census and other images. < http://csdb-brittell.blogspot.com >
- "CSDB Pupil - Enos B. Loughran," last updated 16 October 2004. Has almost 20 posts related to research about a CSDB student; in additions to citations, extracts/transcripts, and links, there is a biographical
sketch, modifications to the sidebar, photographs incorporated into posts. Some knowledge of HTML would be useful to create such a blog. < http://csdb-loughran.blogspot.com >
Recommended Reading
Dick Eastman, "Blogs Explained," Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, 14 December 2004; Internet <
http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/12/blogs_explained.html >.
Dick Eastman, "What is a Wiki and Why Should I Care?" Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, 20 December
2004; Internet < http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/12/_what_is_a_wiki.html >.
Dick Eastman, "People of the Year: Bloggers," Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, 1 January 2005; Internet
< http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2005/01/people_of_the_y.html >.
Numerous Help pages at Blogger.com: