Collecting random bits of genealogy news.
Kathryn Sheranko has an article, Locals decode the past through genealogy, in the Cranberry Journal (PA), about normal, every day genealogists, and the brick walls they hit and the solutions they find. Just a positive article about genealogy as a hobby, as well as mentioning the value of genealogy clubs.
I see that Clooz 2.0 is undergoing beta testing. Clooz is billed as a “electronic filing cabinet that assists you with search and retrieval of important facts you have found during the ancestor hunt” by its developers, and they’ve certainly added a few interesting things.
Three things about this new version of Clooz jumped out at me (and they certainly helped me decide to add this to my collection of genealogy software)
I’ve been looking at new digital cameras as I want to upgrade for various reasons (not the least of which I’m into gadgets and love seeing new stuff). There have been three sites (and especially their user forums) that were extremely helpful to my getting up to speed on the latest and greatest, and I just wanted to mention them:
– Steve’s Digicams – Great forums, lots of information
– Rob Galbraith’s site – Lots of information to crunch through
– DPReview.com – Same as above, and I have spent many hours browsing their forums (they have a great photo retouch forum in addition to the normal camera-oriented forums).
The Internet Genealogy Community Study and its blog are back in action, starting up this week (monday to be precise).
Kylie Veale and her site, are, in her words, An Australian ‘Internet Studies’ PhD student researching online genealogy within the broader context of hobbyist Internet usage. How do genealogists use the Internet? What are the consequences of the development of genealogy as a significant Internet-based activity?
She has now published a “rolling draft” of her Thesis Outline, located here, where she breaks everything out (what else would an outline be?). It’s very interesting that while genealogy has spawned more than a few degrees, this is one of the few, if not the only, degree/thesis based around the study of genealogists themselves, and how they use the internet.
It’s a great premise, after all, the two most revolutionary things to occur in genealogy in our lifetimes have been the advent of personal computers and access to the internet.
The Boston Globe has a business article from the Associated Press, by Adam Geller, Consumers turn to their DNA for answers, about, you guessed it, DNA testing and its uses, and its growing market. While they focus on one genealogist, Art Thomas, and mention quite a bit of detail about what all is involved when it comes to DNA testing and genealogy, they also focus on what is apparently a booming business. They also mention some of the other uses (genetic diseases, paternity, etc.).