Saturday Serendipity (May 21, 2016)

Here are just a few recommended items of interest for your reading pleasure this weekend.  [By the way, we ended our rainy streak at 18 straight days earlier this week, but it is now predicted that we have a 100% chance of more rain and unseasonably cool temperatures again today!] 

1.  This week there is another thoughtful rumination from James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog.  You can read his thoughts on "Innovation and Change in the Genealogical Community" here.  You might also have a look at the post of May 17th titled, "Digging Deeper into United States Copyright Law -- What is and is not subject to copyright?" It is a very basic discussion of copyright law, but it is a short read. You can see the post here.

2.    If you believe you have ancestors or relatives that were involved in the New England whaling industry, you might find this NYT article of interest.  The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS mentioned the piece on illustrated logbooks of whaling ships during the 19th century. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is woking on a book titled "The Art of the Yankee Whale Hunt: Manuscript Illustration in the Age of Sail."  Since the museum owns 2,300 logbooks and about 100 of them are now online, you never know what you might find concerning your whaling ancestors or relatives. [You can get link in the article.] Good hunting! 
  
3.  Here is a rather heart-wrenching story about an adopted woman's search for her biological roots.  It is a story of rejection, determination, and resolution that makes for an emotional read.  NEHGS again provided the link, but you can read the piece from Good Housekeeping online here and see photos and a brief three and a half minute video of one determined woman!

4.  The Vault posted a very interesting piece on a list compiled in December 1942 by the U.S. Office of War Information documenting the lies told by Adolf Hitler on his way to power and thereafter. You can read the post and see images of the 11-page list here . . . and see if perhaps the rhetoric resonates in some way.

5.  The Legal Genealogist blog by Judy Russell has what I consider a "must read" about staying aware of records access issues.  Judy provides valuable links to sites where we can all learn more about the danger to records access and how we can become involved. As Judy puts it, "Records access isn't something we can take for granted -- and it's not a responsibility we can leave to someone else. We all need to stay informed and to speak out when necessary." You can read Judy's most recent post on the subject here and you can also look at Judy's original post (now to be known as Part 1) here.

6.  Janine Adams, of Organize Your Family History blog, has a post about a clever and useful research aid that she has developed to remind and assist her research into ancestors/relatives who fought in various wars and conflicts.  I have read of similar documents to the one Janine has developed for herself.  Janine now provides a valuable link to a table called Ages of Servicemen in Wars that allows collection of data across 20 conflicts.  See how Janine has adopted and adapted the table by reading her post here  . . . and you get the link to the table. 

7.  With Memorial Day just over a week hence, it is time to start thinking about ways you might be able to contribute to one of the greatest genealogy-blog-created research tools of which I am aware.  I am speaking, of course, about Heather Rojo's "Honor Roll Project."  The project began on Heather's Nutfield Genealogy blog and now has its own home at http://honorrollproject.weebly.com.  Unless I have missed it, I have not yet seen a post on Heather's blog about joining the project for this Memorial Day, but please have a look at this very useful research tool and see if you can contribute this Memorial Day! 
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Copyright 2016, John D. Tew

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