First, from Genea-Musings and our friend Randy Seaver, a subject near and dear to my heart — The Online Family Trees Conundrum. There are a whole bunch of budding genealogists coming online in the wake of Ancestry.com’s successful Who Do You Think You Are TV series. That, and Ancestry’s commercials touting how easy it is to find your family history in somebody else’s files — makes me nervous.

Take a moment and think about what happens if you post or copy family information that is either a) wrong or b) unsourced. If thousands of people are doing the same thing, the wrong information soon becomes the the most common, albeit wrong belief. It can take years to sort it all out and none of it is the fault of the online services. It all comes back to you and me. Please take a look at Randy’s post.

Next, a post that’s actually two topics, from Dick Eastman over at Eastman’s Online Genealogy — We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint. First off, some full disclosure — I spent a whole bunch of years working for the world’s richest man and I’ve suffered through more PowerPoint presentations than any man/woman should ever be exposed to. I may have brain damage as a result, so take that into consideration when I say, “PowerPoint is the root of ALL evil.”

Dick doesn’t take it quite that far, but he does suggest an interesting alternative to mind-numbing slides. More importantly, it’s the content of his sample presentation that’s most important. It’s called “Oh My Goodness, Where’s My Data” and it embodies some of the best advice I’ve ever seen on data backup, storage, and preservation.

And finally, a belated homily to mothers everywhere — from Diane Haddad over at Genealogy Insider… “Mom Always Said…“. Be sure to play the YouTube video at the bottom… all the things a mom would say in a 24 hour period, set to the William Tell Overture.

So how ’bout you? Got any favorite genealogy blogs?