Weekly Genealogy Picks: Dec 30-Jan 5

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

• In Are You Reading the Originals Bill Dollarhide at GenealogyBlog takes a look at US Census Records, and the different copies that were made in different census years.

• A collection of letters from WW2 Japanese Internment Camps has been discovered in Denver. (hat/tip: NGS)

• Judy G. Russell at The Legal Genealogist examines the impact of pseudonyms on copyright

• Congress has asked the Copyright Office to study the challenges of the current system for resolving small copyright claim disputes, as well as possible alternative systems. A report from the study is due in September of 2013. (hat/tip: Digitization 101)

• Maria Konnikova at Slate asks "Do You Think Like Sherlock Holmes?" and wonders if our obsession with electronic devices is preventing us from both seeing and observing.

• Randall Munroe, of XKCD entitled the below comic, "Instagram," but the metaphor is appropriate for any free online service.

Controversy

• The Daughters of the American Revolution were accused of removing "Jesus" from their ritual and missals. DAR clarified their position.

• The National Newspapers of Ireland announced a new licensing arrangement where websites would have to pay to simply link to their articles. They have since clarified that they only seek payment when the links are for commercial purposes, not personal purposes. (It's unclear how they feel about Google and other commercial search engines indexing their websites.) And at least one newspaper in the collective, The Irish Times, has stated it encourages linking to their articles

Poetry

• Saint Francis - Judith Richards Shubert - Genealogy Traces

• My Six-Month DAR Membership - Tricia Knoll - New Verse News

Other Weekly Lists

• Ruth's Recommendations - Ruth Blair - The Passionate Genealogist 
• Fab Finds - Jana Last - Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
• From the Blogs - Michael J. Leclerc - Mocavo Genealogy Blog
• Genealogy Round Up - Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak - MSS Roots World
• Friday Finds - Julie Cahill Tarr - GenBlog

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next two weeks
Two Week Calendar

• Jan 6 - Epiphany (Christian)
• Jan 6 - Feast of the Theophany (Orthodox Christian) 
• Jan 7 - Nativity of Christ (Orthodox Christian)
• Jan 7 - The Festival of Seven Herbs (Japan)
• Jan 13 - Maghi (Sikh)
• Jan 13 - Orthodox New Year/Old New Year (Eastern Orthodox)
• Jan 14 - Ratification Day (US)
• Jan 17 - Blessings of the Animals (Hispanic Catholic)
• Jan 19 - Timkat (Ethiopian Orthodox Christian)
• Jan 20 - World Religion Day (Baha'i)