National Archives Digitization priorities

Speaking of NARA, the agency asked the public what it wants digitized, and had a tremendous response. This article  from the NARA blog talks about where the focus will be over the next 18-24 months. Looks like quite a bit will be of interest to genealogists, especially those searching for naturalization or military-related records. Thanks to Research Buzz for both this information and yesterday's.

NARA Genealogy Fair on YouTube

Read here about the National Archives Genealogy Fair  to be broadcast live on YouTube on October 21st and 22nd. Experts will speak on a variety of topics, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions. If you can't tune in for the live presentations, recorded versions will be available online.

Valuation Rolls from Scotland

Free until October 13th: Valuation rolls from Scotland, circa 1855, on the Scotlands People website.
Thanks to SpittalStreet.com and ResearchBuzz.com for passing this along.

"Find a Grave" Event

If you're looking for an activity for your club, genealogy group, or family, the next Ancestry's  Find a Grave Community Day is October 17th. Contribute photos of graves in your local cemeteries

Google Books

Google Books is another good place to look for old family histories and other books of interest to genealogists. You can use the advanced search to zero in on what you are looking for. Some works are available in their entirety online. Others may only have a few chapters available online, with an option to buy the entire book.
You can also record the title and author and request that the library borrow it through interlibrary loan. If the book is held by a Florida library participating in the Navigator ILL system, you may be able to borrow it for free. Otherwise, their will be a fee, which will vary depending on where the book is coming from.

Preserving your genealogy work

Ever worry about what might happen to all the documents you have accumulated over the years when you're gone and your family has expressed little interest in their history? In this post on The Olive Tree Genealogy blog, the author offers a solution.

Genealogy Gophers

Genealogy Gophers is a website that searches a library of 40,000 out-of-copyright works that have been digitized by FamilySearch.org. Enter a name, than click on one of the results to see the full page where your ancestor is mentioned. You will also find the full title of the book, the year of publication, and where it is located.