Taking their inspiration from National Novel Writing Month ("NaNoWriMo"), which challenges its members to write a complete novel in a month, a group of bloggers has issued the "NaBloPoMo" challenge - for bloggers to post at least once every day during the entire month of November. There is a social website dedicated to the site, providing inspiration and promotion opportunities for members' blogs. Visit the site (http://www.nablopomo.com/) for more information.

From CSI to The Maury Povich Show, DNA and DNA testing has become a part of American popular culture. But what is DNA?\nIn simple terms, DNA is a string of proteins that contain coded blueprints for our bodies. It tells our bodies how to grow. We inherit our DNA from our parents, which is where its genealogical value comes in.

Virginia Genealogy: A Guide to Genealogical Resources at the University of Virginia, compiled by Jean L. Cooper, rev. ed. 2005-2009. E-mail: jlc5f at virginia dot edu

The 150th anniversary of the American Civil War is upon us. The Civil War sesquicentennial (2011-2015) provides a fresh opportunity for a new generation to rediscover the many ways in which Ohioans played a key role in the war and in which the war - "this mighty scourge," as Lincoln described it - changed life in Ohio. The Civil War story in Ohio touches almost every community in the state, and this website is a place for those interested in its vast and fascinating history to come together around the anniversary of that time period.

In an earlier entry, this column reported on several resources available for online African-American research in Virginia. Many more resources are now available, some becoming so just in the past three months since that report, necessitating another visit to the subject.

A site that shows you how to piece together the past from the fragments that have survived. Our case study: Martha Ballard.