Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

My good enough research log is good enough

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My good enough research logI wrote this post back in January of 2020. This informal logging method has stood the test of time for me. I’m still using it though I’ve moved from Evernote to Apple Notes. It’s not good enough for a professional genealogist but for my hobbyist self it keeps me on track, which is my top priority. I thought I’d repeat the post today. (The Evernote template pictured lasted exactly one month; I don’t use it any longer even during 30 x 30 challenges.)

We’re in the midst of a 30 x 30 challenge this month so I’ve been researching every day. It feels great. I have no more than 30 minutes (sometimes less) to research most days this month, so I rely on my research log to help me start each session.

I’ve blogged before about my research log and its value. This month, because I’m working on my RootsTech talk “The Imperfection Genealogist,” I’ve been reflecting on the fact that my very informal research log is far from perfect. But it’s certainly good enough.

How do I know it’s good enough? It’s because I’m in touch with why I want to keep a research log and the ways I use it. For me, it’s about knowing what I’ve researched in a given session and (perhaps more importantly) what my next steps are. It also tells me at a glance how frequently I’m researching. I keep my research log in Evernote, but I track of all my documents and family tree elsewhere, so I’m not creating source citations or storing documents in my research log. You might have a research log for different reasons. And yours may be very different from mine. And that’s great.

My good-enough research log is an Evernote notebook by year (I started the 2020 research log notebooks ten days ago), pinned as a shortcut in the sidebar. Each time I research, I open the notebook, create a new note with today’s date, and then write in free from what I worked on that day. I write down the questions that come up. I write down any discoveries. And I end the session by writing down the next steps. That way, when I start the next session, whether it’s the next day or the next month, I know where to start. That’s been a huge time saver for me. (I blogged in more detail about my research log in this post. About a year ago, I wrote a post about how my research log keeps me focused.)

This month, I’ve added an Evernote template that allows me to check off that I completed a session and I also add how many minutes I researched, because I’m hoping that I’ll get in 900 minutes in the 30 x 30 challenge, even if I don’t manage 30 minutes in some individual sessions. This is motivating to me, because when I see the checkmarks each day it makes me want to not break the chain. I also jot down in a couple of words what type of work I did. The picture at the top of this post is screenshot of the note that contains the template, which is in addition to my usual daily note but also stored in the 2020 research log notebook. (To get that template, I clicked on New Note, then on Template right in the note, then Habit Tracker in the Template Gallery. That inserted the template into the note and I edited it a bit.)

When I first started contemplating creating a research log in 2012, I could understand its value but I got wrapped up in trying to do it perfectly. Predictably, my first attempts failed. But as soon as I got in touch with what I really wanted out a research log and I made it easy to accomplish, things fell into place. Now, I’m glad to say that I’ve developed a habit of logging my session every day.

A couple of years ago, I created a Facebook group called Genealogy Research Loggers. We’re a pretty quiet group, but if you’d like some help and accountability for creating a research log habit, please join us!

For detailed information on how I organize my own genealogy research (including my research log), check out my Orderly Roots Guide, How I Do It: A Professional Organizer’s Genealogy Workflow, available for $19.99.

Switching from Evernote to Apple Notes

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I was a happy Evernote user for ten years. (Click on the Evernote tag below or search for the word Evernote above to read the articles I wrote about that.) It took me a little while to embrace Evernote. I think part of my problem was that I didn’t like the way it looked. But I got used to it and created a lot of notebooks for both my genealogy and my organizing business (and my life!). I kept my genealogy research log in Evernote.

I started with a free version, then moved to a $50 Premium version that allowed me access to my Evernote notebooks even when I was offline. The price was raised to $70 and I paid that for seven years. But then, after Evernote was sold, they raised the price to $130 a year. And they made the Free version all but useless.

I found that price hike egregious, so I decided to jump ship. I did a little research and opted to use Apple Notes, which came with my Mac and iPhone and is available at no additional cost. (I’m already paying extra to Apple for 2TB of iCloud storage space.)

It turns out that the process of transferring my data to Apple Notes isn’t difficult, but it has to be done a notebook at a time. I have 200 notebooks. So I’m working on it a few notebooks at a time. The process is easy. Here’s what I do on my laptop, using the Evernote app (not the website):

  1. Select a notebook to transfer
  2. Highlight all the notes in that notebook
  3. Click File, Export
  4. Select ENEX format and click Export
  5. Create a filename that matches the notebook name and click Save.
  6. Go to Apple Notes
  7. Click File, Import to Notes
  8. Select the file you just created, then click Import
  9. Rename the notebook from the default name Imported Notes

Then go to the next notebook.

I created a little screen share video for those who prefer to see these instructions in action.

It’s worth noting that I’m not transferring everything…there are notebooks that I really don’t need again. I’m making that evaluation as I go along. Little by little the transfer will get done. In the interim, I’m making sure to add all new notes in Apple Notes, not Evernote. Once the Evernote transition is complete, Apple Notes will be my comprehensive go-to repository of notes.

My understanding is that I can use my existing notebooks without paying. The free version limits me to one new notebook with 50 notes but I wouldn’t lose my current notes and I can export, delete and merge existing notes. However, I haven’t tested that because when I went to cancel I was repeatedly offered a lower price to stay on. So I accepted an offer of $65 (less than the $70 I was prepared to pay) for one last year. I figure it will give me some time to make this transfer without feeling any pressure or feeling like I’m shackled. The key, of course, is to keep chipping away at it and not wait until the end of the year to work on it.

It feels great not to have to budget money for what turned out to be a redundant app for me.

Follow-up notebooks to the rescue!

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I’ve been using follow-up notebooks in Evernote for years to keep track of clues that I come across so that I don’t get distracted from my current research question. I have follow-up notebooks by Surname in my Evernote Genealogy stack. I also have a notebooks called Library Look Ups, where I paste links to FamilySearch documents that must be accessed from the Family History Library or one of its affiliates.

Two days ago, I met up with my genealogy buddy, Vickie, at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters’ Genealogy and History Library. The headquarters is closing tomorrow for more than year for renovation. While some of the genealogy collection is moving to another branch starting July 5, the resources won’t be as abundant.

Vickie and I thought it would be a good idea to pay one last visit while we could. We scheduled it a few weeks ago, before my trip to Walla Walla. Because of family and work obligations, I just haven’t had time to do genealogy research or even prepare as I normally would for this library trip.

So I just showed up with my computer at the library, with no plan or research question. But, thanks to my follow-up and library look-up notebooks in Evernote, I actually had a productive time! I first looked up everything in the library look-up notebook and then turned my attention to the follow-up notebooks by surname. That kept me busy the whole time I was there. And it got me away from the “what should I work on?” question that sometimes bedevils me.

I heartily recommend having a spot to record look-ups and follow-ups so you easily start researching when the opportunity arises.

Quick Tip #13: Create follow-up notebooks to stay focused

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Here’s the next in my occasional series of bite-size Quick Tips. Click on the Quick Tips tag for my other Quick Tips. Because I tend to write longer posts, I wanted to provide a quick-to-read (and quick-to-write) post every couple of weeks on a small topic that pops into my head. This one has saved me from going down a rabbit hole many times.

Create follow-up notebooks to stay focused

I love playing detective, which is probably why I love genealogy research. So when I’m looking for information online it’s really hard to resist exploring every clue or idea that comes my way in the course of a research session. But if I do follow every lead, I often end up far away from where I intended to go.

That’s where follow-up notebooks come in. I have created follow-up notebooks by surname in Evernote. (This could certainly be accomplished in other platforms, in a tab in a spreadsheet, or on paper.) When I come across a clue or resource that has no bearing on the research question at hand, I just make a new note in the appropriate follow-up notebook. Later, when I’m researching that surname, the note is waiting for me. I don’t have to worry about forgetting it!

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash