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 lesson on imperfection is one I embrace on a daily basis in most aspects of my life.
An imperfect research log is better than no log at all
As I’ve written here before, I struggled for years with guilt over not having a research log. Every now and then I would try one and then I would give up because it felt like too much work. But then I embraced ease and I started a simple, extremely imperfect, Evernote research log where I simply free-write what I did during each session in a new note in my Research Log notebook. I go into it in some detail in this post.
The fact that it’s so easy to log my research means that I actually do it. One key component of my log is that I write down the next action at the end of each session so I can pick up where I left off. I find it really helpful to check my previous session’s log at the beginning of a new session.
It’s certainly possible to do a more robust research log. And you’ll surely benefit from it. But I’ve come to acknowledge that my imperfect log is perfect for me. And that’s what it’s all about.
P.S. If the topic of genealogy research logs is of interest to you, you might want to join my Genealogy Research Loggers Facebook group. It tends to be a pretty quiet group, but you can always post there looking for guidance.
Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash
Why Evernote rather than just a Word doc?
For me, an Evernote research log (a note for each day inside a notebook) is much more manageable than a Word document. I can also use the search function as well as tags to see just the relevant notes. I think an Evernote notebook is less unwieldy than either a series of Word documents in a folder or one long Word document. But it’s all personal preference.
Thank you.
Hi Janine – just wanted to pass on my thanks for the great series of articles you have on your site, particularly the ones relating to research logs. They’re a fantastic foundation for organised and directed family history research, and I appreciate how your pieces give ideas for making research logs accessible and non-intimidating (which I think they can seem if people haven’t used them before).
I’ve included a link to a list of your research log articles in a recent blogpost I made on Record Clustering Analysis (cited toward the end of this article when discussing the “Glutton” research style https://parchmentrustler.com/family-history/record-clustering-analysis/), so I hope it’ll encourage more people to explore your suggestions and start using logs in their genealogy work! Thank you 🙂