Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Embracing Evernote

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A couple of days ago I wrote that I was ready to give Evernote a try in organizing my genealogy notes. The truth of the matter is that it’s been a crazy busy week in my business and I haven’t had a chance to do any family history research and give Evernote a test drive.

On Wednesday, I did a web search to try to get my head around how Evernote could help me with my family history research. I quickly was overwhelmed when I didn’t find exactly what I needed. So I stopped looking.

But then, while I was at the gym, I listened to Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast comparing Evernote to Microsoft’s OneNote. That led me to her Premium Video all about Evernote. And that was all I needed to really feel comfortable with giving Evernote a trial run.

I am so excited by the notion that, using Evernote, I can quickly keep and organize my notes, documents, newspaper articles as I come to them during the course of my research. I have a feeling that my consumption of printer paper and toner is about to go down.

I’ve known about Evernote for years and had friends show me how they use it. But I never felt like I had the problem it was solving.  But now I can see how it really might simplify my genealogy life. And I look forward to telling you that I’m right. (I promise to tell you if I’m wrong, too!)

Exploring Evernote for genealogy

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Evernote logoI blogged awhile back that I wanted to start using research logs for my genealogy research. I have to admit, it’s been a bit of a failure. I found the Excel spreadsheet format I used constricting and then I didn’t remember to log my research. But I’m convinced it’s important and I want to refocus my efforts. This morning, I did a little Google searching to try to find suggestions for formats for research logs that might be more useful for me.

As part of that searching, I stumbled upon an article entitled Evernote: The Total Recall Research Log in the Winter 2011 issue of Forum, the Magazine of Federated Genealogical Societies. It’s all about on using Evernote, the cloud-based note management technology, to create and  maintain research logs.

I’m intrigued. I’ve used Evernote sporadically for a few years but have been wanting to learn more about it. As I’ve heard genealogy buffs extol its virtues for help with family history research, I’ve been meaning to explore it more. Today, I think I’ve finally activated that aspiration.

I downloaded the latest version of Evernote for the Mac. I updated the app on my iPhone. I entered my first note. I’ve read articles on the web. And if I feel I need a little extra help, I’ll download the Family Tree University on-demand video class, Using Evernote.

I think my interest in using research logs will dovetail nicely with my interest in using Evernote more for genealogy research. When I look at the Total Recall Research Log of Genealogical Research, which shows detailed research log entries in Evernote, I’m really drawn in.

Do you use Evernote to help you in your family history research? If so, how?

The genealogy research log

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I’ve been really bad about keeping a genealogy research log. I’ve seen references to the importance of them and I even tried keeping a handwritten one in my genealogy spiral notebook when I first started back on this journey earlier this year. But that soon fell by the wayside.

Just this week, as I was thinking about my research while using the elliptical trainer at the gym. (It turns out that the elliptical machine and the shower are where my great ideas come to me–and they’re both places where it’s hard to write those ideas down.) I realized that a research log would be very helpful to avoid duplicating research and to see where I’d left off.

I thought about how the log really needed to be searchable, so it should probably be a spreadsheet. I’m really not a spreadsheet kind of gal–they seem so restricting to me. And I pondered if I could get away with it being in a Pages document. (I’m a Mac user–Pages is the Mac’s version of Word.)

I intended today to fool around with creating a Pages template for a research log. But then I opened the January/February 2013 issue of Family Tree Magazine and read an article called Logging On, all about creating a research log. It made me realize that sorting was as important as searching for my log. So I guess I’ll be using a spreadsheet. I could use Numbers (Mac’s version of Excel) or Google Docs. Call me nuts, but I have a distrust of the cloud. I want this info stored on my computer. So I’m going with Numbers.

Happily, the article also gave some really clear guidelines on setting up the log, including suggested column headings. (They include date, name, record or resource, info sought, source citation, etc.) Also included in the article is a sidebar with a list of blogs and websites with how-tos on setting up a research log. One really kind of excited me. It’s Miriam’s Census Spreadsheet, in which Miriam has created a great way to keep track of what census and vital records data she has found for her ancestors. I think that in addition to a research log, I’m going to try to create a similar spreadsheet.

Setting up the spreadsheet for my research log will be the easy part. The hard part will be creating the habit of using it. I teach workshops on building habits and routines, so I might be a step ahead of the game. I know that I’m very capable of creating habits. (I whittle my email inbox down to zero every day and go to the gym three times a week, for instance.) The first challenge will be remembering to do use the log. Something as simple as a sticky note might help with that.

Intellectually, I understand the value of the research log. I think once I start using it, I’ll quickly experience its value. And that reward will help me create the habit.

December 28 is a great day to decide to create a new habit. I’m hopeful that within a few months I can proudly say that I keep a genealogy research log without even thinking about it!