Learn Genealogy - Research Logs - Episode 8

do you use a research log do you create a research plan before heading out on a genealogy research trip in this video I'll talk about how to save a ton of time combining both valuable tools into one document hi I'm Connie Knox a lifelong genealogist and over nearly 4 decades of research I've studied a lot about smart strategic genealogical research to prove lineage I'm here to share some of those techniques with you so stick around when I come back I'll show you in just a few minutes how it might just save you hours of research time [Music] research logs as opposed to research notes are often most underutilized tasks in a research toolkit I myself am guilty of not documenting every place I've looked however research logs are a vital part of our research and is a huge time saver so what is it a research log is a list of places researchers have looked for evidence and facts to answer a specific research question including where and when the research was conducted whether on location or online let's face it we love genealogy and we love spending time digging around for our ancestors but how many times do we write down every record group every book every cemetery every place we've researched so how do we keep a good research log and keep it handy when we need it if you want a format of what you should have in a research log you can find a free research log at familysearch.org or many other locations just google research log for genealogy and you'll find a variety of choices to fit your needs you should be documenting every place you've searched to answer your research questions and when you did the research why record when we did the research because things change records may have been added later history may have been rewritten due to better evidence or conclusions years later you or your descendants may want to know where and when you found that research as a side note I have a confession to make I'm addicted to software to saving time and to making my job easier I will take extra time to learn software that will ultimately save me tons of time down the road I'm a huge believer of making the software do the work for me therefore learn the basics of spreadsheets you don't have to do math for this I promise so here's my kill two birds with one stone research tip use research planning in combination with your research log by using spreadsheets especially when researching on location time is always in short supply as long as you need to keep a research log and you need to properly and strategically plan your research why not do them both in one document this is especially helpful when planning a research trip before you hit the road here's how to do it use your favorite spreadsheet like Excel or Google sheets and create a research log and a research plan template on one page next develop a research question for a given ancestor or family group then create a prioritized plan in your research that looks like a research log except it doesn't have the results yet however with advanced planning it should have the item or say book the author the location etc in the research plan slash log in advance of your actual research then when you're at the library archive you can follow the prioritize plan and save valuable time by not having to write everything down not having to write every detail down when time is in short supply on location you can even do this in your own office to save time by doing this you can also embed web links to the source with one click you'll have all of the start of your source citations and results found collectively all in one place in this example I was using different tabs across the bottom for different counties on a research trip to Salt Lake City you can store the spreadsheet on your computer and use a cloud service like Google sheets for easy access anywhere keep in mind that web links and cloud-based documents will need access to the Internet while researching on location most libraries and archives public locations have free access to the Internet I prefer to use my personal hotspot found in the settings on my cell phone because it's private and I find it faster than most public Wi-Fi services however cell phone hotspots are only as good as the cell phone service at the location with research logs the results positive or negative data found and the source information are all in one place from here you can cut and paste your positive findings and source information into your research notes all of this is a vital time saver and helps prevent repeating the same research and will help you to accurately prove your lineage I've created a free research log as an Excel template that you can download from the link in the show notes below the link will take you to my NC ancestry.com website and you can download it for free from there I hope this has helped you as much as it's helped me I was not a fan of doing research logs in the past but when you're at the library on a research trip time is always in short supply once I started really making good research plans in an effort to save time I realized I could keep the results on the same page then they started doing all of that on my little surface pro which I absolutely love for genealogy my research techniques have drastically improved now not only do I have a detailed research plan and a research log I have the beginnings of the next step to write my research notes and source citations many times if I write positive findings clearly in my research log I simply cut and paste them into my research notes make sure that you reference that you have a research log in your research notes so that you can continue on for the next trip lastly I file them just like I do my research notes surname first name and research log all in the file name I preference that with a two so that it rises to the second place in the person's electronic folder another tip I've started using Google Drive Google Docs and Google sheets so that I can access these documents on any device that may or may not be an option for you but I found that Google Docs and Google sheets to be the most reliable of the cloud-based document sharing sometimes before a big trip say to Salt Lake City I'll upload my files to Google Docs so that I can access and edit them from anywhere on any device as long as I have my sign-in if you found this helpful please give me the thumbs up and subscribe or ring the bell so that you'll get notified on the next video release so do you do research locks do you create a research plan before heading out on the next research trip I hope so let us know in the comment sections below until next time keep climbing your family tree [Music]

Channel: Genealogy TV

Views: 3,318

Rating: 4.9814816 out of 5

Keywords: learn genealogy, family history, family tree, familysearch.org, familysearch, research log, ancestry, genealogy, divorce, endnotes, how to, #genealogy, #familyhistory, facts, #genealogytv, genealogy tree, data, course, documents, grandmother, kin, ancestor, history, evidence, historical, footnotes, In Search of Your Family Tree, genealogy test, research plan, archives, file, beginner, heritage, free genealogy, free, library, education, genealogist, family, interview, genealogy websites

Id: Duq3zHwYcLQ

Length: 7min 35sec (455 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 10 2018