Tag Archives: Research

Re-Do-Over Month #3

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Because I had already done the self-interview and the parents interview I decided to move on to Month 3 Topics.

Genealogy Do-Over Month 3 Topics:

Month 3 Topics Include:

  • Tracking Research
  • Conducting Research

And my progress:

Step 1: Tracking Research – I have decided to go with EverNote instead of OneNote.

I have set up my research notebooks in EverNote. These binders include:

  • Research Goals (To Do List) – These have check boxes so I can check them off when I have completed them.
  • Linkable Notes that contain the documents that satisfied proof points
  • Timelines that I will complete as I input the documents.
  • Research Logs for each item searched.

Step 2: Conducting Research

In conducting my research, I will take one data point at a time and find the proofs. As I find a document, I will transcribe the information and be sure to pull all the information out of each document.

If I find a document that leads to a different question, I will NOT start researching it, I will instead add it to my To Do List. This will keep my attention focused on the document at hand. I am hoping this will stop the running down rabbit holes until early morning hours haha.

The use of To Do List, timelines and research logs did help a lot last time, and it still helps keep my focus where it needs to be. (Most of the time anyway, I do still get stuck in the BSOs, but not nearly as often, this is something I am trying to work on)

Not a lot has changed in this area since my first do-over. Let’s see what Month 4 brings me!

#Wk3GenealogyDoOver

Re-Do-Over Week 1

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I decided that I was going to restart my do-over after an absence and with a little experience from my last do-over that got interrupted by life. Let’s see how it is coming.

Steps of week 1 include:

  1. Setting previous research aside.
  2. Preparing to research
  3. Establishing base practices and guidelines.

Here is what I have redone:

Step 1: Setting previous research aside.

  • I again put everything I had done before aside. Starting fresh, hopefully for the last time!

Step 2: Preparing to research.

  • I made a list of things that I will have available to me when I begin my research. That includes:
    • On the last do-over I was trying to decide to use Legacy or Family Tree Maker and was actively using both. After trying many programs, I finally feel most comfortable with… Roots Magic!! Wasn’t even using that one at all last time, but I am in love with several features in Roots Magic (more on this later)
    • Evernote–  I used this on the last do-over but not very extensively, now it is my organization for EVERYTHING!
    • OneNote – I am only using OneNote a slight bit, and plan to stop using it all together. I love many things about this program, but it takes absolutely FOREVER to sync on my phone when I have done some work on the computer. MUCH faster to do with Evernote. It took some time for me to adapt and figure out how the best way for me to use Evernote and now I am completely satisfied with Evernote!
    • My Research Log – I now keep a research log in both my Evernote and Roots Magic.
    • My research goals need to always be open to help keep me on task and focused. (These I used to keep in the Excel file from Thomas MacEntee, but I am working on where to keep these now.) I have them in Evernote, but I want to get a cork board and keep them right above my desk in printed format for the main ones I am focused on.
    • Evidentia – It takes a bit to enter all the information off some documents, but I think it also helped me to think of ALL THE FACTS that were on each document. (Not just the ones that I picked out.) If you haven’t tried Evidentia, I recommend that you check it out and see if it is right for you.
    • Clooz – I did some beta testing for this, and have gone back to using it. It helps me keep track of what I have and where in my “filing system” it is. It keeps track of my documents while Evidentia keeps track of my facts.

Step 3: Establishing base practices and guidelines.

  • I am working on this system every time I come to a new form of information. I have a notebook in Evernote for my base practices and as I come to something I haven’t outline exactly how to handle, I make a new note and write guidelines as to how to handle this type of information. So I do it the same, every time. This will help me create the consistency I was previously lacking. This is not my favorite thing to do, I love doing genealogy, love doing the research and I am even liking the overall work flow I am going on, but documenting my processes is NOT on my top 10 list of things to do. I do see the value in it though!

Now on to WEEK 2 or the Re-Do-Over…