Tracking Your Research

Photo by Dan Dimmock on Unsplash

​Depending on your style, we all have different methods for tracking our genealogy and genealogy research. If you’re like me, you are trying to find the best way to keep your research organized. Here are some ideas. Let’s look.

When doing research for clients, I have a method of organizing and tracking their family history and my research. However, as much as I keep my information organized for my own family, after forty plus years of research (pre and post computer) for four family lines, it can become an unwieldly beast. Periodically I like to look to others for ideas of how they manage their work. Related to this, finding ways to stay organized while researching is another skill that we all can use. Ideally, you should be able to pick up where you left off when researching a particular branch or individual. Here are some ideas. I am not endorsing these but wanted to give you some options and ideas.

1. Look for a video, webinar or training session to help you jump start your research plans. There are several sites offering this type of planning.
   1. Genealogy In Action
2. If you prefer reading (like I do), here are a few sites with great ideas.
   1. How to Create a Genealogy Research Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide - Family History Zone
   2. How To Create Your Genealogy Research Plan - Are You My Cousin?
   3. 3 Reasons You Need a Genealogy Research Plan
   4. Implement Your Genealogy Goals - MelNel Genealogy
3. Using tools to help you stay organized.
   1. 4 Ways I Use Notion in My Genealogy Life
   2. 7 Tech Tools to Organize Your Family History Collection
   3. Understanding Your Family History & Tips For Curating Genealogy Resources & Research

I hope you are inspired to track your research and organize your family history. It is an ongoing process, isn’t it? And like all ideas and tools, they are only useful if they work for you. One of the ideas I plan to start implementing is to journal about my research. I’m not putting pressure on myself to write anything elaborate. Instead, I plan to jot down the basics: date, person, where researched, what I found (or didn’t find) and next steps. I think by keeping it simple, I will be able to use this when I pick up my research again and will know if I’ve incorporated the data into my family or if I still need to do that. Good luck with tracking your own family history. Happy Researching!