Research logs are a quick and easy tool to help you remember what you have done and when. It’s basically a document full of quick notes about your searches, the websites you used, the record collections you looked in, and what you did or did not find.
Here are a couple of reasons you need one:
It reminds you of what you have already done.
There’s no point in searching for the same names, dates, and spellings in the same collection. Keep track of what you have already searched for so you don’t have to repeat it.
New records are added all the time.
If you already looked in a certain collection in March but hear they are adding more records in May, your research log will help you keep things straight. What did you search for last time? Was that before or after the new records were added? You can’t always rely on your memory - so write it all down!
Someone else can easily help you with your research!
If you decide to collaborate with another researcher, a family member, or even hire a professional genealogist, presenting your research log to them would be a great place for them to start their search. The research log would show that was has been covered and help them establish a plan for where to go next. They could even have suggestions on what else you could try based on what they see on your research log.
Now that you know why you should use a research log, let’s talk mechanics. Here’s an example from one of my research logs:
Always fill in something for each category on the page. Your research log will only be as useful as the information on it. Now let's enlarge some snippets from my research log and talk about what would go in each column.
The first column is “Search”, so record what you’re looking for. In this case, I was looking for a will. You could also call this an "Objective".
Next, we have“Person”. Put the person who is the subject of the record in this column. This allows you to sort your log by any person of interest.
Then we have the “Date of the Search”. It’s good to record this in case a collection is changed or new records are added to it. It will also help you to track what you have researched from one day to the next and can help you remember when you last worked on a project or person.
The fourth column is dedicated to the “Repository/Website”, in this case, Ancestry. Then I like to put the URL for quick access so that I can return to the exact page I referenced later.
Next is the citation. Writing it in your log the first time you look at the record is the best way to capture everything. (If you want to learn how to create citations click the link to read our blog post here.) Creating a citation and keeping it on your research log will save you a lot of duplicate work later on. You can easily copy and paste your citation from your research log to where you want it to go. This would be helpful if, for example, you decide to write a biographical life sketch for the ancestor you searched for, then you can easily copy and paste the citations from your research log into your other documents.
In the "Results" column, you can put whatever you need to remember. In this case, I was looking at a very long will. For my project, I just wanted to remember who the heirs were, so I wrote them out here. That saves me from having to reread the will for information later.
But what if I searched for Abner Smith’s will and did not find it? Still, record that! Negative searches are just as valuable to your research as positive results. Your negative searches will tell you where things are not and sometimes this can provide evidence that you could use to prove or disprove a hypothesis by its absence. I just change a couple of things in the way I log negative searches. In the URL I usually just put a link to the collection page instead of to a specific page or document in the collection. I would also tweak the citation to reflect the fact that it was a negative search., as seen below.
"Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991," negative search for Abner Smith, Chester, Hampshire, Massachusetts; database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 Jul 2022).
Then, in the results column, I put NIL (not in location) and any more details I want to save about how I searched such as date ranges, locations, etc.
The most important part of a research log is doing it in a way that works best for you. Here are a few formats we recommend trying:
Spreadsheet - you can do this in Google Drive or Excel. It has the benefit of column sorting to change the way your log is organized as you wish.
Airtable - this is similar to a spreadsheet with some additional features like grouping. You can even embed document images in their own column. There’s a free version that works very well but there are paid options with more features available as well.
ResearchTies - A research log software created by genealogist and professor Jill Crandell. It’s the only one out there created by a genealogist for genealogists. It is able to reduce duplicate data entry and has several ways to search and organize your logs. You can try it for free and an annual subscription is only $30.
Do you still need to be convinced or want to learn more? This video, titled “Research Logs”, posted by ICAPGen, will walk you through the hows, the whys, and each step of creating a research log.
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