Research Logs (National Institute)

Research Ideas Log and Research Log
Each couple’s file should include a Research Ideas Log and Research Log. I keep mine at the back of the files so I can locate them quickly. Alternatively these sections can be a part of the Notes for each person in your genealogy software. The notes of a pedigree analysis can go in the ancestor’s file. The ideas for research so generated can be placed on the Research Ideas Log and be acted upon as convenient. When you have accessed a source and searched it, write this in the Research Log as having been completed, together with a note as to whether it was successful or not. Keep generating ideas until you eventually solve each puzzle.

The Research Ideas Log is a compilation of your ideas on further sources to search, as in the example from my agnatic line shown in the following chart.

Research Ideas Log for: William and Mary Ann Gardner

The Research Log is a list of all the work you have done on this family, as in this chart.

Research Log for: William and Mary Ann Gardner

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