How to Organize Your Research Journal
You’ll get the best results from using a research journal if you keep it organized in a simple, straight-forward manner. A good layout that generally works well is to use columns with the headings)

• Date Searched
• Records Sought
• Name Variations Searched
• Repository Searched
• Description and Source Citation
• Results

Let’s go over each heading briefly to better understand the benefits of recording such data, and the best way to enter it into your journal.

Date Searched

The immediate benefit of imputing the date is obvious, but an additional benefit is that if the records get updated, you will know if you have searched the most recent, or if you can look for new results in an updated database.

Records Sought
Again it’s obvious why you would record the types of ancestry record you searched in. This helps to avoid wasting time with duplicate searches in databases you have already consulted, but also narrows the field of possible records still to be searched.

Name Variations
Many researchers overlook this very important entry. There are so many spelling variations of both forenames and surnames, especially in older records, that it is critical you record each variation you use. Also record the various methods you used during your searches. For example, did you search for first name or last name only, or for results in a particular city, county, state, or overseas locations? This listing can also serve as a name variation database and search strategy for when you search other records in the future.

Repository Searched
Indicating where the records were found whether it is at a brick-and-mortar archive or library, or an online database, allows you to quickly visit that source if you seek similar r records in the future. Make sure you indicate whether the resource was online, on microfilm, in a book, or other resource. Be as specific as you can to make it as easy as possible to revisit that repository and the records you found there.

Source Citation
This should list a description of the records you found in the Records Sought column and all of the information you found in them, as well as the sources of that information, be they primary or secondary. You can simply list citations such as the microfilm number or book title and author, or you could write about it, describing everything in a description field.

Results
Remember, record both positive and negative results for every search you conduct. This helps you to quickly sort out which records are useful for your family and which are not. Having this information readily available allows you to efficiently plan research strategies, speeding up results and helping you to avoid genealogical roadblocks.

A genealogy research journal allows you to quickly see where you are in your research, allowing you to pick up exactly where you left off if you need to stop for awhile. They are a great tool which you can refine to suit your own particular research model over time, and you can even compile one journal per ancestor. A final bonus is that these journals can also serve as a guide to any family members who may continue your research in the future.

I am still using an Edge DiskGo as my primary backup source. I have had it for eight years now, and as modern technology goes, it’s quite the dinosaur! I bought my Edge in 2005, it has 75GB of storage space, and file transfer is fast and easy. The same company makes flash drives in 8, 16, and 32GB sizes, which has won the Silver Award by TopTenReviews.com. Of course there are many newer and more modern external drives that are faster and have more space, it doesn’t matter which one you use; just that you use one.

I backup my work manually, but there is also software such as TimeMachine for Mac, and if you have Windows 7 or Vista, you already have a fairly decent backup program on your computer. Windows XP also has a built in backup program, but I have heard horror stories about people trying to recover that data when they switch to an updated Windows program, so I can’t recommend using it. The great thing about automated programs is that you can just set it and forget it, and your backups occur regularly.

The fact is that a fire, flood, or other disaster can not only destroy your computer, but the external hard drive attached to it. It is somewhat risky to have only a single, physical backup, so I backup my data online as well. There are as many options for online backups as there are for physical ones, but sites like Mozy and CrashPlan are popular options for many genealogists. They are easy to use, though they are pricey compared to services like Amazon’s Glacier and S3. The Amazon services are effective, but very complicated to set up and use, so I can’t recommend them for the average user.

Dropbox is another effective program to use. It is very convenient, and I send copies of all of my documents to it. What’s more, it’s free! Basically Dropbox serves as a home for all of your documents and photos, as well as any other files, and it automatically displays on all of your computers and phones. Alternatively you can access your files on the Dropbox website. The only downside, if you can consider it one, is that whoever you want to share your files with needs to have Dropbox installed as well. The initial free version gives you 2.5GB of storage, but for $8.25 per month you can get 100GB of storage space.

Don’t forget flash drives as an option. They come in a variety of sizes, take up little space, and can be easily transported if you want to share your genealogy data with others. The key is to always have at least one backup, and to backup your work regularly.

When you are collecting information for your genealogy research such as evidence, pictures, documents, or other materials, it is essential to record where you found them. Not only does this provide you with a record, but it helps other researchers to retrace your steps and find the material you used so that they can examine it personally. This helps them to locate important data that they may need for their own project, and provides you with a back-up system for verifying your data.

Everyone interprets data differently. The fact that you might be looking for different information influences the way you interpret the data you find along the way and how you apply it to your own family history. An ancestor’s name that may be insignificant to you could be the missing link another researcher is looking for in their own family history.

If you are not sure how to apply or format citations, you can easily find some listed in any historical book, especially biographies or books covering historical events. Genealogy citations follow the same format as books, journals, magazines, and other printed materials, so copying their format is acceptable. No matter what structure your citation follows, one thing that is extremely important is that it contains the essential data. As long as another researcher can use the information you have listed to locate a record or other data they need, they won’t care about the format it is presented in.

So that you can see how easy it is to include citations, I’ll demonstrate a few popular ones for you. Printed materials make up a sizable portion of what we may need to cite, so I’ll show a common method of citing a reference to a book. You may notice when you are reading some reference books that there are small numbers listed next to particular words or sentences. These designate that a citation is listed below. You can also use an asterisk or other symbols, but if you are citing many sources, numbers are generally the best way to go.

Reference Book Citation

Let’s say we are researching an ancestor and come across some information about them in a book called “History of Family Morgan.” The first thing you would do in your citation is write the name of author followed by the title of the book (in italics), the physical location of the material (where someone can find it), and then the name of the publishing company. It would look like this:

Morgan, Michael Lee, History of Family Morgan, Baltimore,MD: Family Research Publishing Co.

Newspaper Article (Printed) Citation 

If you are citing a printed newspaper article, you need to refer to the author of the article, the date it was published, the title of the article, the name of the newspaper, and the page it was located on. When you are referencing the page number, simply place p. before the number. If the article covers more than one page, you would use pp. If you are citing an Obituary, you put that in place of the article title.

Your citation would look as follows:

Smith, W.G. (2009, November 17). Obituaries – The Daily Telegram, p. 32.

If you are citing information from Online Obituaries or newspaper articles, you follow the same format; only include the internet address at the end so it looks like this:

Smith, W.G. (2009, November 17). Obituaries – The Boston Daily Telegram, p. 32. http://obituarieshelp.org/articles/where_to_find_obituaries_online.html

The amount of information you need to include varies with the different source materials you use, what information you found, and where it is physically located. It is best to learn about as many different citation formats as you can. This helps you to do a professional job, and is a major help to other researchers.

If you are looking for a great publication to help with that, Elizabeth Shown Mills’ book Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifact to Cyberspace is an excellent publication. It explains the various types of citations very clearly, and can help you to present your work in a scholarly manner that you can be proud of, and other researchers will appreciate and respect!

Download a family tree template then use this checklist of 10 steps as a basic guideline to get started in building your family tree:

1. Write down every name, date and event.

2. Begin with yourself and your brothers and sisters, working your way back through your parents and grandparents.

3. Ask every relative you can think of about your family history. Make notes on what each of them remembers.

4. Sometimes memories are recalled only after they’ve been stimulated. It wouldn’t hurt to follow up occasionally with those relatives you’ve spoken with to see if they remember anything new.

5. Grovel, dig and search for every family record possible. Extend your search to new relatives you may uncover.

6. Ask your relatives, especially older ones, if you can rummage through their attics. They can be a treasure trove of records and memorabilia.

7. Read records and documents over and over, searching for clues which may lead you farther.

8. Share your findings with other relatives. You might rekindle some long forgotten memory or piece of vital information.

9. Don’t get discouraged. Sometimes you will search for weeks and find nothing, but unearthing one bit of information can begin a landslide of valuable facts and figures.

10. Make a list of what you don’t know in preparation for your next phase.

You might want to start with one side of your family. This won’t be so overwhelming. When you begin it’s best to search simultaneously on several fronts when looking for information. Some avenues may yield immediate results; others may take awhile to bear fruit. You may have to wait awhile for answers to certain inquiries, so you’ll want to have something to do in the meantime. What are some of your ideas for getting started on your family history research?

Official Documentation

Quite possibly you’ll find a wealth of genealogy treasure and history right under your nose at home. Your mother or grandmother most likely have some official documents stashed away somewhere that can be of immense value. Some of these would include:

• Vital Records. Birth certificates, marriage and death certificates. Some civil registration documents can go back as far as the early 1800’s.

• Military records. These can be very detailed and include personal descriptions as well as birth dates, addresses etc.

• Professional diplomas and certificates of qualification.

• Club membership records or other professional organization records like trade unions.

• Other documentation such as immigration papers, criminal and civil litigation, even name changes by deed poll.

Research At Home

Once you’ve exhausted your search of official documentation, there are other types of memorabilia that can reveal important information. Some of these you might want to look at are:

• Photographs – Look for groups of people who look alike. They could be brothers or sisters, at least relatives. Knowing the name for one could lead you to finding the names of the others. Perhaps one is wearing a military uniform. This could direct you to the correct records to search.

• Diaries – Some people keep historical records meticulously in their diaries, and you could find detailed information regarding important events in the life of your family.

• Bibles – Bibles sometimes contain records of important dates in the front or back. Occasionally you might find an existing template of a family tree already begun.

Once you’ve thoroughly collected and scrutinized as much information as possible at home, a good way to proceed is to write down everything you know. Facts that may seem trivial initially could turn out to be ultra-important further down the line.

What genealogy treasures have you found hiding in your family’s homes?

1. Sort it out – Stick with the genealogy research plan you carefully drafted. You will stay focused and organized. If you do not have a plan, now is a good time to create one. With your plan in hand, set up your systems: a manual and an electronic system. You don’t have to add bells and whistles, manila file folders and your computer should do the trick.

2. Use one folder for each document type. The quickest way to organize your files is sort them by type. You could start with some of the following categories:

• Communications – letters, faxes, emails, phone calls, face-to-face meetings

• Place Names – township, county city, state, province, country

• Surnames – different spelling of each name

• Mother’s side or Father’s side of the family -separate according to each parent

• Dates – dates of birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial

3. Keep it simple. Match your electronic files to your manual files. There is no point to naming them differently. It makes it easier to cross-reference your file if you need to find a document in a hurry.

4. Choose your genealogy software. Now you have all your documents systematically filed, using genealogy software is your next best bet. There are dozens of options available. Look for an upcoming series of posts reviewing popular genealogy software. Popular software features include:

- Automated date format

- Automatic age display

- Relationship options

- Relationship calculator

- Family and pedigree views

- Reports and charts

5. Keep track. During your research, you will be making phone calls, writing letters and visiting the records office among other activities. Use a simple tracking system to record everything. Again, it could be manual, good old pen and paper or in a simple excel spreadsheet. This way you will be able to track, who you have to follow-up with and when. In your tracking sheet, record responses you received from your sources; information still outstanding as well as your progress, all at a glance.

6. The paper trail continues. Once you start researching your family tree, the stacks of paper never end. The more research you do, the more trails you find that need further investigating. Exciting, isn’t it. If you have a room in your home to spare, you could use it exclusively for your genealogy research. This is the ultimate in helping you stay organized. If not, you can store your files in a dedicated filing cabinet so your research stays separate from your financial papers.

Have fun exploring your family tree. Follow these tips to stay organized. Avoid getting overwhelmed. Follow our quick and easy tips to organizing your genealogy files. Be consistent and you will not be buried under a tsunami of papers.

Do you have any other tips help stay organized? Leave me a comment below.