How do others record their research, especially your 'negative' research? Years ago when it was all paper based and in record offices, I listed what I had searched and with what result. It occurred to me that there is so much now online (hooray!) that I'm not very good at doing this anymore - it's so easy just to flick through a record set and move on. There isn't anywhere dedicated to doing this in BK although I am wondering if I ought to make the To do list work for me this way - as I look through a record set, add it as a 'To do' and make a note what I have looked at and with what result. (at the moment, I use 'To do' as an aide-memoire for things to look for when I have the chance to get to a particular record office or archive). What do you do? Ruth

In message <4EBF98F8.8060807@ntlworld.com>, Ruth Wilson <ruth.wilson7@ntlworld.com> writes: >How do others record their research, especially your 'negative' research? >Years ago when it was all paper based and in record offices, I listed >what I had searched and with what result. It occurred to me that there >is so much now online (hooray!) that I'm not very good at doing this >anymore - it's so easy just to flick through a record set and move on. Very true! >There isn't anywhere dedicated to doing this in BK although I am >wondering if I ought to make the To do list work for me this way - as I >look through a record set, add it as a 'To do' and make a note what I >have looked at and with what result. (at the moment, I use 'To do' as an >aide-memoire for things to look for when I have the chance to get to a >particular record office or archive). >What do you do? >Ruth [] I tend to be very lax about recording negative results - just relying on memory, and we all know how reliable that can be (-:! I think if I record them anywhere, I put them in notes - "the Fred Bloggs shown in xyz parish register is not this person; see such-and-such where he's shown as being born to different parents", or something like that; sometimes in general notes, where relevant in event-specific notes. But it's definitely the exception rather than the rule. I tend to think of the To Do area as for things I know about but haven't done - for example I record there a link to a webpage that shows the spouse/children/whatever of a side branch of the family which I might enter sometime, but which are not of much interest to me at the moment. But everyone uses the To Do area - and the two sorts of note area! - in their own slightly-different way: I'm not saying your use is wrong in any way. Some people use To Do to remind them of things like "if I ever visit abc record office again, check ...". -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf "Everyone has always regarded any usage but his own as either barbarous or pedantic." - Evelyn Waugh, quoted by Lynne Truss in "Eats, shoots & Leaves" 2003