After having been researching for quite a few years, I feel very strongly about the photocopy vs. abstract/extract issue! You will NEVER need to return to your source if you have a photocopy of it!! If a question arises, you can refer to the copy. I have done this over and over...finding new information (that didn't apply previously) several years after collecting the photocopy and filing it. Once, when we visited some courthouses on a trip we took, we were allowed into the vault with the original records. These STILL are not filmed...but I was able to get photocopies of court & land records I could not return to later. AND, I've found that later when I returned to look at these copies new info came to light. Regarding research logs, etc.: When I took my course from BYU on Family History, I learned many good things--especially how to keep track of research. I have an index sheet in the front of each Family Archive File folder (one file for each surname). There is also a research summary sheet (that is numbered) that corresponds with the numbered entries on the index. This summary sheet is filled out in DETAIL for each source, listing where it's found, and all info relating to that source, with a space for notes. Any additional notes or copies are attached (stapled) to the back of this sheet and it is filed numerically within the file. Meanwhile, the index sheet has basic info regarding the source, ie. "1850 census, Haga" and the date & WHERE I was conducting the research. As I research, write letters, make phone calls, etc. I enter the source--completed with address, etc. on this index, along with a number. (Start at 1 for each file) I write the detailed info on the summary sheet that is attached to the photocopies, etc. Some of my files have grown to two and three file folders...but to access any one piece of info that is file, all that is needed is to scan the index of the family's folder. If anyone is interested, I can attempt to scan in these two forms. Dianna in Kodiak aka Granny Pooh kpooh@ptialaska.net Visit Granny Pooh's Genealogy Site--one of the LARGEST online sites of old family photos! http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/3542/