Keeping track of your research is very important. I am a prolific note taker. I use typically the same note book and planner and record what research I have undertaken, where the research was – did I go to a records office or use Ancestry online at home.

I note what I was searching for and if I found it or not – so I record positive and negative searches. I also date the note.

Whilst I am writing what I have looked at and why I also build my to do list. If I locate someone in the Census, I then add them to the to do list and track them through the following census, locate their marriage and if had any children etc.

All of this sounds rather a lot, but it is not. By spending this time now, you won’t have to revisit the same information in the future. If you do need to, then look at the citation of the record and that will enable you to locate the records and information in the future, should you need to.

I wrote about research logs earlier in the year and you can read that post HERE.