Friday, January 30, 2015

Genealogy Do-Over: Week 4~Managing &Tracking

  


 Managing Projects and Tasks and Tracking Searches have been the focus of Week 4 of the Genealogy Do-Over.

Managing Projects~
  There are may ways to manage a project or task. I have been using Trello, an online project board, to manage not only my Genealogy projects, but my business, personal and family projects as well.  Trello uses a visual board system where things that need to get done can be broken down to smaller "cards" or items that need attention. Each card can then hold lists, pictures etc. to help complete that part of your project. My lists are named To-Do. Doing and Done. The cards can be clicked on and put into whichever list corresponds with the progress of the task. Trello has an app that can be downloaded to phones and tablets so I am able view and work on my projects from anywhere.

 Tracking Searches~
   This is one area, I must admit, that I haven't been very good at. This week I have taken Thomas McEntee's advice and have been recording what I am searching. Yes, it's been tedious, but I have discovered that it is well worth it. My tracking consists of what data base, who searched and the results of the search. These is recorded in Evernote and then copied and pasted into my Legacy Family Tree. software.
Why Evernote? Because of it's search capabilities within my notes and notebooks. Placing it into Legacy helps me keep all my information together in one program.
 Already, I have seen a benefit to recording online searches and what happens when failing to do so. While searching for a family believed to have been living in Newport, RI in the 1920's , a possible family came up in the search results. In my excitement to see if this could be the one , I neglected to record the search parameters and moved on to look for more information. Now, I can't duplicate my search and find them again. This happened this week-while participating in week 4 of the Genealogy Do-Over! Bad habits are hard to break. This has lead to wasted time and energy as I have tried to find the family again and it will lead to more as I continue to look.  Lesson learned.
 Now, I am off to search through my Chrome browser history-perhaps it will lead me to the right search result. Then, it's on to week 5.
  
Are you participating in the Genealogy Do-Over? I would love to hear how you are doing!
 Thanks so much for stopping by.

  







   

2 comments:

  1. Cheri, you are being good! Tracking my research is something I do on a very limited basis in a spiral notebook. I get excited, click here and there and go off on tangents. Then I wonder how I got there. I'll have to follow your good example in the future.

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    1. Tangents....oh, I know them well. I am trying to do a batter job of not falling into that trap and recording what I am doing. If I see something else that tempts me to go look somewhere else I am trying to remember to add it to my to-do list. Easier said than done! Thanks Colleen!

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