FTM2019 - Clean Up - No Documentation - Check Research Log

Not Documentation, check Research Log

I run an Undocumented Report frequently, to make sure All of my FACTS have citations. I will add a "No Documentation" Fact for those profiles that I need to find or create Citations. As long as I know, and can see that I need Citations, I know what I need to do.

During this Clean Up project, Specifically in the Research Log and Person Notes fields, I found a gold mine. 

Way back in 1997 I had merged a file from a Cousin, from his Family Tree Maker program into my file. I had made note of that, in the person notes (at the time), that simply gave me the Date, the Filename, and who sent it to me.

During this clean up of the Research Log, those notes ended up in the Research Log. So, as I was into a specific Surname list, in the log, I saw these entries. When I looked at the Profiles, and I moved the Notes to the Person Notes I saw that many of those Profiles and the No Documentation Fact.

Now I can Document those Facts.

In those "good old days", when a FTM file was Merged, Citations didn't go along with the merge, but at least I had made a notation what I did and when, so now I can go back and Document those Facts.

The whole Clean Up of my working File, is so worth the time and effort to clean up the file.
 ____________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2021 by Cousin Russ

FTM2019 - Notes Clean Up Project

Clean Up Project:

What does a Family Researcher do on a Holiday Weekend ? Clean House (oops, Family File).

This all started with the change in Terms of Service by Ancestry. That wasn't a bad thing, but I gave me cause to look at my database and do some "house cleaning". 

I have made a couple of Blog Posts about this project:

FTM2019 - Remove Person Notes from AMT

FTM2019 - Just the Facts

FTM2019 - Update Privatized Facts

FTM2019 - I've got Photographs & Bookmarks

FTM2019 and WikiTree

FTM2019 Clean Up

FTM2019 - Web Links Tab

During that process I wanted to do more Clean Up of my database. I have a "Notebook" in Evernote where I keep "how I do stuff" in Family Tree Maker. I have a lot of documentation in that Notebook because that is one way for me to Standardize my database. Mainly because I will Forget something. For example, how I use certain Facts.

When I Privatized the Facts, I put ALL of the Facts into an EXCEL Spreadsheet, then, one FACT at a time, entered that Fact Name into Evernote, as another Chapter.

Since all of the FACTS, with 4 exceptions, are Private, I wanted to Address NOTES. I did a blog post on Notes, Notes, Notes. 

I ran a report in FTM2019, from the Person Collection, Notes, and selected Research Notes. (I have blogged about that as well. Although that was back in the stone ages, (FTM2012) they work about the same.

The Report Showed that I had 742 Pages of Research Log. The good thing is that they are ALL Marked Private. That was the good news. The BAD News is that many of the Research Log had Person Notes in them. Remembering that Family Tree Maker has added and / moved features over time, and this file is the one I started with in Version 3.4. I had notes where they didn't belong.

All of the Person Notes have been privatized already. I did not get a count when I started, but when the Research Log page count was at 723 pages, I had 765 Pages of Person Notes. So I have been moving (copy / paste) the Person Notes from the Research Log to where they belong.

Taking a break from that, I looked at the FACT NOTES: There was 208 Pages of Fact Notes that were Public and 488 Pages of Fact Notes that are Private. Working on making ALL of them Private.

This is where Evernote came into plan. Over time, I have changed how I did "stuff". For example, I created a "Cemetery" database, within this SAME file. I had been entering Cemetery Information in the Burial Fact Notes. I realized that I was retyping a bunch of stuff, so that is when I created the Cemetery database (Profiles with the Cemetery Information). So rather than using the Burial Fact Notes, I created a Link from the Burial Fact to the Cemetery Profile. So I now will go back and clean that up. That is one example of Fact Notes that will clean up.

There are also Person Notes, that my "standard" is to Copy / Paste that information into Fact Notes.

One of the reason for this clean up, is because of the way that Ancestry Member Tree's make (or don't make) Notes available or how they are displayed. They certainly do NOT look like how I have them in FTM2019.

I am about 1/4 of the way through my Research Log, but needed a break from that, so I am going after the Fact Notes, to Privatize ALL of them. Then go back to clean them up.

____________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2021 by Cousin Russ

Research Log

Yesterday, I gave a presentation to a local group, talking about our Desk Top Genealogy Software, The Sub-title was Which is the BEST Genealogy Desk Top software program ? My answer is "It Depends" (to quote a dear Genealogy Speaker and friend, Judy G Russell, The Legal Genealogist. The title of the talk was Why I chose Family Tree Maker.

Of course I have been using it for a long time, since 1996 and Version 3.4 at I recall, and I blog about it, so there must be something about it that makes it different from the others. The biggest reason is the Workspace concept that was introduced in FTM2008, when the program moved from a DOS base program into Windows.

While I have been using the program, I also have been involved with assisting in teaching and learning the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS). I might note, that I have NO Brick Walls because of GPS. Just look at Step 1.

Today, I was reading a Blog Post, Organize Your Family History by Janine Adams. Her recent blog post My "good enough" Research Log caught my attention. Mostly because, in my talk, I mentioned the Research Log that is part of Family Tree Maker and I used that feature as an example of why I think this program sets it apart from other Genealogy Programs. Please read Janine's Blog Post.

My normal data entry, ALL within the People Workspace, Person View, gives my quick access to two important items. The RESEARCH LOG and my ToDo List for the Profile that I am doing dataentry for. I do NO Data Entry in the Tree View, ALL in the Person View.

When entering new information into my database, for a new person or an existing person is the Citation. Absolutely the FIRST thing that I do. Immediately after that is to Enter data into the Research Log. Absolutely the SECOND thing that I do. Once I got into that habit, I can almost tell that I forgot something. Cite my Source, Research Log, then go from there.

WHY ?

The Citation FIRST gets me into the habit of analyzing the information that I am about to enter into my database. It takes the most time to Craft a Citation (ALWAYS using the Source Template Feature), but I really have to Look at and Analyze what I am about to enter into my file.

From that Source Workspace, I click on the Link or Add a Link to the Profile for that Record I am entering into FTM2019. From there, I click on the Note Tab, which has the Research Log, and make a "good enough" Research Log Entry. Basically the DATA and the Record that was the Citation that I crafted. Most of the time, especially when the Record has more than one Person / Profile on that record. Then I will add the Profile's name. Nothing more, nothing less. I do that so that I can look at the FACTS and the Citations on the Fact to get more detail about what the Research Log is all about.

I can see the Facts that have been entered, with the Research Log below. That first entry in the Research Log was a Revolutionary War record. Looking at the Facts, I can see the Citation on the Right, for that Research Log Entry.

You may note that the Research Log is in a Bullet List, with the Date and Record, in Date Order. The Date or order of entry is not important, but I know WHEN I make that entry and can look at the Citation, with a Link to the Record, right there on the screen.

Note, that my "good enough" Research Log is the Positive stuff that I have done. Mostly from Hints. On that same screen, is the Task Tab or ToDo List for that profile.

The Task List or ToDo list tells me right away, what I need to resolve, things I need to do for that person. In this example, there are TWO Tasks that I have completed. I mark my completed Tasks with "RESOLVED" and how I resolved or completed the Task. I still have two items to complete.

I mentioned that I do ALL of my Data Entry from the Person View, so that I have quick access to My Research Log and ToDo List. Many items in the ToDo List / Task List can only be Resolved by a Record, Conflicting Information for example. I mark, in the ToDo List Conflicting Information.

Bottom line, for the Research Log, I can easily see what I have done, in the order which I did it. I know where to look to see what information I found on that Records, have a mouse click away from that record, all from that screen in Family Tree Maker.

For my "good enough research log" works for me.

Thanks Janine for your Blog Post



___________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2020 by Cousin Russ