There really aren't any shortcuts in genealogy.
Most of the "shortcuts" come in organizing, filing, and using technology--rather than record usage.
It's really about being efficient.
However, I've got three fantastic shortcuts that really can help you. Here are three suggestions to save time while still doing great genealogy.
It'll come back to bite you in the end.
These three shortcuts won't cheat the research process. They will save you time and help you do great genealogy.
If you're heading to a repository, start your citations at home. Complete them as much as possible before you ever get to the repository. Enter them in your plan, research log, tracking method, or notes.
If you are doing online research at home, you can probably copy and paste most of the citation parts but get a head start by knowing what parts you need.
They don't have to be formatted until you are going to publish them. For my client work, I try to get them as close to formatted as possible because I will be "publishing" them via the report to the client.
If you don't have plans to share or publish your research anytime soon (or if formatting your citations just takes you a very long time), don't format them when you research.
You need to record all the necessary parts plus the parts that will never be published but will help you understand or analyze the record.
That's right, you need more than the formal citation parts, anyway.
RELATED POST: Why Most People Get Stuck After Researching Online (this is also a related post for suggestion 2)
RELATED POST: You Don't Need a Research Log!
This will save you time in the long run.
You can take it even farther if you are working on a computer while researching.
You need to know:
The day of the research, simply date the plan and begin under the first source you consult (I'd cut and paste so they are in the order you research if they aren't already). You can add additional citation parts (you followed number one above, right?). Then start your notes, positive and negative.
Look at that, I've created a digital plan to notes form you can download for personal use! Learn more in the post Genealogy Research Plan to Notes Form.
I also enter the file name into my research log in case anything gets rearranged or unlinked. Then you can easily search for the stray file.
RELATED POSTS: How to Speed Up Your Online Research with Five-minute Prep Sessions
Evernote Research Plan with Analysis
Goal Setting Worksheet for Future Research Planning
This is another online research suggestion. Keep these near your computer. You might have a need for them at some repositories so consider making them easily portable.
You don't have to do this for every surname. I don't really need a list of variations for Miller as online search engines do a pretty good job with it, and it is misspelled less often than many surnames.
Lately, though, I've been fighting with the surname "Dalie." There are several variations. I don't have too much trouble on Ancestry.com, soundex, sounds like, and similar catches most of them. Most newspaper sites don't offer any of those options. The same is true for Google searches.
Many sites allow you to use wildcards so on your list, list the wildcard spellings. Different sites use different wildcards but most are just different symbols for the same options.
For example, on Ancestry.com,
Pick a wildcard system you are familiar with. It can be Ancestry's system, or Google's (which is very similar with fewer restrictions), or another you know well. If you don't know one, use the one for the website you search the most.
Make a key if you won't remember the wildcard meanings.
Now list the surname with all the wildcard variations you need. You can also list the spelling variations. When you use a website that uses a different wildcard system, you can still use your list, just substitute that site's wildcard symbols.
As a note, on Ancestry.com, you can use the spelling variation choices along with the wildcards but I find this creates too many results and most are irrelevant. I use the "exact" search when I use wildcards. You may find a situation where the variations along with wildcards are useful. Soundex doesn't use vowels so that may be a good way to double up without getting too many results, especially if you are using "?" for one consonant.
As examples, Dalie, Daley, Daly, Daily, Dailey are the most common spellings. Some wildcard variations are
Most of the "shortcuts" come in organizing, filing, and using technology--rather than record usage.
It's really about being efficient.
However, I've got three fantastic shortcuts that really can help you. Here are three suggestions to save time while still doing great genealogy.
If you haven't been doing some of the things mentioned (like creating a research plan and keeping a research log) because you're trying to save time, you're not taking a shortcut, you're cheating.
It'll come back to bite you in the end.
These three shortcuts won't cheat the research process. They will save you time and help you do great genealogy.
1. Start your citations before you start to research.
If you're heading to a repository, start your citations at home. Complete them as much as possible before you ever get to the repository. Enter them in your plan, research log, tracking method, or notes.
If you are doing online research at home, you can probably copy and paste most of the citation parts but get a head start by knowing what parts you need.
- You can post a cheat sheet next to your computer.
- I made macros in Word that create my most common types of citations (fully formatted for client reports, if you aren't publishing research, you don't need formatted citations, but macros can still remind you what pieces to record).
- If you're working in genealogy software, have it set-up to take the citation parts the way you want. Don't rely on the templates in software to ask for all the parts you need. Some are quite good and some are quite bad. Citations require human intervention.
Here's a bonus time-saver.
You don't have to format your citations.
They don't have to be formatted until you are going to publish them. For my client work, I try to get them as close to formatted as possible because I will be "publishing" them via the report to the client.
If you don't have plans to share or publish your research anytime soon (or if formatting your citations just takes you a very long time), don't format them when you research.
You need to record all the necessary parts plus the parts that will never be published but will help you understand or analyze the record.
That's right, you need more than the formal citation parts, anyway.
- Don't get in a tizzy about commas and semi-colons at the repository.
- Don't spend your limited research time on italics and parenthesis.
Psst... Over here,
are you thinking a better shortcut would be not citing any sources?
Find out why that's a cheat in this post about
why you need to cite ALL your sources.
There's a link back to this post at the end,
so check out "Sight My What?" now.
are you thinking a better shortcut would be not citing any sources?
Find out why that's a cheat in this post about
why you need to cite ALL your sources.
There's a link back to this post at the end,
so check out "Sight My What?" now.
RELATED POST: Why Most People Get Stuck After Researching Online (this is also a related post for suggestion 2)
RELATED POST: You Don't Need a Research Log!
2. Create a research plan.
This will save you time in the long run.
You can take it even farther if you are working on a computer while researching.
- Create a digital research plan and then use it to take your notes.
- If you want to preserve a copy of just the plan, simply save a copy before you start researching.
You need to know:
- the goal of the research,
- where you are researching, and
- the sources you plan to consult.
The day of the research, simply date the plan and begin under the first source you consult (I'd cut and paste so they are in the order you research if they aren't already). You can add additional citation parts (you followed number one above, right?). Then start your notes, positive and negative.
Look at that, I've created a digital plan to notes form you can download for personal use! Learn more in the post Genealogy Research Plan to Notes Form.
Don't forget to track your research.
If you use paper, this is with a research log or research calendar.
If you work digitally you can use your notes as your tracking method.
The research log or tracking method is a summary of all research. I prefer my Excel research log because it's easier to find what I need using the search and sort options. Since this is digital, you can easily cut and paste the relevant parts from your plan/notes into a digital log. How you track your research is up to you. Remember you want to know every source you used, even if you didn't find any information in it. You may also need to record the fact you decided not to search a source because you discovered it did not include the records you thought it would when making your plan.
I also recommend...
- a section for ideas that come up while researching. This can be questions about the record or ideas for future research. Once again, you can cut and paste to a new plan or to whatever document is appropriate.
- a section summarizing the day's findings. You'll want this summary when you come back to review these notes. I'd add it above the actual notes, so you read it before reading the notes in future.
Bonus time-saver: from your digital research log, make a link to your plan/notes. If you take a laptop where your documents are permanently stored (or you are lucky enough to be able to work from the cloud) you can create the link(s) when you create the plan. Otherwise, add them after you electronically file your notes.
I also enter the file name into my research log in case anything gets rearranged or unlinked. Then you can easily search for the stray file.
RELATED POSTS: How to Speed Up Your Online Research with Five-minute Prep Sessions
Evernote Research Plan with Analysis
Goal Setting Worksheet for Future Research Planning
3. Create lists of surname variations and wildcard variations.
This is another online research suggestion. Keep these near your computer. You might have a need for them at some repositories so consider making them easily portable.
You don't have to do this for every surname. I don't really need a list of variations for Miller as online search engines do a pretty good job with it, and it is misspelled less often than many surnames.
Lately, though, I've been fighting with the surname "Dalie." There are several variations. I don't have too much trouble on Ancestry.com, soundex, sounds like, and similar catches most of them. Most newspaper sites don't offer any of those options. The same is true for Google searches.
Many sites allow you to use wildcards so on your list, list the wildcard spellings. Different sites use different wildcards but most are just different symbols for the same options.
For example, on Ancestry.com,
- "*" means any number of characters (including 0) are wild,
- "?" means one character (but not 0) is wild.
Pick a wildcard system you are familiar with. It can be Ancestry's system, or Google's (which is very similar with fewer restrictions), or another you know well. If you don't know one, use the one for the website you search the most.
Make a key if you won't remember the wildcard meanings.
Now list the surname with all the wildcard variations you need. You can also list the spelling variations. When you use a website that uses a different wildcard system, you can still use your list, just substitute that site's wildcard symbols.
As a note, on Ancestry.com, you can use the spelling variation choices along with the wildcards but I find this creates too many results and most are irrelevant. I use the "exact" search when I use wildcards. You may find a situation where the variations along with wildcards are useful. Soundex doesn't use vowels so that may be a good way to double up without getting too many results, especially if you are using "?" for one consonant.
As examples, Dalie, Daley, Daly, Daily, Dailey are the most common spellings. Some wildcard variations are
- Dal* or Dal*y,
- Da*ly,
- Da?l*y or Da*l*y,
- Da*l*e.
You might prefer Dail*. Once you have a list, you can choose whether or not to use all the options. I would probably try "Dal*" but if the results were numerous, I wouldn't check them but refine my search instead.
Additionally, if you are searching OCR text, such as many newspaper sites use, you might want to create "looks like" options. OCR can create all kinds of strange variations but once you see a few results, you might come up with a few reasonable variations.
Try these three shortcuts to do great genealogy in less time. You might even manage to avoid the interruptions.
Additionally, if you are searching OCR text, such as many newspaper sites use, you might want to create "looks like" options. OCR can create all kinds of strange variations but once you see a few results, you might come up with a few reasonable variations.
Try these three shortcuts to do great genealogy in less time. You might even manage to avoid the interruptions.
