Family History Month Day 28: Research Notes and Tracking

Keeping track of what you have researched and what you need to research can be a daunting task. Thankfully, there are people who have made and shared research forms to help you out.

One common form is a census worksheet, not just for the US censuses, but other countries as well. There are lots of places to get these for free online. They help you extract data from a census record, with all the columns listed. Great for condensing the big census record down to just the names and information on your family. Similar forms can be found for ship and immigration records.


There are research logs, source lists, correspondence logs, immigration charts, family group sheets, cemetery forms, and various kinds of family trees. Most of these are printable, but can easily be recreated in excel or other computer based programs for going paperless. Cyndi's List even has templates for EverNote, to keep track on the go and store the info online automatically.

Here are some of the places to find them online:
Ancestry
FamilySearch
Family Tree Magazine
Ancestors, from website that goes with the PBS series
The Bailey's Free Genealogy Forms
The Genealogy Forum
Wakefield Family History Sharing
High Point Research
Mid-Continent Public Library

The Shy Genealogist, Excel and Word templates (and tutorials to make your own)