Note Section
Hello there! It would be awesome if while I was working in family search on an individual or family, to be able to go to a note section and leave info or notations so I could come right back and pick up where I left off without having to keep track of a note book or paper trail outside of my family search!
Thank you for everything you do to help in the gathering of Israel :0)
Comments
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The issue with that idea, @pamcornaby1, is that the FamilySearch Family Tree is one tree for all of us. If there are 50 of us all researching the same sets of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th great-grandparents, that would be a LOT of notes for the system to keep track of. And, every new note or edit to an existing note is a drain on the resources of the computer servers. And each of those bits and bytes slows down access.
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What I do is print family group records and descendancy lists to help keep track where I'm working. I write notes all over those pages as I work through the family. When I'm done for the day I set it aside. I can pick it up a couple years later and know exactly where I left off. Perhaps that may work for you?
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Yes, I agree. I would like very much to have a place to write notes which only I can see, which would be in a convenient place on each person page, a place for my personal research notes which nobody can see but me.
I do have for you a temporary solution until then. Memories can be marked private, not public. You can put notes and screenshots, photos, maps, etc., there. This is what I currently do.
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That's what a research log and/or desktop genealogy software is for. The likelihood of private note spaces for the millions of users on billions of profiles is slim to less than none.
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Whether another user bothers to read them or not is up to them, but I don't see any harm in sharing our "personal notes" by adding them to the Collaborate section. FamilySearch is meant to be a collaborative project, so share as much as possible. If there are matters you wish to remain private, put them somewhere else - i.e., in a personal database that only you can access.
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True, Paul, I often construct a lengthy proof statement for notes or memories, to explain how I reached my conclusions. But that's not the same as my working notes while I'm in the process of connecting the dots.
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I'm still inclined to add details of where I'm up to in my searches - e.g., what registers I've checked and what's next to investigate. I'll put my various theories on an individual's probable identity, e.g., "Probably either son of John & Mary Brown of Halifax or William & Sarah Brown of Huddersfield". I've not found myself running out of space (maximum characters allowed), but usually sub-divide my "working notes" into items / probabilities regarding parents, children, similar persons, future investigations, etc. Once I'm sure I've established the facts (not necessarily all of them!) I just edit or delete the note(s) that are no longer relevant. No harm done if I don't manage to return to a profile for quite some time, as anyone getting to my notes before I return can figure out exactly what I've already researched, then decide for themselves if I'm on the right track, or if they need to take a completely different approach into establishing a correct pedigree, or filling in missing gaps.
To be honest, I rarely make personal notes myself (either in personal software or on paper), as I find it more straightforward to utilise the space provided against the Family Tree profiles. I'm not too bothered what, for example, should be the "correct" use of "Discussions" or "Notes", or even reason statements, as long as my comments can be of help to me or others in confirming I'm placing the correct individual in the correct family branch!
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@Paul W We each have our way of working, and I wouldn't dare say one is better than another; it depends on how we work and how we process information. When I first got my start in genealogy, I was working independently, not in a collaborative environment. I learned to make my notes where I could find them and where they would help my research. That process has evolved over the many years of my research - some websites no longer exist; some software has not been updated. I learned that paper doesn't work for me because I need to access my notes when I'm traveling or visiting a library/archive.
What I think I'm hearing from the various other suggestions is a place for private notes on a public tree, and I just don't think that is feasible.
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