Your research log
Your entries stay in this tab and are not saved when you reload or leave. Download your work to keep it.
A research log preserves the work behind a conclusion. It includes promising discoveries, unsuccessful searches, and questions that remain open. Without a log, it is easy to repeat a search or forget which version of a name produced a result.
Use the tool while you work
Enter the question or person, the collection searched, the search details, and the result. Add a source or reference and a concrete next action. The tool keeps entries in this browser tab and exports a CSV file you can open in a spreadsheet. It does not search records or verify relationships for you.
Record a search soon after completing it. “Nothing found” is not enough by itself; include the coverage, spelling, filters, and date range you checked. A later search with different limits may produce a different result.
Question: Locate a marriage for Helen Ward in the 1920s. Search: County register index, 1920–1929; Helen and H. Ward. Result: No matching entry in the range searched. Limit: Neighboring counties were not included. Next action: Establish the couple's residence before widening the search.
The example is fictional. The recorded limit prevents an unsuccessful search from being mistaken for proof that no marriage occurred.
Make the next action small
Choose a step you could carry out in a future session: obtain a full image, compare an address, ask a repository about coverage, or review a second household. “Keep researching” does not tell your future self where to begin.
When a result changes your working conclusion, keep both the source and the explanation. The log is a record of research activity, not a replacement for a narrative explaining how evidence supports a relationship.
Download before leaving
Nothing is saved automatically. Export the CSV before refreshing or closing the page, and keep a backup with your project files. Avoid entering sensitive details about living people unless they are necessary to your private project. The website does not receive your entries.
You can print the current log for a research session or send the exported file to someone you have chosen to involve. Review its contents first: a research handoff should include useful context without exposing unrelated family information.