Leave yourself a useful next step
“Look into this later” is easy to lose. Make the question a task, connect the records, and keep what happened when somebody did the search.
From an open question to a recorded outcome
Create a project task or attach it to the records under investigation. Assign a researcher, choose a priority and add a due date when there is a reason for one.
On completion, record the search outcome, a result summary and relevant evidence links. If the question needs another look, reopen the task while retaining its earlier completions and history.
Research tasks · fictional project
In progress
Find Maria’s baptism entry
Maria Bakker · Dordrecht parish register
Anneke · high priority · due 5 November
Completed · record found
Check the 1874 marriage register
Marriage entry found on fol. 42v; citation linked to the family.
Question → search → result and evidence
A task that remembers the research
- Project or record context
- Keep general research work at project level, or link the task to the people and other records it concerns.
- Assignee, priority and due date
- Make responsibility and urgency explicit. A due date is optional rather than a requirement for every question.
- Find the work that matters now
- Filter tasks by status, assignee, linked record, priority and due date. Tasks are available on Free within its plan limits.
- A result with its history
- Complete a task with a search outcome, summary and evidence links. Cancel, reopen or correct a result without discarding previous completions.
What this does not do
An unsuccessful search is still an outcome
Finishing a task does not mean that the hypothesis was proved. Record what was searched and what was found, including a negative result, so the next researcher can judge whether a different source or approach is worth trying.
See it on your own tree
Create an account in the public beta. Start with one free project and import the research you already have.