Thanks for this tip. I'm still grappling with managing ToDo's, and haven't got it right yet. Something I have learnt the hard way is that it is necessary to record what you DIDN'T find as well as what you did find. (I read this somewhere but its significance didn't penetrate my thick skull until I kept going back to the same source for the same information and continued not to find it!).
So I currently keep a running log in a particular ToDo until I close it off completely, at which point I guess I could delete it, like you do. Problem is I often only get part of the info I need in one go. (eg. name but no birth date, or birth date but no death or marriage dates.) Maybe my ToDo's are too big (e.g. "Get details of all children of Fred Smith".)
Would be interested to hear more about how you (and anyone else) copes with "progressive" ToDo's, and other tips for managing the research process efficiently.
Cheers, Rob
----- Original Message ----- From: "Rich Schulthies" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2004 1:35 PM
Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] To Do List
What I do, and it has helped immensely, I put all the dead ends on the To DO list, as you also do, but when I get the actual facts
desired, I create a new source based on data, and remove the To Do. I found when I kept a research log, updating it was a hassle.
Now, I delete finished To Dos. (I have over 1000 on my list at present, that may have something to do with my maintenance mode.
Rich in LA CA
Cathy wrote:
Hi Nigel,
Thanks for the question - it makes me think about how I use the To-Do and whether I can do it better.
Since the To-Do list is a guide to research to be done, I find it helpful to add a "repository" to each item. For me, in this context, it means the place where I expect to be able to find the answer whether that be a particular library, online (but don't stop what you're doing to look right now), my brother, ...
This means that I can very quickly generate a report of things To Do if I get a chance to go somewhere. eg - a friend rang and said there was an exhibition at a library some distance away. Would we go and stay on and do some research for a couple of hours? I was able to do useful things I wouldn't have thought of at the time as I could print off my To-Do list for that place.
I realise that I don't make use of the Locality field. This would be more important to me if I was planning a trip interstate or overseas. Then I could produce reports of things to be done in a particular area. eg look for and photograph tombstones in x cemetery. Perhaps I should start in anticipation :-)
I also make use of the Category to order my research. This means that when I go to the library (or online) I have like things listed together so that I search a shipping index, for example, for everyone listed rather than doing everything on my To-Do list for Joe before moving on to what I want to find out about Mary.
I record non-finds in the To-Do and see them as more important to keep in the To-Do (as completed items) than completed finds - which are now recorded within the data.
I look forward to hearing other ideas so that I can refine my own.
Cheers, Cathy Western Australia
At 05:48 PM 24/10/2004, you wrote:
I am a new user and have spent the last few months dusting off paper files
and placing the information / data into the database. The next stage that I
would like to tackle is use the 'To Do' facility. I wonder before I start if
there is some sort of guidance that anyone would like to offer. Obviously I
have seen the help function, but I found this sadly lacking with advice. For
example it would be useful to be able to print out a list depending upon
locality irrespective of the actual family / individual, or by specific
record type (i.e. census) again irrespective of actual family / individual.
I found that short articles in the Tips section on the legacy web site very
useful, but unfortunately there is not a tip on "To Do Lists"
Thanks in advance
Nigel Walker South Africa
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