I reccommend making the TO Do list very minimal. For Example here is the note for one. children Sarah J 10, Mary A 3, Lucy 0. Stephen abt 1849 Oletha 1849 George 1870 Celia 1873 Irene 1876 Newton 1878 Most of my TD are census or BMD searches. When I find something, it will usually be most of what I looked for. If I don't find it, or desire to re-look at it, I save. But, as I key all census stuff into the Source text area, I won't be looking there again. (e.g. "Get details of all children of Fred Smith".) is way too open. What you need to do is what I learned in classes for teaching. Make most questions yes or no. Find him in census?. Was he there? Who with? If not, where is he? Don't ask essay questions.
Rich -----Original Message----- From: Rob Weiss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Oct 28, 2004 5:18 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] To Do List RIch, 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 >> >> >> Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: >> http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp >> >> To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ >> >> To unsubscribe please visit: >> http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp >> > > Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > > To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ > > To unsubscribe please visit: > http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp Rich in LA Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
