Get organized and productive with the leading note-taking app. Download Evernote for Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android and create your free account. An inside look at my research process using Evernote as a tool to manage the articles I'll use in my paper. This method requires an Evernote Premium subscri. Evernote is a great tool for research. Whether you’re investigating legendary treasures hidden by ancient civilizations, writing a novel, or working towards a PhD, Evernote is an invaluable tool for gathering information and keeping it all organized. Organize your research into notebooks. Organize class notes into notebooks. Use Evernote as a digital binder where you can save all your.
Using Evernote for Research Diary
Thanks to my professors that introduced me to 'research diary', I took it literally for my PhD study. It's a game changer to my study.
I use Evernote to keep my research diary. I have been using Evernote since 2011, when they haven't offered premium membership. I have used the premium membership as well few times and enjoyed it, but now I can still get the most of it with my free account.
How I Use Research Diary
With Evernote, I record my daily progress. Mostly related to research, sometimes related to nitty gritty thing like 'calculating how I can survive living in the most expensive city in the world with a sad salary less than a half a researcher is paid' (I know, right?)
What I put in my research diary varies, but usually it's a combination or one of followings:
- My to-do list (I have another note for my to do list, but I move them here if I have some deadlines or urgent things to do)
- What I have done (this is very important because it makes me sooo relieved that I know I didn't spend the day doing non-sense stuff, hahaha. I have tendency to discount myself and my progress, feel under performing, so keeping this written, helps me feel better)
- References that I read or skim (then I found out that I have been doing annotated bibliography, although not in the best way, but I have! Will talk more about that in other post)
- Day reflections, what I have learned from the day, how I can apply these in my research.. (well, sometimes more like rambling, weeping and swearing, because you know, PhD students are unstable living creatures)
What I don't put in my research diary
- Lecture notes (I keep them somewhere else, along with the photos I took when the professors are drawing on the whiteboard - the most valuable stuff ever)
- Workshop or seminar and other academic things like these
Why (my) Evernote Research Diary is Cool
1. It keeps everything documented
Simply because I put nearly everything I do (related to my research, and sometimes about my student life - so many things need to be organized, particularly if you're a mom and studying abroad) there, so it's easier to put everything there. I also massively use the link feature, so I just dump everything on the diary, 'I made this, I made that, read this, read that, don't forget this, and that, link to the file here, there, and everywhere'.
2. It tells me how much I progress
As an A type person, I easily feel overwhelmed and underperforming, like 'Jeez girl, it's February now, what have you done the past month?', then I would panic. Having all my achievements and progress listed helps me appreciate myself. When I look back at my research diary, I would be surprised how many papers I read the whole month, how much notes and reflections I made, research ideas and progress, etc. Sometimes we discount ourselves and trust me, there's no joy in that.
3. I can easily retrieve stuffs that matter
Sorry not sorry for being an avid fan of Cmd+F (or Ctrl+F). If my paper notebook has that feature, I will use that massively. What I love about putting my 'life' together in the diary is that I can easily answer:
- When did I do that?
- What did I do on 14 January?
- What's that paper I need to read for this submission?
- I think I have summarize that Berg or Bern paper.. Where is it?
4. I can copy and paste my own annotated bibliography
Evernote Vs Onenote For Research
I have a habit since bachelor degree to keep my reading notes together. The citation and the key takeaway from each reference. Although obviously I can't access the notes from 15 years back (again seriously, who can?). And I just found out that what I made is (almost) called 'annotated bibliography' from Academic Literacy course I'm currently enrolled in Coursera. Since I watched that lecture on annotated bibliography (a week ago), I try to refine the way I'm writing mine ?
I will write more about annotated bibliography in another blog post ?
Sometimes I feel like writing with hand instead of typing. Sometimes, I forgot that I have Evernote (yes). Sometimes, the battery of my laptop is dying. When they happen, I just work with my paper notebook, then take a picture of it and give necessary tags on the research diary. Voilà, everything is still documented, retrievable, and problem solved ?
I have to admit I have been a slow adopter of Evernote. In 2013 and 2014 I posted here about how I wanted to give Evernote a(nother) try to help me organize certain aspects of my genealogy research. Well, it’s two years later and I’m happy to report that I am actually using Evernote to help organize a bunch of things in my life, including certain aspects of my genealogy research. I’ve become a big fan, though no one would describe me as a power user.
Evernote Research Templates
I thought it might be helpful to some people for me to describe how I’m using it for genealogy. Before I do, though, I want to emphasize that this isn’t the best way or the only way to use Evernote. It’s just the way I’m using it. And it will no doubt evolve.
So here’s a source list of ways I use Evernote in my genealogy life:
- Research log. I have a very simple template in Evernote in which I jot down what I’ve researched that session. Full disclosure: I don’t do it each and every session; I just do it when it feels right. Evernote makes it very easy.
- Genealogy task list. I have a notebook (in my Genealogy stack) called Genealogy clues/puzzles to check out. That’s where I make note of the things that come up that I don’t want to explore at the moment. I helps me stay focused on the task at hand.
- Source documentation project. As I described last month, I’m systematically reexamining all my sources in Reunion, verifying them, checking citations, ensuring that I’ve gleaned all the information I can out of them and adding images of each source to the citation. I keep the list in Evernote and check it off as I go.
- Keeping track of resources. I have a notebook called Genealogy resources where I clip interesting websites. Do I go back and look at it a lot? Not so much. But when I do there are usually some treasures in there. And clipping it means I don’t have to try to remember it, which frees up my mind.
- Genealogy travel. When I’m planning a research or cemetery trip, I keep notes about hotels, logistics, things to remember to pack, etc.
- Blog post ideas. I jot down ideas for this blog and my organizing blog when they occur to me. I consult it when I don’t know what to write. Which is quite often.
I don’t store my genealogy research in Evernote. After the 2015 National Genealogical Society meeting where I heard a detailed talk on using Evernote for genealogy, I briefly tried storing images of the genealogy documents I’d downloaded (census records, vital records, etc) in Evernote. Visual studio code powershell autocomplete. I abandoned that as too labor intensive (though I can see the sense in it because it makes those documents exquisitely accessible). Instead, I attach those documents to the source citation in Reunion on my Mac.
In short, Evernote has become indispensable to me. It’s my go-to place to store and retrieve all manner of things (and I use it a whole lot for non-genealogy purposes as well). I pay for the premium version, so that I can access it when I’m not online. The price for the premium version just went up from $50 to $70 a year. I like it enough that I didn’t even consider not renewing because of the price hike.
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Evernote is such a robust platform that I know I could be taking better advantage of it. And in a year I might be using it entirely differently. But right now it’s meeting my needs quite nicely.
Evernote For Researchers
How do you use Evernote for your genealogy research?