Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Tech Tuesday - OneNote For Genealogy ~ Research Bookmarks

I absolutely love OneNote. (And no, I don't work for the company and I'm not getting any compensation for this post.) Last year I shared how I use OneNote to create my Fab Finds Posts.

Today I want to share another way I use it. I've discovered that OneNote is a fabulous way to save my place while I'm doing genealogy research. You can think of it as digital scratch paper.

So, here's a real life experience I had while trying to find the death record for my Grandaunt, Edna Lillie Webster. I was looking through a record set on FamilySearch.org when the time came for our family to go to the movies. Hurray! We were off to see The Hobbit! But, I hadn't finished looking at the record set in FamilySearch. Bummer! So what did I do? I just used OneNote as a research bookmark.

It was super quick and easy!

In OneNote, I created a Research Bookmarks Notebook.  I organized the notebook like this:

  • Sections (top tabs) = genealogy websites
  • Pages (along the right side) = ancestor(s)

OneNote for Genealogy Research 1

Saving my place using OneNote -

To save my place while I was researching Edna Lillie's death record, I copied the URL from the record set in FamilySearch.org, and then pasted it onto Edna Lillie Webster's page in OneNote. (see above)


 

OneNote for Genealogy Research URL

When I'm ready to continue searching for Edna Lillie's death record in FamilySearch, I'll just click on the URL on Edna's page in OneNote, and I will be taken back to the exact location in FamilySearch.org where I left off.  How cool is that?!

OneNote for Genealogy Research 2


But wait! There's more!

Let's say you don't want to create a separate Research Bookmarks notebook. Perhaps you've organized your genealogy research in OneNote by creating separate notebooks for different ancestors, surnames, localities or whatever. And you want to just add your research bookmarks within those notebooks.

But what about the possibility of these research bookmarks getting buried and forgotten inside all of those notebooks?  Will they be found again easily without having to go through each notebook? That's a valid concern if you're anything like me. I tend to research more than one ancestor at a time.

Well, there's an easy way to find those research bookmarks again. How? By using the "tag" feature in OneNote.

Simply create a "Research Bookmark" tag in the "Tag" drop-down menu.



OneNote for Genealogy Research Bookmark Tag

Then place that tag next to each research bookmark you create. Tags help you "remember" where you have placed your research bookmarks.


OneNote for Genealogy Research Bookmark Tag 2

To find all of your research bookmarks again, just click "Find Tags" at the top of OneNote.


OneNote for Genealogy Research Find Tags

You will then see this handy-dandy box (below) on the right side of your OneNote page. You can search for tags by Tag Name, Section, Title, Date, or Note Text in the drop-down menu.

Now you're all set to find the Research Bookmark you are looking for and resume your genealogy research.  Once you've found the bookmark you want, just click on it and you'll be taken to that page in your OneNote notebook.

OneNote for Genealogy Research 3 Tags

So, that's it! I hope this will be a helpful tool for you in your genealogy research.

Thanks for reading!


Jana

Copyright © Jana Last 2013

26 comments:

  1. Smart! And all the screenshots are very helpful. While I'm sitting here trying to think what to do next, maybe I'll go check out One Note, something I've meant to do but never did.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Wendy,

      Thanks! I'm glad you like the screenshots. I hope you try out OneNote. I use it all the time and love it!

      Thanks for reading and for your comments!

      Delete
  2. I love OneNote and use it all the time. You have shown me some new things I can do with it. Cool. Thank you.

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    1. Hi Fran,

      Ah! Another fan of OneNote! You already know how awesome it is. I'm glad I was able to share a few new things about OneNote with you.

      Thanks for reading and for your comments!

      Delete
  3. Hmmmm. This -almost- looks easy for me! And your screenshots help so much, Jana. OneNote isn't something I've ever used... I still look at Evernote and wonder how to best use it, even after webinars on it. Thanks for such a great detailed post!

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    1. Hi Celia,

      I hope you give OneNote a try. The way it's organized just seems to make sense. It's like having digital binders.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. That is interesting, I'll have to try on on a project I am doing which I would like to make into a book.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bill,

      I hope my little tip will prove helpful to you in your project.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. This will now prompt me to start using the OneNote that came with my recent purchase of Microsoft Office !

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    1. Hi Magda,

      Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you will give OneNote a try. I love it! I hope you find it useful to you in your genealogy research and blogging.

      Thanks for reading and for your comments!

      Delete
  6. Thanks for the great idea! I use Evernote ( hope that's OK...haha) and see that I can do the same thing on it. I can't believe I didn't think of it before.

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    1. Hi Cheri,

      Of course using Evernote is OK! :)

      The main point of this post is to create digital research bookmarks. So however and wherever you create them is awesome. Oh, and I tested Excel and that program works for saving research bookmarks too. :)

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. Hi Jana! Thanks for this post:) Think I'll upgrade from post-it notes and scraps of paper - that seem to get lost - to OneNote. Probably way past time to do so. Yeah, and the screen shots really helped me too.
    Cheers, Diane

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    Replies
    1. Hi Diane,

      I'm so glad you've found this post helpful! Have fun using OneNote. I know I do. It's an awesome tool.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  8. Jana, I am a OneNote user and lover too, and really enjoyed your post. A great idea and will have to try that as well. Always good stuff on your blog!

    Valerie

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    1. Hi Valerie,

      Awesome! Another OneNote fan! I've found it to be a very useful program.

      I'm so glad you found this post helpful. Thanks so much for reading and for your kind comments! I really appreciate it!

      Delete
  9. Too funny. Just today I did the exact same thing with Evernote. Yesterday I started a new notebook for a new project, recording differt notes, like a research log. Today, I got tired of looking through the Italian marriage records so I made myself a note, included the link to the image I left off on, and also noted the image # just in case the link goes bad. I then tagged the note as "to-do." I use both EN and ON, each for different reasons and purposes, but I'm trying to keep better track of my research and this was the epiphany I had today. You must have sent me the idea telepathicaly while writing your post!

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    1. Hi Julie,

      HA! That's awesome! And I like your idea of writing the image # down in case the link goes bad. That's a great idea. It's good to know that research bookmarks work in Evernote too.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  10. Jana, this is really detailed and useful, with pictures of the screens and exactly what to do. Thank you for taking the time to help all of us. I'm in an Evernote learning curve, so I probably won't be able to do exactly this, but there must be an Evernote equivalent!

    I find that as I search ancestor after ancestor, "keeping my place" is a very important concern! It's easy to get confused.

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    1. Hi Mariann,

      Yes, you can do this in Evernote. Although I don't use Evernote, I have it on my computer. I did a little experiment using Evernote and you can add a research bookmark there. Julie, in the above comment, also uses Evernote and created her own research bookmark in Evernote too.

      Thank you so much for reading and for your comments. I really appreciate it!

      Delete
  11. Hi Jana,

    Great post! I'm a big OneNote fan and you've showed me a few more ways to use it. Thanks so much!

    Wendy

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    1. Hi Wendy,

      I'm so glad you found this post helpful. Yep, OneNote is a fantastic tool! I love it too!

      Thank you so much for reading and for your comments!

      Delete
  12. Thanks so much Jana. One Note came with my recent "update" and have been giving it a bit of a tryout but still quite baffled. Your info is so useful and will now set a day aside to focus my attention :-) ... Cheers, Catherine

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    1. Hi Catherine,

      You're very welcome for this tip! I hope you find OneNote as useful a tool as I do. I use it all the time and love it.

      Thank you so much for reading and for your comments!

      Delete
  13. I started to use OneNote for documenting my genealogy. I like the idea of creating a Research notebook and using the sections for sources i.e. Ancestry & FamilySearch etc and the pages for each ancestor. Thanks for the tip!

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