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Would like to use Evernote to organize all of my digital Genealogy files, anyone done this yet.


DrGranma

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First I have to admit to a LOT of collecting; different families, census documents, immigration documents, family photos, etc. They are organized by course taken, research documents, family materials.  I am wondering if others have either done an organization and can suggest strategies and perhaps (crossed fingers) did this in Evernote. I tried in one other program but it only accepts image files and I need to have both text and images.

 

Looking forward to hearing from others.

Marianne Handler

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First I have to admit to a LOT of collecting; different families, census documents, immigration documents, family photos, etc. They are organized by course taken, research documents, family materials.  I am wondering if others have either done an organization and can suggest strategies and perhaps (crossed fingers) did this in Evernote. I tried in one other program but it only accepts image files and I need to have both text and images.

 

Looking forward to hearing from others.

Marianne Handler

Hi. Welcome to the forums!

This is all relatively easily done in Evernote. It accepts all file types (I don't know of any that won't go into it), and there are a lot of ways to organize. I am a researcher. Here is my approach:

http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=367

A lot of people like to use notebooks.

http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=425

Others prefer tags.

http://www.christopher-mayo.com/?p=437

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First I have to admit to a LOT of collecting; different families, census documents, immigration documents, family photos, etc. They are organized by course taken, research documents, family materials.  I am wondering if others have either done an organization and can suggest strategies and perhaps (crossed fingers) did this in Evernote. I tried in one other program but it only accepts image files and I need to have both text and images.

 

Looking forward to hearing from others.

Marianne Handler

 

I have a lot of family history and store some of the raw data in Evernote. But it is not powerful enough for serious Genealogy.

 

Relationship calculations, family trees, data sourcing, multiple divorces, cross-linking, GEDCOM export, etc. are much more effectively handled with inexpensive or even free software designed for tracking family lineage. These are issues that Evernote cannot process.

 

FYI - Here is a link to someone who made a stab at using Evernote. I don't know if he is still using it.

http://www.toniasroots.net/2010/06/24/using-evernote-for-genealogy/

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  • 3 months later...

 

First I have to admit to a LOT of collecting; different families, census documents, immigration documents, family photos, etc. They are organized by course taken, research documents, family materials.  I am wondering if others have either done an organization and can suggest strategies and perhaps (crossed fingers) did this in Evernote. I tried in one other program but it only accepts image files and I need to have both text and images.

 

Looking forward to hearing from others.

Marianne Handler

 

I have a lot of family history and store some of the raw data in Evernote. But it is not powerful enough for serious Genealogy.

 

Relationship calculations, family trees, data sourcing, multiple divorces, cross-linking, GEDCOM export, etc. are much more effectively handled with inexpensive or even free software designed for tracking family lineage. These are issues that Evernote cannot process.

 

FYI - Here is a link to someone who made a stab at using Evernote. I don't know if he is still using it.

http://www.toniasroots.net/2010/06/24/using-evernote-for-genealogy/

 

 

The only problem with using evernote is there is a 250 notebook limit syncing - and just for genealogy alone that will not work - add in your personal stuff and you hit a big brick wall - I did and I just started creating notebooks for genealogy no documents yet - so you have to go business do get that number raised but then there are still limitations - trying to understand them before I decide to dump evernote - real nice app but these limitations are a deal breaker

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The only problem with using evernote is there is a 250 notebook limit syncing - and just for genealogy alone that will not work - add in your personal stuff and you hit a big brick wall - I did and I just started creating notebooks for genealogy no documents yet - so you have to go business do get that number raised but then there are still limitations - trying to understand them before I decide to dump evernote - real nice app but these limitations are a deal breaker

As I mentioned in the other two threads where you posted this:

As has been stated many times, use more tags, descriptive titles & keywords & less notebooks. I've yet to see any example (and there have been many posted) where tags would not work.

Having said that, I would also say Evernote may not be the best tool for doing your family tree, just like it's not the best tool for balancing your bank account.

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I work in a library with a nationally-renowned Genealogy department, and we're starting to use Evernote for Genealogy data collection. As others have said, it's not ideal for actually creating the family tree itself, but it's perfect for collecting and organizing all information, documents, photos, etc. that back up your tree's lineage. While we're in the early stages of using it for genealogical research, we're using tags to organize the data we find. You can also use Note Links to link notes together, such as creating a list of other notes inside a certain other note. I wouldn't recommend using notebooks at all for this, except to maybe have a Family Tree notebook. I'd highly advise against going any more specific than that, because you will likely find documents that fit into two notebooks (we recently had two separate families come in for family tree research and turns out they're related!), and by using tags, you don't have to duplicate your notes -- just tag with both applicable tags. And, then you have just one notebook to share should you wish to work on it with other family members. Evernote's excellent for genealogy because of its web clipper -- clipping articles, gravestones, Ancestry pages, etc. all work beautifully. One issue we had before Evernote is that Rootsweb, a portion (a very old portion) of Ancestry dot com, no longer prints the pedigrees in any sort of legible manner. But, Evernote clips it flawlessly. Find A Grave also clips very well into Evernote.

 

Overall our Genealogy department's loving it, but we are still very early in using it and I'm sure we'll find some kinks to work through. So far, however, it's great!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think Chirmer hit the nail on the hit as to answering your question.  Why not have one main notebook and use tags to sort out your information.  While Evernote is not the most powerful geneaolgy tool out there, it IS an excellent repository to store the information in the research phase of the process and then you can assimilate it as needed using other programs.  

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Evernote can be a good place to store raw data...

 

but keep in mind, that Genealogy software is so cheap / free nowadays and Evernote cannot create:

a GEDCOM file, determine family relationships, print a family bow tie tree, point out potential conflicts, identify gaps, calculate ages, check for duplicates, show a chronological view, automatically sort by age, develop statistics, color code the eight great-grandparents' lines, source database, etc. etc.
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  • 1 year later...

Thanks for the posts! I am taking an excellent course from Family Tree University called Evernote Bootcamp. It's given me some great tips about using Evernote more productively. Basically, Evernote is a repository for all those various research notes you run across. You still need a true genealogy program to create family trees, etc. I found this forum because I'm having difficulty cleaning up the random tags I have assigned. 

 

Should there be a separate group for genealogy users? It would be helpful to me, certainly. I am not seeing one so far.

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