| Favorite Apps for Genealogy Research |
| What researcher wouldn't like to be better organized and more productive? Today I will be sharing a few of my favorite tools that I use every day in my work as a professional genealogist. From note-taking to organizing DNA matches, these apps can help you get on a path to more organized, efficient research. Evernote is an app designed for note-taking. It boasts many features that help you organize, archive and easily search your notes. Not only that, it provides a place to create your own curated, searchable library of articles and handouts that you collect from webinars or conferences. The ability to tag each item means you can easily find what you need to help you in your research. You can also use Evernote to hold genealogy documents and tag them by ancestor, location, and record type. Google Docs is one of the many free Google tools that can aid your genealogy research. Google Docs works wonderfully for transcribing documents, creating a research plan, or writing notes. One of the great things about Google Docs is that each document has a unique URL that can be copied and pasted into a research log or sent to other researchers for collaboration. One Tab is technically a browser extension, not an app. It allows you to save all the tabs open on your internet browser with one click when your research session is interrupted, or you’re done for the day. Whenever you want to return to that session, another click and all the tabs open back up. Airtable is my go-to app for tracking DNA matches, keeping a research log, and creating timelines. The ability to link between tables lets me easily enter the FANs (friends, associates, and neighbors) listed in every document and look for connections to my ancestors. Airtable’s grouping, sorting, and filtering functions allow you to look at your data in many ways. It’s also fun and easy to use – a must! |
