evernote for genealogists - ngs 2015
TRANSCRIPT
Evernote for Genealogists
Jordan Jones / F-315NGS 2015 – St. Charles, Missouri
What is Evernote?A free storage and organization tool for notes and files
A way to organize, store, archive, and find your data
A way to OCR images (make them searchable using Optical Character Recognition)
The leading digital memory application (MS OneNote, Google Keep being key competitors)
Key Evernote FeaturesCapture Everything—Text notes, web pages, audio, photos, any kind of digital file.
Keep Everything in Sync—notes, web clips, files and images available on every device and computer you use.
Research—Collect information from anywhere into a single place. Everything is always at your fingertips.
Remember Everything—Since it’s easy to capture & find.
Web Clipper
Organization and Search
Evernote is designed to makes it easy to organize and find your data, either by:
search, or
navigation
Search
You can search for any text
in the note itself
in images
in tags, titles, or notebook names
Search — Premium Feature
Search within documents
PDFs
Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
Apple Productivity Suite (Pages, Keynote, Numbers)
Navigation
Navigate by Notebook
Navigate by Tag
Navigate by Shortcut
Evernote Platforms
Web
Desktop (Native apps & web clippers)
Mac OS
Windows (Desktop and Touch)
Mobile
Windows Phone
iOS
Android
Getting StartedCreating an Account and Installing Evernote
Signing Up for Evernote
Signing Up for Evernote
Signing Up for Evernote
Installing Evernote: Desktop
Installing Evernote: Desktop
Installing Evernote: Mobile
Standard Installation, just like any App Store, Google Play, or Windows Store application.
Search for “Evernote” in your mobile store of choice.
Installing Evernote Web Clippers
To get the best of Evernote for web capture, you should install browser plug-ins for your favorite browser(s).
Go to https://evernote.com/webclipper/. The website will automatically detect your browser and provide the relevant web clipper.
Follow the instructions on the page.
Why Should Genealogists Use
Evernote?Concepts & Strategies for
Digital Memory
Why Should Genealogists Use Evernote?
To create research plans
To create research logs
To gather and catalog digital assets
To write — notes, draft proof summaries, family narratives
To store more formal documents—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, InDesign
To share the results of research
Evernote Orientation
Quick Overview
The Evernote Web Interface
1. New Note
2. Search
3. Share
4. Navigation
5. Note
1
2
3
4
5
The Evernote Desktop Interface
1. Shortcuts
2. Recent Notes
3. Navigation
4. Notes List
5. Note
What is a Note?
Notebook
Tags (optional)
Title
Text (optional)
Files (100/200 MB max)
Card View
Organization for Search
Organization Methods: Understanding Tags &
NotebooksA notebook is like a folder on your computer.
A note can be in only one notebook.
Tags may be applied to each note.
A note can have many tags.
Notebook and Tag
Tag Basics
Applied outside any files or note text, tags provide an external organizing principle.
You can search for tags directly or indirectly:
“tag:Jones” finds all notes tagged “Jones”
“Jones” finds all notes that have the text Jones anywhere, either inside the note, or in a tag
Understanding Tags
While you can search using any text anywhere in a note, tags can provide a more exact search.
There’s no reason not to use a lot of tags.
You can search for any tag using the syntax “tag:[tag name]”
Understanding Tags
Tags can be organized into hierarchies, which aids in tag management
Tag hierarchies do not “auto-tag” notes
A Tag Hierarchy
Genealogy
Surname
[Various Surnames]
The Tag Organizer
The Tag Organizer
Record Type Tags
Record Types
Cemetery
Court
Criminal
DNA
Immigration
Record Type Tags
Record Types
Cemetery
Court
Criminal
DNA
Immigration
Surname Tags
Surname
Lubuibratich
Lutz
Magann
Milkvoch
etc.
Individuals Tags
Individuals
Albert M. Hinman
Alfred Leslie Hill
Alice Golden Scott
Alice Jane Horner
etc.
Individuals Tags
Locales Tags
Locales
AL
AZ
Bosnia-Hercegovina
CA
Alameda Co. CA, etc.
Locales
Notebooks
Notebooks can be in stacks, with a top level notebook grouping together many other notebooks.
They can be nested no deeper than two deep (parent / child).
An account can contain a maximum of 250 notebooks, so notebooks are your most precious resource.
Notebook Features
Notebooks have some capabilities that are specific to them, and the notes they contain:
Local Notebooks
You can keep notes just on a specific computer, if you don’t want to sync them to the cloud
Great as a staging area if you are doing a lot of uploads, and are reaching your limit
Notebook Features
Shared Notebooks
Both free and premium users can create shared notebooks
Offline Notebooks (Premium feature)
Notebook Features
Third-Party Product Integrations
Some third-party products rely on notes in specially set up notebooks
Postach.io — an Evernote-based blogging platform.
Notebook Organizer View
Organization Methods
The dominant methods of organization for Evernote users are
Tag Oriented (some use of notebooks)
Notebook Oriented (some use of tags)
Tags Only (no use of Notebooks).
I prefer to use a tag oriented method, so I can use both tags and notebooks.
My Recommended Method
Folder organization by Record Type
Tagging by Record Type, Surname, Individual Name, County, State
Quick TipsContext Menu & Search Syntax
Create Shortcuts
Use the Context Menu
Select “Add Note to Shortcuts”
Now you have a shortcut in your left panel
Create Note Links
Use the Content Menu
Select “Copy Classic Note Link”
Now you have a link that will open Evernote on the Desktop
Create a Table of Contents
Select the notes to be in the Table of Contents
Select Create Table of Contents Note
Search Syntax Operators
+ — Include an item
- — Exclude an item
: — Include one of the preceding things (tag, notebook)
* — Wildcard
Common Search Syntaxtag:[tag name] has a tag-tag:[tag name] does not have a tagnotebook:[notebook name] is in a notebook-notebook:[notebook name] is not in a notebook intitle:[word or phrase] word or phrase is in title
Search terms can be used together, such as
intitle:[word] -notebook:[name]
A Workflow for Research
Putting it All Together
1. Research Plan
Create research plan notes (what are you trying to find, confirm, or rule out).
I list as much information as necessary, including links to other research notes, or record notes, and information about the repository. If there in an online search tool for a repository, I might look up and note microfilm numbers.
I store this plan note in a folder I call “0 - Research Plans.” I tag the note with the repository or database where I will be conducting the search, as well as surnames, personal names, and record types that may help me find the note later.
2. Update Research Plan
I update the research plan note as I am actually conducting the search, noting anything about the research itself.
This will be my research note, but not the record note.
3. Create Record Notes
If I discover a record that relates to this research, I save it as a record note in Evernote.
I write the citation immediately, then create Evernote links between the research note and the record note. (For an example of this, see: Research - Borica Likic - Birth Certificate.)
3. Create Record Notes
I tag the record note as appropriate with:
surname,
individual name (if I am focused on this individual)
historical location,
record type, and other relevant tags
3. Create Record NotesThen title the note with the format
“date - person - record type - place - identifier”
such as
“1968-02-05 - Hill, Mary Jane - Death Certificate - Nebraska - 69-02358”
I file the record note into a folder for the record type.
4. File Research Plan with Research Logs
I make any final notes on the research note, then move it from the “0 - Research Plans” to the “1 - Research Log” folder.
I do this even if I have a negative search, to remind myself that I did conduct such a search, and the circumstances of the search.
Reminders and To Dos
A Digital String Around Your Finger
Reminders
In Evernote, you can create reminders.
Click the clock above the note.
You can select a specific time or date, or just keep it as a reminder.
Reminders show up in various views in the interface, such as above the cards in the card view.
Reminders / To Dos
To Do Lists
Evernote allows you to create To-Do lists with checkboxes.
To Dos
Unless the To-Do list note also has a reminder, you will will not be reminded, but you can search for To-Do list notes using the syntax:
todo:false [has uncompleted to do list items] todo:true [has completed to do list items]
TemplatesWhy Type It All Again?
Templates
Evernote has not really done the best job here
I create templates for vital records, census records, and other record types, then use them as templates with the Context Menu > Copy to Notebook command.
Other AppsWhy Type It All Again?
Evernote Mobile App
Mobile access to everything you’ve put in Evernote
Ability to capture notes on the fly
Ability to capture special kinds of notes
Business Cards
Page Scans
Image Quality
Limited by the camera on the device
Built-in deskew and flatten software
The following is an un-retouched photo from an iPhone 4S
Other Evernote Apps – Skitch
Platforms: Mac OS, Windows, Android and iOS
Price: Free.
Features:
Screen Capture
Image and PDF Annotate
Automatically syncs with Evernote
Other Evernote Apps – Skitch
Other Evernote Apps – Penultimate
Platform: iOS for iPad only
Price: Free (offers in-app purchases of “paper”
Features:
Allows you to handwrite notes
Automatically syncs with Evernote
Scannable
Platform: iOS (iPhone / iPad)
Price: Free
Features:
Automatic page edge detection
Saves in JPG or PDF format
Automatically syncs to Evernote
Bonus: Text ExpansionOne way to use these templates even quicker, is to use a text replacement app:
Mac - TextExpander ($35) - http://smilesoftware.com/ - the leader in the field, but a bit pricey
Mac - aText ($5) - http://www.trankynam.com/ - does most of what TextExpander does, for a fraction of the price - imports from TextExpander
Windows - PhraseExpress (free) - http://www.phraseexpress.com/ - Can import TextExpander snippets
How Text Expansion Works
Create snippets
Create a unique code
Type the code anywhere
SSDI Example
gssd i
gce n
Next Steps
Take a quick tutorial from Evernote:
https://evernote.com/evernote/guide/mac/
https://evernote.com/evernote/guide/windows/