* Reasearch Notes - How do I use them?

[Woodg]

Hi All,

I trying to understand Research Notes, and Notes in general. I not talking about the notes that can be added to a fact. I understand those.

Firstly, I know I can:

• add a note for an Individual only - something related to only that person. Seems to also be known as a Local Note.
  add a Shared Note for a couple which nicely adds (a link, I assume) to both spouses
  add a Shared Note to be used for multiple people - say all children of a couple.

I noticed that only Shared Notes appear in the Notes tab of the Records Window. Does this mean it might be best practise to use only Shared Notes?


Secondly, when it comes to a Research Note I can only add a Shared Note. Of course, a Shared Research Note might only be "shared" by one person, but does anyone (other than CP) know why all Research Notes have to be Shared Notes? Is it related to my above comment about only Shared notes appear in the Records Window?

And thirdly can anyone give me an example of how they are using Research Notes, please? I'm somewhat confused. I understand a Research Plan. It's the Log and Tasks I'm not quite understanding.

The system I'm coming from (Relatively Yours 3) didn't have a Plan, just a Research Note which was only linked to one person and contained a short description, link to a source, link to a repository, date started and date of last action (both automatically updated), a due date (manually entered), a status and a text note. It looks like, to me, that the RY3 Research Note is like a combined FH7 Log and Tasks and I'm just trying to figure out how I can make best use of the Log and Task in FH7. Some examples of how others are using them may help me.

Thanks,

Glenn

[sbell95]

Glenn,

Like with everything else in FH, you can use Research Notes for anything you like. You're not restricted to using the pre-defined templates (Log, Tasks, etc) either.

Have you studied the Knowledge Base article on Research Notes?

You may also find this thread and/or this thread useful. I shared screenshots of ways that I use Research Notes to track censuses.

[Woodg]

Thanks Sarah.

I had read the Knowledgebase article. I'll now go and read the threads you linked to.

I currently keep some of my research in OneNote and I have tested linking from FH to OneNote, and it works reasonibly well. Just need to work out if I can link from OneNote back to specific record in FH. If I can get that going, then I may just create my own Research templates in FH.

Thanks,

Glenn

[Gowermick]

Glenn,
I use the generic text version of research notes, but with a twist.
I use a custom ID for all my individuals so I begin each research note with this ID e.g.

J394ab: What happened to John Smith after 1841

so that when I look at the notes in the records window, they are listed in order of their custom ID, and I know at a glance, who the note refers to.

[tatewise]

Firstly, I know I can:

• add a note for an Individual only - something related to only that person. Seems to also be known as a Local Note.
• add a Shared Note for a couple which nicely adds (a link, I assume) to both spouses
• add a Shared Note to be used for multiple people - say all children of a couple.

I noticed that only Shared Notes appear in the Notes tab of the Records Window. Does this mean it might be best practise to use only Shared Notes?

May I correct some misunderstandings?
Shared Notes for couples are linked to their Family record, so shared by the couple just like Marriage and Divorce facts.
All local Notes do appear in the Notes tab.
The local Notes for the Individual or the Family couple have a blue or red bullet on the left (just like Fact blue & red bullets).
The local Notes for Facts are governed by the Show Fact Notes button in the toolbar below.

For any Notes that only apply to one Individual or one Family couple or one Fact it is usually better to use local Notes.

[davidf]

I noticed that only Shared Notes appear in the Notes tab of the Records Window. Does this mean it might be best practise to use only Shared Notes?

May I correct some misunderstandings?
...
All local Notes do appear in the Notes tab. [of the Individual Property Box]

(my italics / [insertion] in both the above quotes)

Or is there a change V6 to V7 that all notes now show in the notes tab of the Records Window? Is there a preferences toggle to show/hide them?

[LornaCraig]

May I correct some misunderstandings?

.....All local Notes do appear in the Notes tab.

Further clarification: Mike is referring here to local notes in the Notes tab in the Property Box. I think Glenn/Woodg probably knows that. And I'm sure he also knows that Shared notes also appear in the notes tab of the Property box.

His original point was "I noticed that only Shared Notes appear in the Notes tab of the Records Window." (He didn't say "Shared notes only appear.....". There was no misunderstanding.

P.S. I agree with Mike that notes which relate only to one individual or family couple are best kept as local notes. The Shared notes shown in the Records window are Note Records and are available to link to any number of individuals if they are appropriate. For example you might have a note about a particular industry several people worked in, or about the origins of a particular surname.

[tatewise]

You are correct David & Lorna, I mis-read Notes tab of the Records Window as Notes tab of the Property Box because the list of options for adding Notes seemed to be based on the Notes tab of the Property Box Add Note button options and there are no such options in the Notes tab of the Records Window. So I asumed Records Window was a typo.

However, it is true that only Shared Notes appear in the Notes tab of the Records Window because shared Notes are standalone Records (just like Individual, Family, Source, Media, etc) whereas local Notes are Fields contained within a Record just like Facts are Fields within a Record.

The FH terminology of Records and Fields is borrowed from the GEDCOM definition and database concepts where Fields are sub-structures with a Record.

[LornaCraig]

.... I mis-read Notes tab of the Records Window as Notes tab of the Property Box
......So I asumed Records Window was a typo.

I often mis-read things too, but that's not the same as reading it correctly and then assuming it's a typo!

[tatewise]

asumed is my typo it should have been assume
i.e. I am assuming now that it may be a typo, not that I assumed originally it was a typo!

[LornaCraig]

Well I'm giving Glenn the benefit of the doubt (not that I had any doubt) and assuming it's not a typo. His original post made sense.

[tatewise]

Except that I'm not convinced he understands the difference between a Local Note for an Individual or for a Family, versus a Shared Note record that is only linked to one Individual or one Family.
For that last case, he says "add a Shared Note for a couple which nicely adds (a link, I assume) to both spouses" but it is not linked to both spouses' Individual records but is a single link to the Family record.

Also the answer to "Does this mean it might be best practise to use only Shared Notes?" is a definite "No".

Just to complete the picture, it is technically feasible to add Shared Note records with Facts, and just about every other scenario where a local Note is allowed, e.g. see Source Citation window on the Notes tab.
However, that feature is sometimes hidden on the All tab.

[LornaCraig]

But none of that has any bearing on his statement that "I noticed that only Shared Notes appear in the Notes tab of the Records Window." That statement is correct and makes sense.

The other points you have drawn attention to have no direct bearing on it, and certainly don't justify the assumption that he didn't say what he meant. What he said was correct but you decided he meant something else which would, indeed, have been incorrect.

As far as I can see the only misunderstanding was about the way a Shared note for a couple is linked, and he indicated that he wasn't sure about that himself anyway, by saying "(a link, I assume) to both spouses". You are attributing more 'misunderstanding' than there is.

[davidf]

Ah, Language! it's a curse but where would we be without it?

For that last case, he says "add a Shared Note for a couple which nicely adds (a link, I assume) to both spouses" but it is not linked to both spouses' Individual records but is a single link to the Family record.

(My emboldening)

We need to be careful with the distinction between Records and Fields - highlighted by Mike a few posts earlier and with what we mean by "link".

Many will know what follows and I hope we agree on nomenclature.

Below is an extract of an INDIvidual Record within a GEDCOM file. (Directly examining a GEDCOM file is OK provided you are absolutely certain that you do not change it! It can be instructive to look "under the hood")

Henry VIII part of INDIvidual Record

Screenshot from 2022-11-07 13-33-24.png (16.93 KiB) Viewed 14193 times

• It starts with (line 3101 in this case) @I97@
  • a record identifier @I - indicating an Individual record
  • 97 the individual record number
  • @ INDI - indicating this is the beginning of an Individual record
• It has a number of fields - most of which are easily human readable consisting of a tag and a value.
  • Some of these fields are child fields of a preceding one - indicated by the Number at the beginning of each line (1, 2 etc. e.g. Birth Date and Place)
• Some of these fields contain links to other records and the field has a type tag and a value which is the reference number of the foreign field. In this instance we have 3 types indicated by the following Tags:
  • FAMC (Family/relationship where the individual is a child of that family/relationship
  • FAMS (Family/relationship where the individual is one of the couple who define the relationship - "spouse")
  • _SHAR (used for linking to Witnesses of the event for which the field is a child field; the underline indicates a non GEDCOM standard tag)
• Following the Type we have a value in the form @Annnn@ where "A" is:
  • I is for Individual Records
  • F is for Family/Relationship Records
  • Similarly for Sources Objects/Media and Shared Notes etc.
• The nnnnn represents the specific record number
• Note that the final line in this screen shot is for a local individual note field - no "link" because it is part of the individual record.

Elsewhere within the file we will find the records referenced. For instance Family F40 (Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon - who had one Child)

Henry VIII & Catherine of Aragon entire FAMily Record

Screenshot from 2022-11-07 13-52-44.png (4.88 KiB) Viewed 14193 times

Family Records are relatively Sparse consisting of Facts relating to the relationship (Marriage Details, Status etc.) and Couple Notes (held as a note field - part of the Family record as in the Individual Note example above in the first screen shot), plus:

• links to the Individual Records for the deemed HUSBand and deemed WIFE (they do not need to be married to be linked by these Tags) and
• links to the Individual Records for the CHILdren of the relationship.

Link or links means a reference to another record.

[David2416]

[Woodg]

Wow. Who would have thought that my questions would provoke such a response! Thank you all for your posts. They are helpful. One thing this indicates, to me at least, is that CPs work on Research Notes is a little underwhelming.

I wanted to make some clarifications about my understandings on Notes.

I know about Notes against individual Facts. This could be, for example, a comment on a Birth fact about the baby being born early, or the father fainting in the delivery room. A note on a Marriage fact may talk about the weather for the ceremony, or how the bride was 20 minutes late. In any case, these Notes apply to the specific Fact and only that Fact. They appear on the Fact and also on the Property Box Note tab with a calendar icon, and the display of these facts can be turned on and off with the Show Fact Notes icon. These notes do not appear on the Records Window Notes tab.

I can also add a Note by using the Add Note button on the Property Box Notes tab. This note is for the specific person displayed in the Property Box. They appear on the Property Box Notes tab with a blue dot and have a "type" value of "Local" (hence me calling them a Local Note). They also do not appear on the Records Window Notes tab.

A note can be added to the family record in two ways. Firstly, by using the Add Note button on the Property Box for an individual and selecting "Shared Note For A Couple". This note appears in the Property Box Notes Tab with a red dot. Thanks to all who responded, I now know they are not "linked" to both spouses but are instead added to the Family record (makes sense, really, as the Family record is the link between two people). I have now discovered that they can also be added directly to the Family record by opening the Family record in the Property Box and clicking on the Add Note button and selecting Local Note. These "Shared Notes For A Couple" appear on the Property Box Note tab for the family record and have a "type" of "Local". They also appear on the Property Box Note Tab for each individual, although their "type" isn't listed as "Local" but instead has a value of the Marriage i.e. "Marr. to xxxxxx".

On the Note Tab of the Property Box (for both an Individual and a Family) I can add a Shared Note. This is a Note that can be added to multiple people - one Note "shared" by many people. For example, a note about a house being bombed during the blitz would apply to everyone who lived in the house and may be mum and dad, the youngest children and grandma. Not a "family" in GEDCOM terms but all "sharing" something. These appear in the Property Box Notes tab with a Notepad icon and a type of "Note Record" also indicating the number of links to that shared note. These notes do appear on the Records Window Notes tab.

My confusion was caused by the use of the term "Shared". A "Shared Note For A Couple" is really a "Local" note on a family record. This is different to a "Shared Note Record".

And finally, there are Research Notes, also called "Shared Research Notes" when adding them from the Property Box Notes tab. These appear on the Property Box Notes tab with a clipboard icon and a type of "Research Note" also indicating the number of links to that Research Note. These do not appear in the Records Window Notes tab but do appear on the Records Window Research Notes tab. I may be wrong, but it looks to me like the Research Notes are just normal Shared Notes with some autotext, and a different record "type" to allow for easier querying, reporting, etc.

I hope I've now got Notes under control. I need to know how to use notes because my "notes" from Relatively Yours need tidying after importing to FH7. Notes that would be the equivalent of a "Local" note are imported as a Fact note (because of the way they are exported by RY3). And my Research Log is not exported at all from RY3 - hence my questions on how others are using Research Notes. I'll have to do some more experimenting with Research Notes to come up with something that works for me.

Thanks everybody. With your help I'll eventually get the hang of FH7.

P.S. Those red and blue dots are hard to see on my Surface Pro screen. They became a lot clearer when I switched to my desktop.

[Woodg]

I forgot to add a big thanks to davidf for his explanation about the GEDCOM format. Most of it I knew but the FAMx records confused me. I didn't quite understand the difference between FAMC and FAMS but now I know. I guess it's kind of obvious - most people are a member of two families, one as a spouse and another one as a child.

Thanks,

Glenn