Free research forms and checklists
Paper still beats a database for the two jobs that decide whether your research holds up: recording sources properly, and logging what you have already searched.
The two forms that matter
Source citation sheet
For every fact you record, note: the person, the event, the date as written, the record type, the repository, the volume or film number, the page, and the date you looked. Without this, a date is an anecdote. With it, anyone — including you in three years — can verify it.
Negative search log
The most underrated page in genealogy. For each search that failed, record the name variants tried, the record set, the years covered, and the date. This is what stops you repeating the same fruitless search every six months, and it is the first thing a professional will ask for.
Print and fill
Both are simple to set up in a notebook: one page per person for facts and sources, and one running list for searches performed. If you prefer a form, any research-log template works; the discipline matters more than the layout.
Order of work
- Interview notes from the oldest relatives, dated.
- Census transcriptions, 1950 back to 1850, with page and enumeration district.
- Vital records, with certificate numbers and issuing offices.
- Immigration and naturalisation, with ship and port details.
- Military and pension files, with file numbers.
- DNA matches, with centimorgan values and the mirror tree status of each.
Keep the whole thing in one place, and back it up. A tree that exists only inside a subscription site disappears the month you stop paying.