All Your Notes, All the Time

How would you like to have all your notes with you all the time so you can't forget something? It's possible.

I've been using a product called Evernote for nearly five years. About a year ago it totally changed from a program on your computer to one that is shared. I admit I was reluctant but now I can't live without it.

If you share your notebook or notebooks the notes are also on your personal space at Evernote and shared with everyone you have shared with. That could mean merely your other computers. Or it could be other people. Think of the possibilities. You could use a notebook to share information among all the researchers of a certain line.

A note I add to the notebook on my desktop computer is almost instantly there for me in the program on my netbook or my laptop. I can use my SmartPhone browser to go to the web space, see my notes, add new notes. If I used a Windows Mobile compatible phone I could have the program on my phone. It also works on Macs. And you can run it from a flash drive.

When you are researching on the web you easily clip from a web page and there it is in your notebook, including the URL so you don't have to make a separate note. The URL works later if you need to go back. You can also clip from any document you can copy from on your computer -- a word processor, spreadsheet, pdf, etc. Your notes are right there when you want to enter them into your genealogy program, insert in an email, add to a blog -- whatever, wherever.

Did I mention you can include photos, audio, ink, pdf, anything you can scan in too? You can snap a photo with your SmartPhone and email it to your Evernote. If you photograph a document Evernote will recognize the text in the photo. Again, think of the possibilities.

The program is free for up to 40MB per month, $45 per year for up to 500MB per month.

Librarything

Ever buy a book while at an event or traveling only to find you already had a copy when you got home?

I attended IGHR [Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research] at Samford. I've been a member of Librarything for awhile but I've never really used it. Amy Giroux, CG, CGL, suggested using it to list your genealogy library. It is stored online and available to you from any computer so you can't forget it. If you are organized you can print out a list of your books before you go. If you aren't you can still print out a list when you get there.

It's free for the first 200 books. If you want to catalog your entire collection you can get an annual membership for $10 or a life membership for $25. You can make your catalog private or public. If it saves you buying one duplicate it is probably worth for that alone.

This is my genealogy library, at least what I have entered so far. I haven't done the local histories or surname books.

Of course, you are not limited to genealogy or any one subject. And there are other uses for the list -- for your insurance should something happen to your collection like fire, flood, tornado, hurricane for example.

I see another use for the catalogs. Perhaps you simply cannot find the book you need, particularly one of those local histories or a long out of print book. Maybe you can go Librarything, see who has the book and, very nicely, ask if they would mind looking it up for you in their copy.