ResearchLog Entity

Overview

A ResearchLog entity records what a researcher has searched for, where, when, and what was (or was not) found. It treats negative evidence — "the source was searched and the target was not present" — as a first-class outcome, supporting the Genealogical Proof Standard requirement for a "reasonably exhaustive search."

Without a ResearchLog, this information lives in freeform notes or external spreadsheets and is not queryable. Researchers end up duplicating searches across sessions because there is no structured record that a given collection has already been checked.

File Format

All GENEALOGIX files use entity type keys at the top level:

yaml

# Any .glx file (commonly in research_logs/ directory)
research_logs:
  research-log-1860-census-jane-webb:
    title: "1860 census — locate Jane Webb"
    subject:
      person: person-jane-webb
    objective: "Confirm Jane Webb's birthplace via 1860 federal census"
    status: complete
    searches:
      - repository: repository-familysearch
        collection: "United States, Census, 1860"
        query: "Jane Webb, Hartford County, Wisconsin"
        result: found
        citation: citation-1860-census-webb-household
      - repository: repository-familysearch
        collection: "United States, Census, 1860"
        query: "Jane Miller, Hartford County, Wisconsin"
        result: not_found
        notes: "No matches under maiden name"
    conclusions: "Jane Webb located in 1860 Hartford County household; born Florida."

Key Points:

Entity ID is the map key (research-log-1860-census-jane-webb)
IDs can be descriptive or random, 1-64 alphanumeric/hyphens
Searches are embedded inside the log; they are not standalone entities

Core Concepts

Why a structured log

A ResearchLog answers four questions that a notes field cannot:

What did we already search? Avoid repeating a fruitless query in the next session.
Where are the gaps? A list of not_searched plans surfaces the next concrete steps.
What is the negative evidence? "Source X searched, target absent" is a genealogical conclusion, not a non-result.
How exhaustive was the search? A reviewer can audit how many distinct sources were checked.

Search results

Each Search records one query and its outcome. The standard outcomes are:

found — the target was located in the source
not_found — the source was searched and the target was not present (negative evidence)
inconclusive — a candidate record was located but cannot be confirmed
partial — some relevant information was located, but the objective was not fully met
not_searched — search is planned but has not yet been performed (use to record outstanding work alongside completed searches)

See Vocabularies - Search Result Types for the full vocabulary.

Status lifecycle

status tracks where the investigation stands:

open — defined but not started
in_progress — actively being worked
complete — objective met, conclusions documented
blocked — cannot proceed (waiting on access, missing records, etc.)

See Vocabularies - Research Log Status Types.

Fields

Required Fields

Field	Type	Description
Entity ID (map key)	string	Unique identifier (alphanumeric/hyphens, 1-64 chars)

A log with only an entity ID is a valid, minimal placeholder; objective and a populated searches list typically follow.

Optional Fields

Field	Type	Description
`title`	string	Optional human-readable title for the log
`subject`	object	Typed reference (`person` / `event` / `relationship` / `place`) to what is being investigated
`date`	date	Date the research was performed (or session start)
`researcher`	string	Name or identifier of the researcher
`objective`	string	Research question or goal
`status`	string	Lifecycle status (validated against `research_log_status_types` vocabulary)
`searches`	array	List of `Search` entries — one per search attempt
`citations`	array	Citations produced by this log (denormalized from per-search refs)
`conclusions`	string	Summary of findings
`properties`	object	Vocabulary-extensible metadata. There is no research-log property vocabulary in this revision, so keys are not validated and unknown keys do not produce warnings
`notes`	string \| string[]	Free-form notes about the log

Search entry fields

Each entry in searches is a structured record of one search attempt:

Field	Type	Description
`repository`	string	Reference to the Repository searched
`source`	string	Reference to the Source searched (when known to the archive)
`collection`	string	Free-form collection name (used when no Source entity exists yet, e.g., "United States, Census, 1860")
`query`	string	Search terms used
`date`	date	Date this specific search was performed
`result`	string	Outcome (validated against `search_result_types` vocabulary)
`citation`	string	Reference to the Citation produced when result is `found`
`notes`	string \| string[]	Free-form notes about this attempt

Usage Patterns

Tracking negative evidence

yaml

research_logs:
  research-log-1850-census-john-doe:
    objective: "Establish whether John Doe was in Hartford County in 1850"
    status: complete
    searches:
      - repository: repository-familysearch
        collection: "United States, Census, 1850"
        query: "John Doe, Hartford County, Wisconsin"
        result: not_found
      - repository: repository-ancestry
        collection: "1850 U.S. Federal Census"
        query: "Doe, Hartford County"
        result: not_found
    conclusions: "John Doe is absent from the 1850 Hartford County census in two independent indexes; arrival post-1850 is consistent with the 1854 marriage record."

This documents a negative finding that is part of the evidence chain.

Brick-wall investigation in progress

yaml

research_logs:
  research-log-lucinda-norton-parents:
    title: "Lucinda Norton — parentage"
    subject:
      person: person-lucinda-norton
    objective: "Identify Lucinda Norton's parents (born ~1808 Connecticut)"
    status: in_progress
    researcher: "Isaac Schepp"
    searches:
      - repository: repository-familysearch
        collection: "Connecticut, Hartford, Vital Records"
        query: "Norton, Hartford County 1805-1815"
        result: inconclusive
        notes: "Multiple Norton families; cannot match to Lucinda without parent name"
    conclusions: "Strongest hypothesis: née Munson. Online sources exhausted; need on-site Litchfield County land records."
    notes:
      - "Continue with Litchfield County land records 1785-1810 next session"

Linking to citations

When a search produces a citable record, link the citation both inline (on the search entry) and at the log level for easy roll-up:

yaml

research_logs:
  research-log-1860-census-jane-webb:
    objective: "Locate Jane Webb in 1860 census"
    status: complete
    searches:
      - repository: repository-familysearch
        source: source-1860-census
        result: found
        citation: citation-1860-census-webb-household
    citations:
      - citation-1860-census-webb-household

File Organization

Note: File organization is flexible. Entities can be in any .glx file with any directory structure. Per-entity files are recommended for collaborative projects.

text

research_logs/
├── research-log-1860-census-jane-webb.glx
├── research-log-lucinda-norton-parents.glx
└── research-log-pohl-gons-parish-1610-1620.glx

Validation Rules

subject if present must reference an existing entity of the type indicated (Person, Event, Relationship, or Place)
status if present must be from the research log status types vocabulary
Each search's repository, source, and citation if present must reference existing entities
Each search's result if present must be from the search result types vocabulary
citations entries must reference existing Citation entities

ResearchLog tracks individual searches and their outcomes. It is intentionally distinct from related concepts being designed in parallel:

Research investigation (#660): a higher-level workflow tracker for a research question — leads, hypotheses, next steps. ResearchLog records what was searched; Research records what we are trying to figure out.
Study (issue #226, shipped in beta.11): defines the scope of a research project (e.g., a One Place Study). Logs performed within a study are associated by convention (shared subject, places, or sources); there is no linking field between the two entities in this revision.

CLI commands for adding and querying logs are tracked separately and are not part of this specification.

GEDCOM Mapping

ResearchLog has no direct GEDCOM equivalent. GEDCOM treats research process as freeform NOTE content; GLX promotes it to a structured, queryable entity.

Schema Reference

See research-log.schema.json for the complete JSON Schema definition.

ResearchLog Entity ​

Overview ​

File Format ​

Core Concepts ​

Why a structured log ​

Search results ​

Status lifecycle ​

Fields ​

Required Fields ​

Optional Fields ​

Search entry fields ​

Usage Patterns ​

Tracking negative evidence ​

Brick-wall investigation in progress ​

Linking to citations ​

File Organization ​

Validation Rules ​

Related Issues ​

GEDCOM Mapping ​

Schema Reference ​

See Also ​

ResearchLog Entity

Overview

File Format

Core Concepts

Why a structured log

Search results

Status lifecycle

Fields

Required Fields

Optional Fields

Search entry fields

Usage Patterns

Tracking negative evidence

Brick-wall investigation in progress

Linking to citations

File Organization

Validation Rules

Related Issues

GEDCOM Mapping

Schema Reference

See Also