I was asked recently if I track everything I do in a research log. Everything.
The answer to that is “no.” There’s no need to lie about it. When I find something I don’t track what I did as I have the document to indicate what I found and the citation to explain where and how I obtained it.
But when I do not find something, I need to track what I have done–because I don’t have that document or record as evidence of my search. So I track the database I use and how I searched to find a certain person (name, search options, and the like). If I perform manual searches of records, I include that as well. I may even include why I tried the things I did–so that later I understand what my process was. I need to do that so I can review that I did and problem-solve and troubleshoot where necessary.
It also makes it easier for me to ask someone else for help if I can tell them what and where I have searched. But do I track everything I do? The answer to that is no. But tracking nothing means you have no idea what you have done and frequently end up doing the same thing over and getting the same result.
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