Research Workflow - banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots GitHub Wiki

Research Workflow

Charted Roots supports GPS-aligned research workflow features, enabling genealogists to manage research projects, reports, and individual research notes within their vault.

Table of Contents

Overview

The research workflow features are inspired by the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS), the methodology outlined in Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained and used by professional genealogists to build reliable family histories.

These features help you:

  • Organize complex research with projects and reports
  • Separate analysis from data by keeping research notes distinct from person notes
  • Track negative findings documenting what you searched and didn't find
  • Document your reasoning in Individual Research Notes (IRNs)

Design Philosophy

The research workflow is designed to be:

  • Flexible - Use what you need, ignore what you don't
  • Lightweight - No complex UI or mandatory structures
  • Compatible - Works with DataView, Bases, and standard Obsidian tools
  • Non-enforcing - No required folder structures or naming conventions

Entity Types

Research workflow introduces five entity types, each identified by the cr_type frontmatter property.

Research Project

Purpose: Hub for complex, multi-phase research cases.

A research project represents an overarching question you're trying to answer, potentially spanning multiple sources, people, and research sessions.

Example:

---
cr_type: research_project
title: "Identity of John Smith (1850-1920)"
status: in-progress
research_level: 3
private: false
up: "[Research Notebook](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Research-Notebook)"
related: ["[Sarah Jones Identity Project](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Sarah-Jones-Identity-Project)"]
---

# Identity of John Smith (1850-1920)

## Research Question

Was John Smith (b. ~1850) who married Mary Jones in 1875 the same person as John Smith enumerated in the 1860 census?

## Research Log

- **2026-01-04** — [1860 Census - District 42](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/1860-Census---District-42) — Searched "John Smith, age 10-12" → negative. Searched all pages, no match in expected age range.

- **2026-01-05** — [Marriage Record - Smith-Jones 1875](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Marriage-Record---Smith-Jones-1875) — Searched "John Smith parents" → positive. Parents listed as William and Elizabeth Smith.

## Related Reports

- [Smith Identity Research Report](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Smith-Identity-Research-Report)
- [Smith Family Group Analysis](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Smith-Family-Group-Analysis)

Status values: open, in-progress, on-hold, completed

Research Report

Purpose: Living document analyzing a specific research question with findings and evidence.

Research reports focus on a narrower question than projects and contain analysis, source citations, and conclusions.

Example:

---
cr_type: research_report
title: "John Smith Birth Location Analysis"
status: draft
reportTo: File
private: false
up: "[Identity of John Smith Project](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Identity-of-John-Smith-Project)"
---

# John Smith Birth Location Analysis

## Research Question

Where was John Smith (1850-1920) born?

## Sources Consulted

- [1860 Census - Smith Household](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/1860-Census---Smith-Household)
- [1875 Marriage Record - Smith-Jones](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/1875-Marriage-Record---Smith-Jones)
- [Death Certificate - John Smith 1920](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Death-Certificate---John-Smith-1920)

## Findings

### Census Evidence
The 1860 census shows John Smith (age 10) enumerated with William and Elizabeth Smith...

### Marriage Record Evidence
Marriage certificate states birthplace as "Pennsylvania"...

## Conclusions

[Analysis and synthesis]

Status values: draft, review, final, published

reportTo values: File, Family, Client, Public, Print

Individual Research Note (IRN)

Purpose: Synthesis document between research reports and person notes, combining analysis across multiple sources.

IRNs contain your reasoned conclusions about a person based on evidence evaluation. They're separate from person notes to keep structured genealogical data distinct from research analysis.

Example:

---
cr_type: individual_research_note
subject: "[John Smith](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/John-Smith)"
status: in-progress
private: false
up: "[Identity of John Smith Project](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Identity-of-John-Smith-Project)"
---

# Individual Research Note: John Smith

## Identity

**Full Name:** John Smith
**Birth:** ~1850, Pennsylvania (conflicting evidence)
**Death:** 20 Aug 1920, Philadelphia, PA

## Research Summary

### Birth Evidence
- 1860 Census: Born New York (per enumeration)
- 1875 Marriage: Born Pennsylvania (stated)
- Unresolved conflict requiring further investigation

### Family Relationships
- Father: William Smith (confirmed via multiple sources)
- Mother: Elizabeth [Unknown] Smith (confirmed)
- Spouse: Mary Jones (m. 1875)

## Outstanding Questions

1. Resolve birth location conflict (NY vs PA)
2. Locate birth record
3. Identify Elizabeth's maiden name

## Related Research

- [Smith Identity Research Report](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Smith-Identity-Research-Report)
- [Smith Family Group Analysis](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Smith-Family-Group-Analysis)

Note: IRNs use both subject (the person being researched) and up (parent in research hierarchy). See Understanding subject vs up.

Research Journal

Purpose: Daily or session-level research log for tracking activity across projects.

Research journals are optional and useful for documenting what you researched during a session, regardless of project boundaries.

Example:

---
cr_type: research_journal
date: 2026-01-04
repositories: ["[FamilySearch](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/FamilySearch)", "[Ancestry.com](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Ancestry.com)"]
---

# Research Journal - 2026-01-04

## Projects Worked On

- [Identity of John Smith Project](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Identity-of-John-Smith-Project)
- [Sarah Jones Identity Project](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Sarah-Jones-Identity-Project)

## Activities

- Searched FamilySearch for John Smith birth records in PA (1845-1855)
- Negative finding: No matches in Philadelphia County
- Reviewed 1860 census images for Smith households

## Next Steps

- Expand PA search to adjacent counties
- Check NY birth records for alternative birth location

Research Log Entry

Purpose: Individual research log entries as separate notes for queryable research tracking.

Most users embed research logs in project notes using markdown. However, if you need queryable log entries (for DataView or Bases), you can create separate notes:

Example:

---
cr_type: research_log_entry
date: 2026-01-04
project: "[Identity of John Smith Project](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Identity-of-John-Smith-Project)"
source: "[1860 Census - District 42](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/1860-Census---District-42)"
searched_for: "John Smith, age 10-12"
result: negative
---

Searched all pages of district 42, no match in expected age range.

This approach uses flat frontmatter properties that work with DataView and Bases, at the cost of more files in the vault.

Properties Reference

Common Properties

All research entity types share these properties:

Property Type Required Description
cr_type string Yes Entity type identifier
title string Recommended Display name
status string No Current state
private boolean No Exclude from exports if true
up wikilink No Parent in research hierarchy
related wikilink[] No Related research entities

Entity-Specific Properties

Research Project:

Property Type Description
research_level number GPS research level (0-6)

Research Report:

Property Type Description
reportTo string Intended audience

Individual Research Note:

Property Type Description
subject wikilink Person note being researched

Research Journal:

Property Type Description
date date Journal entry date
repositories wikilink[] Repositories visited/searched

Research Log Entry:

Property Type Description
date date Entry date
project wikilink Parent research project
source wikilink Source consulted
searched_for string What was searched
result string positive, negative, inconclusive

Understanding subject vs up

IRNs use two linking properties that serve different purposes:

  • subject — Links to the person note being researched

    • Example: subject: "[John Smith](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/John-Smith)"
    • Identifies who the research is about

  • up — Links to the parent entity in your research hierarchy

    • Example: up: "[Smith Family Research Project](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Smith-Family-Research-Project)"
    • Identifies where this note sits organizationally

Example: An IRN about John Smith might have:

  • subject: "[John Smith](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/John-Smith)" — the person being researched
  • up: "[Smith Family Research Project](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Smith-Family-Research-Project)" — the parent project containing this research

Both properties are optional. Use what makes sense for your workflow.

Research Log Format

Research logs appear in ## Research Log sections within Research Projects. We recommend simple markdown format rather than structured YAML:

## Research Log

- **2026-01-04** — [1860 Census - District 42](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/1860-Census---District-42) — Searched "John Smith, age 10-12" → negative. Searched all pages of district 42, no match in expected age range.

- **2026-01-05** — [Marriage Record - Smith-Jones 1875](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Marriage-Record---Smith-Jones-1875) — Searched "John Smith parents" → positive. Parents listed as William and Elizabeth Smith.

- **2026-01-06** — Searched "Elizabeth Smith maiden name" → negative. No records found in county index 1820-1850.

Why Markdown Instead of YAML?

Nested YAML in note content causes problems:

  • Obsidian's Properties editor doesn't support it
  • DataView and Bases can't query it
  • Special characters and multi-line notes break parsing

Simple markdown is:

  • Human-readable and editable
  • Searchable with text search
  • Consistent with how most Obsidian users document research

Negative Findings

Document "searched X, found nothing" scenarios with → negative. This tracks meaningful absence of expected records per Mills' methodology. Negative findings are often as important as positive ones.

Statistics Integration

Research entities appear in the Statistics view under a dedicated Research section:

  • Projects — Count and status breakdown (open, in-progress, on-hold, completed)
  • Reports — Count and status breakdown (draft, review, final, published)
  • IRNs — Total count
  • Journals — Total count
  • Log Entries — Total count (if using separate notes)

The dashboard also shows how many research entities are marked as private.

Using with DataView and Bases

Since Phase 1 provides entity recognition without dedicated UI, you can query research entities using standard Obsidian tools.

DataView Examples

List all in-progress research projects:

TABLE status, title
FROM ""
WHERE cr_type = "research_project" AND status = "in-progress"
SORT file.name ASC

Find IRNs for a specific person:

LIST
FROM ""
WHERE cr_type = "individual_research_note" AND contains(subject, "John Smith")

Count research entities by type:

TABLE length(rows) as Count
FROM ""
WHERE contains(["research_project", "research_report", "individual_research_note"], cr_type)
GROUP BY cr_type

Tag Detection

Research entities can also be detected via tags:

Tag Entity Type
#research-project or #research_project Research Project
#research-report or #research_report Research Report
#individual-research-note or #irn Individual Research Note
#research-journal or #research_journal Research Journal
#research-log-entry or #research_log_entry Research Log Entry

Tags support nested paths (e.g., #genealogy/research-project).

Example Workflows

Complex Research Case

User: Investigating a multi-source identity question.

  1. Create Research Project: "Identity of John Smith (1850-1920)"
  2. Add research log entries as you consult sources
  3. Document negative findings: "searched PA birth records, no match"
  4. Create Research Report: "Smith Birth Location Analysis"
  5. Link report to project via up property
  6. Create IRN synthesizing findings across multiple reports
  7. Link IRN to person note via subject property

Quick Research Session

User: Documenting a day's research activity.

  1. Create Research Journal entry for today
  2. List projects worked on with wikilinks
  3. Document sources searched and findings
  4. Note next steps for future sessions
  5. Use DataView to query all journal entries by date range

Tracking Research Gaps

User: Identifying which ancestors need more research.

  1. Review person notes for missing information
  2. Create Research Project for each investigation
  3. Link projects to the people being researched
  4. Track progress via project status
  5. View research entity counts in Statistics

Find Related Research

The Find related research command aggregates all research activity for a specific person across your vault, surfacing cross-project connections.

How to access

  • Command palette: Search for "Find related research for person"
  • Command menu: Listed under the Tools category
  • Entity Profile View: The "Research activity" section in person profiles shows the same data inline — see Entity Profile View

If the active note is a person, the command opens the results modal directly. Otherwise, a person picker appears first.

What it shows

The modal displays research entries grouped by project:

  • Project header — project name, entry count, and date range
  • Entry details — type badge (IRN, Log, Journal, Report, Project), clickable title, result indicator (positive/negative/inconclusive), and date
  • Cross-project visibility — immediately see which projects have researched the same person and how much overlap exists

What it searches

The command scans the vault for:

Entity type How the person is matched
Individual research note (IRN) subject property matches the person
Research log entry subject or person property matches
Research journal Wikilink to the person in the note body
Research report Wikilink to the person in the note body
Research project Wikilink to the person in the note body

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