If you’ve ever felt buried under years of documents — digital or paper — and wished you had a clearer way to organize what you’ve found, Tom Holcombe just shared a fantastic walkthrough that can help. His new video shows how research notes can transform your genealogy work by turning scattered records into a clean, chronological timeline of an ancestor’s life. As he explains, “research notes are a powerful tool… useful for identifying gaps in research or conflicting information.”
Tom demonstrates how he builds research notes in Word, how he uses AI to generate Evidence Explained–style citations, and how he creates quick abstracts for each document he adds. It’s a simple, repeatable system — and honestly, it’s one of the clearest examples I’ve seen of AI being used in a practical, genealogy‑friendly way.
If you’re looking for a method that helps you stay organized, spot inconsistencies, and prepare for writing ancestor stories, this video is absolutely worth watching.
