WHAT TOOLS DO I NEED?
I don't want to sound unhelpful, but the tools you need will really be determined by what you are doing, and why. For example, is this just for a school project? If not, consider what you want to do with the data. Will it be just for you? Do you want to make a book? What about sharing with other family members? How about people you have never met who may be related to you? Will you keep pictures, or stories, or copies of birth, death and marriage papers? And what about audio and video?
Only you will know what you want to do, but here are some tools I would suggest. None are essential, but they will certainly all help. If you don't already have everything yourself, you might still be able to borrow things when needed. And don't stress about getting them all; you can get along perfectly fine with pen and paper. After all, that's what people had to do for thousands of years before the computer age.
- Paper, pen/pencil, file folders
- Printer and paper
- Device for taking notes such as Kindle Scribe
- Camera (stills and/or movie)
- Smart phone/tablet
- Laptop/desktop computer
- Software/apps
- Scanner
- Multiple computer monitors
- Software/apps