Hi, Reader,

Apparently August still triggers the part of my brain that thinks I need new school supplies.

I haven’t actually gone back to school in quite a few years, but give me a good pen, a fresh legal pad and an excuse to wander through the office-supply aisle, and I’m happy.

So after last week’s look at school records, I thought we’d continue the back-to-school theme with a different question:

What are the “school supplies” I actually use as a genealogist?

I’m fairly minimalist when it comes to my genealogy office. I keep most of my research digitally, I avoid binders, and I don’t want a lot of gadgets taking up space just because someone labeled them a “genealogy must-have.”

But there are a few things that absolutely earn their place.

• ​Legal pads. Yes, despite keeping my research primarily digital, I still process a lot of it with pen and paper. I’m a kinesthetic learner and if I write something down while I’m working through a research problem, there’s a very good chance I’ll remember it without ever looking at the note again.
• ​Mechanical pencils. Because genealogy involves a fair amount of changing my mind. 😄
• Good pens. My current obsession is Muji pens. Did I need another favorite pen? Probably not. And yet, here we are.
• ​An external hard drive. This is decidedly less fun than new pens, but far more important. My genealogy files live digitally, which means backing them up isn’t optional.
• ​Wireless earbuds. I use mine constantly for webinars, podcasts and other things I want to listen to while I’m working—or when I’m away from my desk.
• ​A second monitor. This is one of those things I wish I had bought sooner. Having a record open on one screen while I’m working in my tree, notes or research on the other makes genealogy research so much easier.

And if you’re in the market for a new computer, monitor, printer/scanner or other bigger piece of office technology, back-to-school season is also a good time to keep an eye on prices.

I’ve put the products I use and recommend in one place here:

👉 My Minimalist Genealogy Office Toolkit​

You definitely don’t need a perfectly organized office or a cart full of new supplies to be a good genealogy researcher.

But I won’t argue with you if you decide you need a new pen. 😉

Happy researching,
Lisa

Disclosure: Some links in my toolkit are Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use or would recommend.