Don’t wait: Digitalise your notes today!
Do you know that feeling? You’ve just finished a meeting with a respondent — maybe it went really well, or maybe not — and a wave of relief washes over you. You think, I deserve a cup of tea or coffee. Maybe even a nice lunch. But wait. Before you treat yourself, there’s one important task left: digitalise your notes. If you don’t do it now, you might lose them forever. Recognise that feeling too?
Making the same mistake —still
Even after years of research, I sometimes still do it: not digitalising my notes right after a meeting with a respondent or key informant. Usually, I catch up later, but there have been occasions when my written notes no longer made any sense to me. Don’t assume that recording the meeting means you’re safe. In my experience, the workload piles up until it feels uncontrollable. Besides, transcribing might sound dull and time-consuming, but it’s actually a great way to start analysing the data in your mind.
This time it will be different
In this research, I had truly promised myself to do things differently: to no longer neglect the administrative side of research. It’s crucial for the reliability of findings, for sure, but also to maintain a sense of control. Fieldwork is hectic enough as it is.
Administration in order
On that particular Friday afternoon in September 2021, I had planned a meeting with the author of a book on a topic that was new to me but which I found highly interesting: the role of ancestors at times of intimate life events, particularly death and burial, in West and Central Africa. I was happy prof. Peter Geschiere was willing to make time for me, and so we met on the other side of the Ij, where we had a pleasant conversation and I took lots of notes. On the way back, we took the ferry to the station together. When I was waving him goodbye as he rode home on his bike, I was very tempted to also go home and treat myself to a cold drink somewhere outside. It was a lovely warm and sunny afternoon, and I felt I had really deserved it.
After a brief but heated debate with myself, I decided to digitalise my notes first. The job was not done yet. I stepped inside the station, where it was cold and dark, opened my laptop, and ordered a big mug of tea. I had my drink, after all. A while later, with all notes digitalised, I felt a wave of relief. My admin was in order.
