DESCRIBED / Data Exhaust / Resource 01
Trace notebook
Start with a claim, identify its source, and separate observations from assumptions. Ask another person to follow the source reference.
By Jonathan Malchow Vega · Free · No signup
Start here
- Choose one record and the claim being made about it.
- Write down its source, date and known changes. Keep observations separate from guesses.
- Ask someone else to follow the reference. Record what they cannot verify.
A useful finish: Another person can find the source and distinguish the recorded observation from an unsupported conclusion.
Use it here or take a copy
Fill in the browser worksheet below, or download the three-page workbook with a quick start, fictional example and two fillable pages.
Blank text template · Text example
Print pages 2 and 3 for a blank worksheet. Save and reopen a filled PDF to check your entries. Use the text template for longer notes.
See a completed fictional example
This example is invented to show how the worksheet works. It is not a client case study.
- Record or item
- Supplier register export, row 42
- Where it came from
- Fictional supplier system; export reference EX-12
- Who created or changed it
- Coordinator exported it; original editor unknown
- Date and version
- 12 October, illustrative export
- What it appears to show
- The exported status value reads approved
- What remains unknown
- Who approved it, on what date, and using which criteria
- Retention or access concern
- Keep the source in a restricted folder; share its reference, not personal details
Write your own notes
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Read alongside the worksheet
Version 1.1 · 19 October 2026. Adapt for personal or internal organizational work. Keep the author and source credit on blank copies shared internally. Share this page when recommending the resource.