The UCLA CCH EthnoNotes System

Managing and analyzing fieldnotes in projects with multiple fieldworkers is an arduous task from many perspectives and a challenge that is undertaken with increasing frequency.  This challenge becomes greater when trying to coordinate the work of multiple researchers across sites in a multi-site project.  The UCLA EthnoNotes system was developed upon the FileMaker Pro software to input, manage, and analyze qualitative fieldnotes as well as integrate them with sociodemographic and other quantitative data for more complex searches and output reports.  Typical application files reside on a web-server allowing dynamic access to the system by multiple individuals, wherever they may be located, with an Internet connection and password authorization to the project files.  The system is customized for each project application.  EthnoNotes is proving increasingly attractive to others, has been successfully customized and implemented in a variety of research projects, and is under continued development for enhancements to the system and implementation for new users.

EthnoNotes was conceived, designed, and developed within the UCLA Fieldwork and Qualitative Data Research Laboratory by Eli Lieber, Thomas Weisner, Helen Davis, and Matthew Presley.   More information about EthnoNotes features is available on this site using the links in the left margin or, and for citation where EthnoNotes is implemented:

Lieber, E., Weisner, T. S., and Presley, M. (2003).  EthnoNotes: An Internet-based field note management tool.  Field Methods, 15(4), 405-425.

To Download a Free Copy of EthnoNotes:

1. Click on the link below appropriate for your system (PC or Mac) to download the compresed files
2. Use a utility (e.g., PKZip) to extract the files
3. Double click on the file "UCLA CCH EthnoNotes Runtime" to start the program
4. Use the password "master" to open the files.  Two other passwords, "researcher" and "guest" are also available for providing access with more limited authority

Note that this free download is a stand-along runtime application of EthnoNotes.  In this form, EthnoNotes' features are limited as compared to running the system files with the FileMaker Pro v5 (or higher).  The code for EthnoNotes is open.  Once the files have been extracted, the core system files can also be opened with FileMaker Pro for access to all features afforded by the software package.  This version of EthnoNotes is not supported, however system specific help files are integrated into the system for reference.

Download EthnoNotes for PC--Runtime Version Now

Download EthnoNotes for MAC OS X--Runtime Version Now