I've preferred to go fully digital in our research over the past two years.  As such, I receive orders by email and keep a copy of all email correspondance in a file that is addendized as part of our reports.

  Our report itself has a detailed description of the methodology of research that our firm uses in all searches, as well as extensive disclosures regarding the nature and functioning of the county Grantor-Grantee Indices.

  We scan maps and documents into a folder (usually in pdf format) as we get them which becomes the Official Records copies needed by our clients.

  Our research "notes" do not generally exist, as we view the county indices on-site and input all abstracted data directly into our report template for the project at hand.

  In other words, we have no additonal "notes" as we provide a very detailed and complete report that abstracts each and every record that we review, including, on occassion, rather obscure records of peripheral interest to the matters at hand, like Fictitious Business Name filings, Secretary of State business filings, birth certificates, and wikipedia articles.  I add disclaimers and notices about the reliability and their effect, naturally. 

  Yet in at least 3 instances, these seemingly random & sundry sorts of records have proven very valuable to our client.  In one case, the state Historical Society was seeking histories of ownership on a property owned by California's first Assembly Speaker, and appreciated greatly the added value of our genealogy research.  In another situation, a land dispute involving a very old airport turned up interesting historical data on the groundbreaking of the airport, allowing us to successfully narrow-down the parameters of a very difficult search.  In still another instance, a legal client appreciated the added effort of uncovering ownership interests of a corporation that was part of a complex ownership chain. 

  I guess the paradigm that my firm operates under is that more is better, so long as you provide a good, clear context and proper disclosures for added data.