Storing information in a consistent and
robust way makes it easier to find in a hurry. This can prevent duplicating
work and support better informed decision making.
The
internet has created an exponential growth in information creation and sharing.
My own behavior reflects the trend of “Power Browsing” [20] which involves flicking
through large amounts of information to find what I am after as quickly as
possible. While relying on search comes with a risk of dumbing down my ability
to remember, it is preferable to the overload that would surely unfold when
trying to remember everything I come across. It is with this in mind that I
have developed a strategy for filing personal information.
Part of
this years spring cleaning involves consolidating and reorganizing almost 20
years of physical and electronic documents. These have been collected from high
school, through university and subsequent careers and interests. At the moment
most of it is simply placed into a folder at the end of each year and stored
away. With passing years this has created an issue of not remembering which
year a document was created or used. Also multiple copies of libraries are
being archived each year which is taking up too much space.
Using
information management strategies from my previous blog post [1], I have
explored what options I have on hand to capture the who/what/where/when/why/how
of a piece of information. The three options seem to be:
TYPE
|
PRO
|
CON
|
1) File names
|
Transfers
easily across platforms.
Batch
naming could make it a faster process [5].
|
Limited
name length.
|
2) Folder structure
|
Browsing
for files is easier [6].
Shortcuts
can consolidate files [7].
Associations
are fixed.
|
Some
cross platform issues.
Limited
depth of folder hierarchy.
Files
are often buried deep within multiple folders [7].
Doesn’t
reflect multiple associations a document might have.
|
3) Meta tags
|
Caters
for files with multiple connections, using relational databases [8]
|
Separate
application required [4].
Tags
names may drift over time [15].
|
Based
on the above I intend to use a hybrid of primarily file naming [2] within
shallow structured folders which are then complimented with infrequent use of tags.
The steps to put this into practice involve:
1) Naming files
Files
will have short names [10] to reflect the essentials of:
- How the document is formatted eg letter, summary,
report, plan, minutes, agenda etc
- Why the document was created eg the event, experience,
process, procedure etc it relates to.
It
would be ideal to avoid spaces to be consistent across different media [12]
however I find it too hard to quickly look through files which are consolidated
eg “minutesexecutivecontest.doc” also frequent use of underscores significantly
slow down the typing process.
An
automated batch naming program will be used for scanned documents. This will
make it easier to have some details already included before it is more
accurately named.
2) Structure folders
- Who owns the information will be reflected in the
first level of hierarchy [3], eg “C:/Joel”
- What type of media is next eg applications, bookmarks,
documents, email, music, pictures, podcasts, videos
- Where the document relates to will be narrowed to 5
options: home, travel, sport, social, work
- What activity within the 5 areas will be more
flexible to support the majority of sub folders being created at this fourth
level.
3) Meta tag options
Tagging
will mostly be automated with minor extra use to indicate importance.
- When the document was created or modified is usually
automatically saved as part of the documents information.
- What format of document is easily determined by the
extension eg .doc, .xls, .pdf
- Who assisted with developing the document or it is
about could be added separately [9]
- How important, urgent, or private could also be
captured using tags. This could especially apply for documents available
to others for a more covert filtering method.
Risks
A risk
with the approach above is that relying at least in part on the folder
structure can make it more difficult to identify a documents when it is
separated from other documents. Being able to transfer naming from folder to file
would be a nice feature such as is available within SharePoint [11], or to have
folder names automatically included as extra meta data as is offered in many
records management solutions [13].
For
documents scanned or converted can change the creation date, and allocate a
different author when created on a different computer than usual. This may
create the need to capture time in tags or file names.
Opportunities
Writing
out a clear way to organize documents has provided a good reference point for
how well different software platforms can support my needs. Out of the main
options of Apple OSX/iOS vs Google Android/Chrome vs Microsoft Windows8.1/RT I
am probably leaning toward the standard Microsoft system of offline files and
folders. Also it seems to be fairly universal in the event that I may decide to
switch platforms in future.
Given
the decreasing reliance on meta tags for website search [17] the end result may
be an increased reliance on the use of search for words and phrases within the
document itself. This may ultimately influence the use of synonyms and writing
style of personal documents as well as online content to connect with a target
audience [18].
Apple is
gambling on the opposite though as reflected in their latest operating system
[14]. Tagging could become more of the norm as applications are created which
brings together a wider variety of content from increasingly specialized
applications.
There
is an indication that Apple is already moving toward cloud based syncing of
documents tags [16]. It would be good to see support for cross platform
document descriptions/tags/metadata as has been done for images via the
Extensible Metadata Platform created by Adobe Systems Inc. [19].
Do you
have a tip on how to improve the endless need for filing documents? Also have I
overlooked anything which might limit future compatibility? Please share in the comments below.
by Joel Penson
References
[1] Better
Decisions Blog (June 2013). Information Management blog post.
[2]
Small Business Canada - 10 File Naming Tips.
[3]
Lifehacker - Organsing “My Documents”
[4] John
Norris - Folders vs Meta Data – document organisation
[5]
Wikipedia - Batch renaming
[6]
Asian Efficiency - Organising your files, folders and documents
[7] How
To Geek – Zen and the art of file and folder organisation
[8] How
Stuff Works – Relational databases
[9]
Officiency – How to organize your computer documents
[10]
University of Leicester – naming files and folders
http://www2.le.ac.uk/services/research-data/organise-data/naming-files
[11] End User SharePoint - SharePoint: convert folder structures to metadata.
[11] End User SharePoint - SharePoint: convert folder structures to metadata.
https://www.nothingbutsharepoint.com/sites/eusp/pages/sharepoint-convert-folder-structures-to-metadata.aspx
[12] Bliss - Music Library Management Chapter Three: Organising - files and folders
[12] Bliss - Music Library Management Chapter Three: Organising - files and folders
[13]
TAB - How Metadata Works and How it Can Help Your Organization – Part 1
[14]
Brett Erpstra – Mavericks and tagging
[15]
Brett Erpstra - Some suggestions for better tagging
[16]
Engineered eloquence – Apples sneak attack on the file system
[17]
Invisible Gold – Meta tags vs keywords
[18]
Thomasnet – how to write an effective news release
[19]
Wikipedia – Adobe Extensible Metadata Platform
[20]
British Library and JISC (January 2008). Information behavior of the researcher
of the future.
Good article Joel. I've done some work in the same area and put together an hour presentation on how to manage files on computers. I also did one for managing email.
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