Gen. Ref. Filing for electronic items

[Raphaela]

Though already asked in another thread (on MindManager , I was hoping for ANY advice on how to create an e-version of a general reference filing system (pg91) for online files......

Thanks to the nature of my career, and current unemployment, I have a great need for an E-Gen. Ref. Filing System ("of interesting or useful data that may have some potential value")....

articles... tools... resources... URLs.... tutorials...
FOR
Web Design .... Web Dev.... Web Marketing.... eLearning...

....whose info can be easily gotten to when needed. (<-- that's the tricky/important part). Ideally, the refs to this info could live in one spot, even if I have multiple formats of info (.pdf, URL, .doc, email msg, etc).

NOT have this e-filing cabinet, has brought my PROCESSing to a screeching halt.

THANKS!!

Raph

[kewms]

I use DevonThink for the Mac. Unfortunately, there's nothing like it on the PC as far as I know.

Katherine

[Oogiem]

e-version of a general reference filing system

I'm implementing alphabetical A-Z filing for most stuff that is large (PDF files etc). I'm doing it as if I had a hard copy version, so I create a folder and label it ad am making a folder called File Cabinet for all the folders that I sort alphabetically.

My general notes and useful tidbits are in Yojimbo on Mac OS X.

[SpoonFed]

You can organize PDFs (and, I think, other files) using iTunes:
lifehacker
The comments to that article also give some alternative solutions for electronic filing that you might be useful.

I tried it but it didn't work for me (or rather it didn't work for my level of patience!). I've had more luck using a relatively minimalist folder structure on my PC - my rule of thumb is that folders shouldn't go more than 3 levels deep - and Copernic desktop search, which searches titles and contents of files.

I'm an editor and an academic researcher, so I have tens of thousands of documents that I have to be able to call up quickly. It's not a perfect system, but 95% of the time it's worked better than any of my other systems.

If you're looking at organizing lots of files that contain relatively small amounts of information (say, the equivalent of a page or less of text per file), you might want to try OneNote by Microsoft. It would take some time to copy and paste everything in to OneNote, but you can organise the information hierarchically and it has a search function, so fast and reliable access to your information! Plus, there's a 60 or 90 day free trial, so you can try before you buy.

[Instigase]

I use an A-Z filing system for all files used as a reference. To help with searching I use Copernic desktop. Copernic is essential to this system as the query will also look into .DOC, .TXT, .PDF, and .PPS files. for the search terms.

Good luck

[Cpu_Modern]

Some links to topic relevant resources:
http://ntbk.wordpress.com/2008/07/08...your-computer/

http://al3x.net/2009/01/31/against-e...g-buckets.html
http://log.scifihifi.com/post/769897...ything-buckets

[rossbale]

Hi,

One vote for Evernote from me. You would need to upgrade to the Premium (Paid) edition to upload files other than small PDF Files, but it will allow for note taking, clipping from a webbrowser, and also comes with an email address to forward useful information to the system via email.

Once in evernote, you can create multiple notebooks, and tags to index and organise the information.

There are clients available for PC, Mac, iPhone, Windows Mobile and the Web (all data is syncrhronised into the cloud, so it's available anywhere).

I use Evernote for my entire GTD System, plus online filing. For an idea of how to use it for GTD, have a look at this link : http://www.fokkekooistra.nl/blog/200...ote-and-gtd-1/

Ross.

[ellobogrande]

I'm implementing alphabetical A-Z filing for most stuff that is large (PDF files etc). I'm doing it as if I had a hard copy version, so I create a folder and label it ad am making a folder called File Cabinet for all the folders that I sort alphabetically.

This is the basic practice that I use; I treat reference files like hard copies and put them in folders that I label by person, topic, or project under "My Documents". I've got lots of folders with only one file, but that's fine.

I also have a similar hierarchy in my e-mail systems for reference e-mail as well. However, I strip off large attachments and store them under "My Documents" to keep my IT people happy.

[dschaffner]

I was hoping for ANY advice on how to create an e-version of a general reference filing system (pg91) for online files......

I'd suggest using database software that lets you assign multiple keywords to each entry. Item in the database are assigned a number as they are entered, and then filed by number i.e. 1.pdf, 2.jpg, 3.doc, etc.

We use this system to keep track of more than 10,000 scientific papers (mostly pdf). We also subdivide into folders for each thousand items.

The multiple keywords let you search for items that fit multiple criteria - i.e. find me all references on Salmonella AND peanut butter for example -

- Don

[tavish]

kewms already beat me to suggesting Devonthink, but here's a blog post on part of how I'm making use of it.

http://www.mctoonish.com/blog/?p=397