What Is the Meaning of File Organization Techniques?

Telephone Directory

File Organization Techniques help structure the process of storing files in order to better be able to retrieve the file later on. While this applies equally to computer files and to file folders in a filling cabinet, this article focuses on organizing computer files.

Purpose

Random Stack Filing Technique

The purpose of filing something is to be able to find it again if and when necessary. If you are not filing it, you will likely be throwing it away. If you cannot find it when you want it, you may as well have thrown it away in the first place.

Start With the End In Mind

Before you set out to arrange files on a computer system, it is sensible to take a moment to decide how you will look for them in the future. Picture yourself looking for a particular document a week from now, a month from now, a year from now, and even three or five years from now. What clues about that document will help you narrow your search in these different time-frames? What if you had moved on and it was your replacement looking for that document?

Think Hierarchically

An hierarchy is just a system where things are arranged in categories with one or more sub-categories. In a telephone directory, for instance, phone numbers for Pizza Parlors are likely to be listed together, in a Pizza section. This section is likely to be one of several sections found under the heading Restaurants. Arranging by category this way is arranging hierarchically.

What Categories Make Sense?

If you are storing project-related files, it may make sense to start with the Project Name as the top-level heading and put files into sub headings (directories, or folder) according to the type of work being performed for the project. For instance, you might put plans in a "plans" folder underneath the "project" folder, and put Memo files into a "memos" folder also under the "project" folder. If there were a large number of memos, you might put them into folders by month within the memo folder.

Example

Using computer-style descriptions, we might have the memos written in September all collected in a folder labeled /ProjectA/Memos/September. October memos would go into a folder labeled /ProjectA/Memos/October. Because in this example the project plans don't change very frequently, all the project plan documents might go into a folder labeled /ProjectA/Plans.

Techniques

For personal purposes, almost any technique may do, but if the files will be accessed or searched for by others, the organizational method should be easy to understand, unlikely to change over time, and ideally not require too much in-depth knowledge about the topic. Sorting files by author, for instance, might be useful in some circumstances, but would require that the person looking later on know the individuals, and what they may have written. Also, as personnel change roles in a corporation, there may end up being several people filling the same job function--making an author approach difficult to sustain over time.

References

• Ubuntu Documentation - Organizing Your Files
• Organizing Files and Applications

Resources

• Filesystem Hierarchy Standard