How to Set up a Manual Filing System

Set up a manual filing system for your piles of handouts, newspaper clippings and magazine articles.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Index card storage box
• 3 x 5 index cards
• Alphabetized/tabbed index cards
• Pens
• Manila file folders
• File box or cabinet

1. Assemble a stack of documents that will fit comfortably in the file folder.
   Write the number "1" in the upper right-hand corner of the top article in the pile. Then place it in the folder.
   Do the same for the other documents, numbering the second doc "2", the third "3", etc. Once all the documents are numbered, write the range of article numbers on the folder tab. For example, if there were 25 articles, write "1-25".

2. Repeat this process with the second folder's worth of documents, and label its tab "26 -50", or whatever the range ends up being.
   Place all the loaded folders into a file cabinet or storage box for easy access.

3. Insert the alphabetized/tabbed index cards in the card box.
   Write the number "1" in the upper right-hand corner of a blank index card.

4. Look at Article #1 in the "1-25" folder. Write the topic of the paper on the top line of that index card. Then put the card in the proper section of the card file box. (For example: An article on chlorination would go in the "C" section.)
   Do the same for the other 24 documents in the folder.

5. Repeat this process for Folders "26-50", etc.
   
   Ocne you have worked your way through all the documents in the folders, you will have a system set up alphabetically by title/topic. You can go back any time you wish and add more information to a particular card, do cross-referencing, etc.

Tips & Warnings

• To add more articles to the collection, place the latest documents in the last incompletely filled folder and assign a card or cards to them as needed.
• The beauty of this system is that you don't have to categorize or group topics in any particular folder as you are setting it up. One folder can have many different topics in it, but that doesn't matter. The key to the system is that articles are referenced by the number on the card, which is tied to the topic written on the same card. For ease of search, topics are arranged in alphabetical order in the index card file box, NOT in the folder.