Not Useful at the Moment or the Slowvolution of a Filing System September 14, 2011
Posted by cheesefish in : Uncategorized , trackback
Yesterday, in a fit of procrastination from some work I knew I would just start and then have to put aside in a most unsatisfying, unfinished manner when other work came sliding back in my door for review, I did some filing. My office is now squeaky, minty-fresh clean and all my files are in order. Goody for me. While I was filing, I came across several hanging folders that I have used and re-used since grad school and one of them was labelled in bold, black, thick Sharpie script as ‘Not Useful at the Moment’. I laughed out loud and put a label on it instead that said ‘FiscalYear_Project Title_Client Name_ProjectComponent’ and I reflected on the slowvolution of systems when one is learning to be a professional in a field.
No one in the science department teaches you how to create a file structure on your hard drive that will make data and drafts findable without resorting to page matching with the hard copy you submitted 2 years later. No one teaches you what words to use and not use in your field notes so that if you get called to be an expert witness you don’t look utterly witless and like you are reaching beyond the scope of your practice and no one, but no one, teaches you how to file. ‘Why would they’, I hear you cry, ‘when you should have professional office managers and assistants to do such things for you?’, but the reality is that the remote or small office is more and more prevalent these days. In these situations, the support network of persons who have learned the arcane art of filing is minimal to non-existent. I remember, perhaps oddly, the use of the ‘NUATM’ file and it made perfect sense at the time. I was writing a paper and had reviewed hundreds of articles. The draft I had created used many of the articles, but several were tangential though potentially interesting depending on the reviewers’ comments that would come back in several months’ time. They went in the clever little hanging folder to wait their turn at being cited. It made sense then, but I still am evolving a system that will be understandable through long periods of time.
Comments»
Ah, filing. Truly an important skill. In the course of being a journalist I learned to create a folder on my computer for every issue of the paper I was working on.
I’ve carried that onto my online work, now creating a new folder everyday to keep track of press releases, stories, photos and the like.
A good system is one of the best time savers out there. At times I go to train people on certain online tasks and rarely do they have a good place for their files and my training spreads into file management.
By the way, nice to have you back and blogging!