Records Managment & Knowledge Administration: Overview

File Management Guide How to Keep Your Electronic Files Organized.

Keeping your electronic documents organized can be quite a chore in today's world. Organization Is the Key to Electronic File Management. Wherever the documents are stored it is important to keep them organized and up-to-date. The goal of electronic file management is to ensure that you or anyone in your office can find a document you're looking for, even if you're looking for it years after its creation.

What is the difference between a File System (Desktop, Local Drive, and Shared Drive) and a Database?

A database is generally used for storing related, structured data, with well-defined data formats, in an efficient manner for insert, update and/or retrieval.

A file system is a more unstructured data storage for storing arbitrary, probably unrelated data. The file system is more general, and databases are built on top of the general data storage services provided by file systems.

A database uses sophisticated algorithms and protocols to implement reliable storage on top of potentially unreliable file systems.

Electronic File Organization Guide:

1. A file name should be clear and understandable to those who will use the files.
2. Once a record is created, the file can be lost or misfiled due to disorganization. This requires that file names and folder structures make sense to more than just the creator.
3. The most important rule of file‐naming is to be consistent. Some choices will need to be made about organization that affects the entire Department/Division ‐ where to include the date, what abbreviations to use, etc. Regardless of what the Department/Division decides, it is only effective if everyone follows the rules consistently.
4. There will be exceptions. Remember that these tips will not apply absolutely to every situation; it should be used as a guide to encourage the development of consistent folder and file‐naming practices.
5. We suggest the following examples for Folders and Files organization:

Examples of Folders and Files organizing:

Organizing by name

Organizing by date

Organizing by project

Organizing by department

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You might excel at organizing digital files, but others might not. Schedule recurring file maintenance time to move misplaced files and explain to your team what the correct location is.

Please contact Alex Sosnovski for Laserfiche Database implementation and your Department Document Management questions.