file+organization

=These are some tips by Tom for naming and organizing electronic files.=

I usually have between 100-200 electronic files for each exam session. These include Word documents, pdf reports from IBIS, reports from my own MS Access database, Excel tables, photographs, digital audio files for Group 1 internal assessment, etc. Because I include files for our Grade 10 prep year, that means I have to manage three candidate sessions at the same time. As I write this I have current work for the May 2008, May 2009 and May 2010 sessions. Since my tasks are similar for each session (and so the files I maintain are also similar), things would get confused very quickly if I didn't have some logical organization of these files.

=File names=

When you download reports from IBIS or IBNET you will need to change the file name, since IBIS generally gives these files very poor names.

I use very similar files for each exam session, so to keep things straight I always indicate the session in the filename. For example, the list of extended essay supervisors and students for M07 and M08 are:

//M07 EE by supervisor M08 EE by supervisor//

Sometimes I have to make changes to the data on IBIS, and then generate a new version of a report that I already have. It is a good idea to keep old versions, in case there is a question about what was changed and why. If I have two versions of the same report, I include the report date in the filename. If you use the format yyyymmdd, it is then easy to sort files by name and date in your file manager. Here are a couple examples of the candidate registration report from IBIS.

//M07 candidate registration 20061026// //M07 candidate registration 20061115//

=Folder names=

Imagine a room of file cabinets. Each cabinet has several drawers. Each drawer has several file folders (or portfolios).

Windows Explorer lets you organize folders within folders in a similar hierarchy.

I first create a new folder for each exam session. Think of these as separate cabinets:

May 2008 May 2009**
 * May 2007

Inside each of these session folders, I create several subfolders. Think of these as separate drawers:


 * //**M07 Calendar**//
 * //**M07 Nonregular diploma**//
 * //**M07 Extended Essay**//
 * //**M07 Group 4 project**//
 * //**M07 Registration**//
 * //**M07 External assessment**//
 * **//M07 Mock exams//**
 * **//M07 IAPG//**
 * **//M07 Exams//**
 * **//M07 Results//**
 * **//M07 Retakes//**

Many of these subfolders have their own subfolders, like the file portfolios in each drawer. For example, in my folder:


 * //M07 Group 4 project//**

I have these subfolders:


 * //M07 G4P workshop//
 * //M07 G4P photographs//