How do you manage files and documents?

[Kraftwerk]

@Bmosbacker

the Goldilocks solution

nice, I’ll 𝚜̶𝚝̶𝚎̶𝚊̶𝚕̶ use that phrase

[OogieM]

@MitchWagner

Do you need to refer to documents for months and years at a time?

I do, and years is a relatively short timeframe for me. I regularly go back to things that are decades old. Right now my oldest digital document that I just had to refer to is from 1925. (A scanned copy of a scientific paper from then) My oldest original paper document that I referred to in the last month is from 1865 and the oldest reproduction on paper that I referred to is from an older original that dates to the late 1600s through early 1700s. I have a book that excerpts a lot of old manuscripts that I’m currenttly reviewing. For the things I need to get at that go back to the 1200s and 1300 I use the British Museum’s digitized illuminated manuscripts and rarely pull down my own copy.

@anon41602260

I’ve never stored bank/credit statements, employer stubs, tax records, etc., in DEVONthink because after tax season who needs that stuff?

hmm, I’ve needed to go back for IRS purposes 7-10 years regularly so I never delete that stuff anymore.

The longest timeframe for what most folks consider disposable is needing to go back 30 years to extract an email. Which I was able to do.

@anon41602260

I don’t use DEVONthink for photos and videos – though some do – because it sucks as a DAM.

I use Lightroom for that.

[Coulmac]

@Kraftwerk

• Hook app - is something that should be included by default in any Mac, it’s great for linking to Websites, Apps, Folders, individual Notes, etc.

Maybe a daft/newbie question but one I haven’t found the answer to yet and may be putting me off investing in Hook - lets say I link files with Hook on my iMac, can I see those links when I pick up my macbook? Would I have to save everything in iCloud?

[ldebritto]

Should you have your files in both computers, yes hook supports syncing its links as well. You should give it a try as there’s a trial version for download on its site.

[anon41602260]

@OogieM

hmm, I’ve needed to go back for IRS purposes 7-10 years regularly so I never delete that stuff anymore.

I don’t delete them – CRA might call on them some day. I said I don’t store them in DEVONthink. I store them in cold storage in Documents.

[OogieM]

@anon41602260

I said I don’t store them in DEVONthink. I store them in cold storage in Documents.

Ah that makes sense.

In my case I don’t put mosst documents into DEVONThink at all. I have them indexed in DT instead.

[Kraftwerk]

as @ldebritto commented, yes, it should work.

I also put off investing in Hook, but it’s been working great so far

[r2d2]

@OogieM

In my case I don’t put mosst documents into DEVONThink at all. I have them indexed in DT instead.

@OogieM, How well does it work if you don’t have the cold storage available? Can you tell us more about that? Since I’m very new to DT, I have everything imported except for some shared files that are indexed on a google drive.

[anon41602260]

No doubt in response to this thread

Take Control Books has a new publication on the “manage my files” topic:

Take Control of Managing Your Files – Take Control Books

[OogieM]

I don’t use or have a thing called “cold storage”. I try to always have all my stuff on current accessible drives because it’s far too easy to forget to convert some documents as you move to new software or hardware and if you don’t convert the documents as you change gear you will eventually lose access to them. Digitally I have current active project files for those projects that are being worked on or able to be worked on during this calendar quarter. And I have paper files. I don’t separate the older stuff from the more recent as long as I can find it and access it easily.