Research Dewey Decimal System: The Ultimate Guide to Organizing Your Filing System

What is the Dewey Decimal Classification System?

The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system is an organization tool that is continuously revised to keep pace with general knowledge. The system was conceived by Melvil Dewey in 1873 and was first published in 1876. The Decimal Classification introduced the concepts of relative location and relative index which allow new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject. This system makes it possible to find any book and to return it to its proper place on the library shelves.

Can it be adapted for Research Administration?

The concept of the Dewey Decimal Classification system can be applied to the information and knowledge management in Research Administration. By combining all the major areas of research into broad categories and then indexing relevant sub-categories, we can instantly classify and clean up every research file system in the world.

How to purge old files and move to the new system?

Using the file hierarchy listed below, you can develop both a hard-copy paper filing system and a mirrored electronic file system with the following 9 main folders and each of the corresponding 9 sub folders beneath. Once you’ve created the file folder system, you can begin to reorganize your existing files into these new folders. (Cleaning up the clutter as you go!)

Pull up the new file system on one side of your computer screen, and your old files on the other side. Move through your old files slowly and pull out each file and place it into the corresponding new folder. Once you’ve emptied an old file completely, you can delete the old folder.

Should we have a file naming scheme?

For individual files or documents, I like to have a distinct naming scheme to ensure that I can easily find what I need within my folders. For example, I like to use the following: DocumentType_TitleDescription_DateSaved (e.g., Budget_ZinkR01Application_01-01-2018; or Presentation_FacultyLunchLearn_05-01-2018.) Whatever naming scheme you decide, make sure to include the date the document was used/last saved in the name to avoid confusion with multiple revisions.

What does the Research Dewey Decimal System look like?

Here is what your file system should look like:

If you put the Research Dewey Decimal System to use at your workplace, let me know! I’d love to hear if you found it useful!

Article publié pour la première fois le 13/04/2018