File Organization and Best Practices

There is a distinction between working folders and archive folders; development of the latter is the focus of this document. Working folders often exist on an individual’s computer hard drive and are used to collect, organize, and analyze products during the course of the project. In contrast, we use archive folders to store products that need to be retained over time. The products in the archive folders are the subject of metadata records to ensure that they are discoverable.

Consistent archive folder organization across projects and programs allows the file creator, collaborators, supervisors, and our future colleagues to find relevant documents associated with a project quickly and understand how documents relate to one another. A tree structure describing the recommended file structure is described in the Organization of the Regional Data Repository section.

When needing to initiate a new project archive folder, contact your Data Stewardship Team (DST) member. They will set up the folder structure in the Regional Data Repository and give you the address to access the incoming folder (see Security and Preservation section). Folder names use a short acronym for your program, followed by a three-digit number, followed by the short title of the project (e.g., FESFRP_001_BarrowEider where FES FRP stands for FES Fairbanks Recovery Program). The Security and Preservation section of this guide discusses access to this record.