My System per 2023-11-09

10-19 Concepts 14 Build your system
1

Hey there,

Following the website, forum, workbook, etc I have design a system. I have yet to implement this system and want to create some extra documentation with my thoughts, process and more information. Some quick notes for now:

Applicable Software

  • Filesystem. I am a Windows user, automatically synced to OneDrive.
  • Obsidian for notes.
  • Mail. I use Outlook.
  • Maybe physical folders

Inspiration

  • 50-59 FamilyHistory is inspired by the way GenealogyTV organises her files.
  • 80-89 MediaData is adapted from roboyoshi/datacurator-filetree where I made a couple of small contributions in the past.
  • Naming conventions include ISO 8601 for dates (YYYY-MM-DD) and ISO 3166-1 for 2-letter country codes.

00.00 Index (2023-11-09)

Updated per 2023-11-09

I would love to hear your thoughts. If you have any questions, please ask. I am also available in the discord.

4 Likes
2

So as mentioned here I have some questions regarding your system:

  • Your categorization in the 50-59 range appears to be family-oriented. Could you elaborate on this? Is this your family tree, or do they signify something else?
  • I really like your approach broader approach in 20-29. Not a questions just something i noticed.
  • I noticed that you’ve designated a category within the 00-09 range for archiving. Do you find that a single category suffices for your archiving needs, or have you encountered any limitations? I’ve been considering dedicating an entire area for archives, but your method seems more space-efficient, leaving more room for other areas.
3

Thank you for taking the time!

This is for my family history research. It contains deeds and certificates on births, deaths, marriages, etc. Stories and notes from meetings with family members. Also, it contains photos of those family members (portrait, groups, holiday, etc).
I am working on a new/better way to organise this. For now I am thinking about a split between photo’s and documents. Keeping the structure like this for at least the documents.

The split per surname is very deliberate. I don’t number ancestors or decedents. This way the research is not based around me, but a general archive searchable for anyone.

Thanks! Had it split over 2/3 areas first, but thought, why not fit hem all in one.

For now this is just saved space for the future. I am also a fan of ‘local archives’ like this:

27 Official/
└── 27.01 ID/
    ├── Archive/
    │   ├── ID1 2012-2016.png
    │   └── ID2 2016-2020.png
    ├── ID3 2020-2024.png
    └── DriversLicense.png

If I am looking for ID’s old or new, I’ll find them in 27.01. With the valid ones right there and the old ones one click away.

09 Archives is saved for documents with no place or archived categories/ID’s I think. But the future will see.

4

So I’ve been going through your system and I have a few questions ^^
it seems 30, 31 and 36 are organised by topics, rather than type of things. Is that on purpose? Does that mean you’ll have an internal structure with types of things? I wonder if these will turn into huge folders with lots of stuff inside since those are topics and can be really, really broad…
On Obsidian I know you can make Maps Of Contents (introduced by Nick Milo, explanations here ) and maybe that’ll help you ensure all the things are still properly organised?

I also think you might have some overlap between these topics in knowledge and things in 80-89 Mediadata!
I’m also available on the Discord if you want clarifications ^^

5

I like your setup, I am a Windows 11 user myself, how do you create a mindmap like that? its fantastic! is this in obsidian and how did you create the folders manually or automated? I do have Family History I want to get organised too, thanks for sharing your system!

6

Hey thanks for your comment.
I use Obsidian for notes, the mindmap is made using Ithoughts.

I create folders manually.

Thank you. If you wanna discuss further, let me know.