As many of us are working on our file management plans for the migration from COLLAB to the Cloud, we’ve been having conversations with departments as they prepare plans and a few themes. Best practices have emerged. Overall, the simpler the initial plan, the easier it will be for the department to follow it. Of course, every department’s needs vary, but these examples may help you think of components for your own plans. We’ll pull a few highlights here, and more ideas are available on the RECS website.
- File Naming
Since file names can now be found or shared even outside of the context of their original folders, file naming has become even more important than it once was. Several departments have decided on consistent ways that they will name shared files and folders so that they can be easily found and understood by anyone who needs them. For example, one group decided to append a prefix to with a parent folder abbreviations to all subfolders (i.e, DEVS_ARG2016 or CFR_Reports2017). Another group decided to create self-organizing files by starting with the dates on which meeting notes were taken. This group also includes the name of the group that held the meeting (i.e. YYYY-MM-DD[GroupName]Notes.pdf) - Decisions on using Drive vs Dropbox
There are many factors that go into the decision between Dropbox and Drive, and ITS has pulled together a list of key features unique to each platform (Carleton Login Required). In general, departments or individuals who do a lot of real-time collaborative editing should do that work in Google. And in general, departments and large data researchers should use Dropbox for storing large files and Microsoft Office documents. Our biggest recommendation is to choose the platform(s) that people in your department will actually be comfortable using. The platforms are similar — and becoming more and more similar over time — so departmental preference is an important factor. - Potentially sensitive information
Most departments are choosing different storage area for high, medium, and low risk documents. Low to medium risk documents are generally stored in Drive or Dropbox; and high risk documents that contain things like Personally Identifiable Information (PII) are generally stored in Onbase or the Protected Drive. - Student workers
Several departments have decided to centralize their student worker files in Dropbox or Drive by having the admin create and maintain a folder into which students add files they create or work on. The admins are the owners of the folder and ask student workers to reassign ownership to them either at the end of their work shift or immediately upon adding the document to the folder.
You department’s file management plans will be key resources for ongoing documentation and collaboration in your departments, and your file management steward is the central hub for the creation and maintenance of this plan. Best practices are emerging as we all become familiar with these tools. Have a tip? Share it!