Filing Friday

This week I've shared several items from my recent trip to Georgia. I always get questions, and even often lecture, on 'digital genealogy.' This recent trip has created a slew of digitized records but of all different types. Because of this I have once again updated by filing system ON MY LAPTOP. If you're new to digital genealogy and don't quite know how to handle all the digital files you're creating,
below are some images of my file structure. This is just ONE way to file your electronic documents and sources. Find a way that works for the way you research and the way you think.
I have a "Genealogy" folder immediately inside my "Documents" folder. There are a few folders inside that but the one illustrated here is "My Research" followed by "Digital Images." In other words, I don't try and store my digital images in traditional research folders. I do have a file structure that matches my paper files (sort of) for transcribed documents, pedigree charts, research reports, etc. Digital images are separate. This way I can keep target images (microfilmed targets, book title pages, etc) with the images without making many, many copies. I work very much by location so my digital images are filed that way (whereas my research files, paper and electronic, are mostly by surname with some location files). Each state or county (I'm only doing U.S. research at the moment) may have some variation in it. There is also a seperte file for NARA records since those aren't always obviously for one state. This structure is how I think when I want to look up an image. Your structure should mimic how you think when you go to look up an image.