Organizing Documents Electronically?
Hi all,
it's been a while since I posted to this list, I'm subscribing from a different email address now but it's me, sunny! from vancouver / OCB, formerly from phoenix / Bike Saviours.
I have a question about making the switch from paper to electronic documents. OCB has been around for 20 years, and we have a huge mish mash of different systems for organizing our documents. The main three are: 1) a huge pile of filing cabinets, 2) the hard drive on our computer (which often doesnt match what's on the hard drive of our OTHER computer at our warehouse), and 3) google docs, which does not match what's on either hard drive and has to be constantly updated to reflect our ever-changing policies, lists, minutes, etc.
Basically, it's terribly confusing and nobody ever knows where to find anything without asking the one or two people who have been with us the longest. We need to use something that is stable and long-term. I'm thinking google docs might still be the best thing, but I thought I'd fish on here first.
What I'm looking for is an online-system that can be synched up with our hard drive (for back-up purposes), which can be accessed from any computer and which can be categorized clearly and easily. I would like there to be a section for every staff member's ongoing to-do lists, a section for meeting minutes to be filed, a section for policy documents, etc. I would also like to have a section for forms (such as conflict or incident reports) that can be filled out as needed and filed online as well.
Does anyone currently have a system that they like using for this? Any input is appreciated.
sunny
I don't know the specifics of how google docs handles syncing but Dropbox is pretty nice for making docs available from any web browser (you'd need a password to get to it; it's not like your stuff would be publicly accessible) and syncing between computers.
In a nutshell:
- You create an account (free or pay for upgrades).
- Jump through a few hoops to increase the free storage space. (Like them
on Facebook, install the software, tweet about them, get a friend to sign up, several other relatively pain free hoops.) 3. Install the software in your computer and assigns shared folder. Invite other users(that warehouse computer, other shop employees, etc) and now that folder lives online but can be accessed by anyone who's been shared. 4. Anything you drop into the dropbox folder from THIS computer will be available in the same folder on THAT computer. 5. You can also generate download links for specific files, so that you could post a link to download a blank liability waiver, for example, without having to give access to the entire folder of shared stuff.
I can't/won't speak to the actual process of making the merge from a 20 year old mishmash into a streamlined setup, but I will urge you to remember that it's taken 20 years to get to this point. It's probably not going to be a single weekend project getting it all sorted. Slow and steady winds the race.
josh.
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, allison karow wrote:
Hi all,
it's been a while since I posted to this list, I'm subscribing from a different email address now but it's me, sunny! from vancouver / OCB, formerly from phoenix / Bike Saviours.
I have a question about making the switch from paper to electronic documents. OCB has been around for 20 years, and we have a huge mish mash of different systems for organizing our documents. The main three are: 1) a huge pile of filing cabinets, 2) the hard drive on our computer (which often doesnt match what's on the hard drive of our OTHER computer at our warehouse), and 3) google docs, which does not match what's on either hard drive and has to be constantly updated to reflect our ever-changing policies, lists, minutes, etc.
Basically, it's terribly confusing and nobody ever knows where to find anything without asking the one or two people who have been with us the longest. We need to use something that is stable and long-term. I'm thinking google docs might still be the best thing, but I thought I'd fish on here first.
What I'm looking for is an online-system that can be synched up with our hard drive (for back-up purposes), which can be accessed from any computer and which can be categorized clearly and easily. I would like there to be a section for every staff member's ongoing to-do lists, a section for meeting minutes to be filed, a section for policy documents, etc. I would also like to have a section for forms (such as conflict or incident reports) that can be filled out as needed and filed online as well.
Does anyone currently have a system that they like using for this? Any input is appreciated.
sunny
I don't know the specifics of how google docs handles syncing but Dropbox is pretty nice for making docs available from any web browser (you'd need a password to get to it; it's not like your stuff would be publicly accessible) and syncing between computers.
In a nutshell:
- You create an account (free or pay for upgrades).
- Jump through a few hoops to increase the free storage space. (Like them
on Facebook, install the software, tweet about them, get a friend to sign up, several other relatively pain free hoops.) 3. Install the software in your computer and assigns shared folder. Invite other users(that warehouse computer, other shop employees, etc) and now that folder lives online but can be accessed by anyone who's been shared. 4. Anything you drop into the dropbox folder from THIS computer will be available in the same folder on THAT computer. 5. You can also generate download links for specific files, so that you could post a link to download a blank liability waiver, for example, without having to give access to the entire folder of shared stuff.
I can't/won't speak to the actual process of making the merge from a 20 year old mishmash into a streamlined setup, but I will urge you to remember that it's taken 20 years to get to this point. It's probably not going to be a single weekend project getting it all sorted. Slow and steady winds the race.
josh.
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, allison karow wrote:
Hi all,
it's been a while since I posted to this list, I'm subscribing from a different email address now but it's me, sunny! from vancouver / OCB, formerly from phoenix / Bike Saviours.
I have a question about making the switch from paper to electronic documents. OCB has been around for 20 years, and we have a huge mish mash of different systems for organizing our documents. The main three are: 1) a huge pile of filing cabinets, 2) the hard drive on our computer (which often doesnt match what's on the hard drive of our OTHER computer at our warehouse), and 3) google docs, which does not match what's on either hard drive and has to be constantly updated to reflect our ever-changing policies, lists, minutes, etc.
Basically, it's terribly confusing and nobody ever knows where to find anything without asking the one or two people who have been with us the longest. We need to use something that is stable and long-term. I'm thinking google docs might still be the best thing, but I thought I'd fish on here first.
What I'm looking for is an online-system that can be synched up with our hard drive (for back-up purposes), which can be accessed from any computer and which can be categorized clearly and easily. I would like there to be a section for every staff member's ongoing to-do lists, a section for meeting minutes to be filed, a section for policy documents, etc. I would also like to have a section for forms (such as conflict or incident reports) that can be filled out as needed and filed online as well.
Does anyone currently have a system that they like using for this? Any input is appreciated.
sunny
*twinkle fingers* Dropbox.
If you want some help, I don't mind having a long phone call with you as tech support.
-m
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, wrote:
I don't know the specifics of how google docs handles syncing but Dropbox is pretty nice for making docs available from any web browser (you'd need a password to get to it; it's not like your stuff would be publicly accessible) and syncing between computers.
In a nutshell:
- You create an account (free or pay for upgrades).
- Jump through a few hoops to increase the free storage space. (Like them
on Facebook, install the software, tweet about them, get a friend to sign up, several other relatively pain free hoops.) 3. Install the software in your computer and assigns shared folder. Invite other users(that warehouse computer, other shop employees, etc) and now that folder lives online but can be accessed by anyone who's been shared. 4. Anything you drop into the dropbox folder from THIS computer will be available in the same folder on THAT computer. 5. You can also generate download links for specific files, so that you could post a link to download a blank liability waiver, for example, without having to give access to the entire folder of shared stuff.
I can't/won't speak to the actual process of making the merge from a 20 year old mishmash into a streamlined setup, but I will urge you to remember that it's taken 20 years to get to this point. It's probably not going to be a single weekend project getting it all sorted. Slow and steady winds the race.
josh.
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, allison karow wrote:
Hi all,
it's been a while since I posted to this list, I'm subscribing from a different email address now but it's me, sunny! from vancouver / OCB, formerly from phoenix / Bike Saviours.
I have a question about making the switch from paper to electronic documents. OCB has been around for 20 years, and we have a huge mish mash of different systems for organizing our documents. The main three are: 1) a huge pile of filing cabinets, 2) the hard drive on our computer (which often doesnt match what's on the hard drive of our OTHER computer at our warehouse), and 3) google docs, which does not match what's on either hard drive and has to be constantly updated to reflect our ever-changing policies, lists, minutes, etc.
Basically, it's terribly confusing and nobody ever knows where to find anything without asking the one or two people who have been with us the longest. We need to use something that is stable and long-term. I'm thinking google docs might still be the best thing, but I thought I'd fish on here first.
What I'm looking for is an online-system that can be synched up with our hard drive (for back-up purposes), which can be accessed from any computer and which can be categorized clearly and easily. I would like there to be a section for every staff member's ongoing to-do lists, a section for meeting minutes to be filed, a section for policy documents, etc. I would also like to have a section for forms (such as conflict or incident reports) that can be filled out as needed and filed online as well.
Does anyone currently have a system that they like using for this? Any input is appreciated.
sunny
won't speak to any particular process being the best, bikerowave is transitioning to google docs, we have data entry parties and things go a lot faster than you would think when 30 people are working through a stack.
On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 1:45 PM, momoko saunders analyst@bikefarm.orgwrote:
*twinkle fingers* Dropbox.
If you want some help, I don't mind having a long phone call with you as tech support.
-m
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, wrote:
I don't know the specifics of how google docs handles syncing but Dropbox is pretty nice for making docs available from any web browser (you'd need a password to get to it; it's not like your stuff would be publicly accessible) and syncing between computers.
In a nutshell:
- You create an account (free or pay for upgrades).
- Jump through a few hoops to increase the free storage space. (Like
them on Facebook, install the software, tweet about them, get a friend to sign up, several other relatively pain free hoops.) 3. Install the software in your computer and assigns shared folder. Invite other users(that warehouse computer, other shop employees, etc) and now that folder lives online but can be accessed by anyone who's been shared. 4. Anything you drop into the dropbox folder from THIS computer will be available in the same folder on THAT computer. 5. You can also generate download links for specific files, so that you could post a link to download a blank liability waiver, for example, without having to give access to the entire folder of shared stuff.
I can't/won't speak to the actual process of making the merge from a 20 year old mishmash into a streamlined setup, but I will urge you to remember that it's taken 20 years to get to this point. It's probably not going to be a single weekend project getting it all sorted. Slow and steady winds the race.
josh.
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, allison karow wrote:
Hi all,
it's been a while since I posted to this list, I'm subscribing from a different email address now but it's me, sunny! from vancouver / OCB, formerly from phoenix / Bike Saviours.
I have a question about making the switch from paper to electronic documents. OCB has been around for 20 years, and we have a huge mish mash of different systems for organizing our documents. The main three are: 1) a huge pile of filing cabinets, 2) the hard drive on our computer (which often doesnt match what's on the hard drive of our OTHER computer at our warehouse), and 3) google docs, which does not match what's on either hard drive and has to be constantly updated to reflect our ever-changing policies, lists, minutes, etc.
Basically, it's terribly confusing and nobody ever knows where to find anything without asking the one or two people who have been with us the longest. We need to use something that is stable and long-term. I'm thinking google docs might still be the best thing, but I thought I'd fish on here first.
What I'm looking for is an online-system that can be synched up with our hard drive (for back-up purposes), which can be accessed from any computer and which can be categorized clearly and easily. I would like there to be a section for every staff member's ongoing to-do lists, a section for meeting minutes to be filed, a section for policy documents, etc. I would also like to have a section for forms (such as conflict or incident reports) that can be filled out as needed and filed online as well.
Does anyone currently have a system that they like using for this? Any input is appreciated.
sunny
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit:
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i think that the first thing to do is get a single large hard drive that can store everything from the first three and also a scanner that will absorb the paper. that done and with the new hard drive being large enough to hold the new resorted data you can move forward with a clear and concise framework that allows everyone to enjoy a single page. i find wikis to be very useful for the type of sorting you speak of.
jim
On Sunday, October 20, 2013 1:58 PM, Vincenzo loco wormsign@gmail.com wrote:
won't speak to any particular process being the best, bikerowave is transitioning to google docs, we have data entry parties and things go a lot faster than you would think when 30 people are working through a stack.
On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 1:45 PM, momoko saunders analyst@bikefarm.org wrote:
*twinkle fingers* Dropbox.
If you want some help, I don't mind having a long phone call with you as tech support.
-m
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, wrote:
I don't know the specifics of how google docs handles syncing but Dropbox is pretty nice for making docs available from any web browser (you'd need a password to get to it; it's not like your stuff would be publicly accessible) and syncing between computers.
In a nutshell:
- You create an account (free or pay for upgrades).
- Jump through a few hoops to increase the free storage space. (Like them on Facebook, install the software, tweet about them, get a friend to sign up, several other relatively pain free hoops.)
- Install the software in your computer and assigns shared folder. Invite other users(that warehouse computer, other shop employees, etc) and now that folder lives online but can be accessed by anyone who's been shared.
- Anything you drop into the dropbox folder from THIS computer will be available in the same folder on THAT computer.
- You can also generate download links for specific files, so that you could post a link to download a blank liability waiver, for example, without having to give access to the entire folder of shared stuff.
I can't/won't speak to the actual process of making the merge from a 20 year old mishmash into a streamlined setup, but I will urge you to remember that it's taken 20 years to get to this point. It's probably not going to be a single weekend project getting it all sorted. Slow and steady winds the race.
josh.
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, allison karow wrote:
Hi all,
it's been a while since I posted to this list, I'm subscribing from a different email address now but it's me, sunny! from vancouver / OCB, formerly from phoenix / Bike Saviours.
I have a question about making the switch from paper to electronic documents. OCB has been around for 20 years, and we have a huge mish mash of different systems for organizing our documents. The main three are: 1) a huge pile of filing cabinets, 2) the hard drive on our computer (which often doesnt match what's on the hard drive of our OTHER computer at our warehouse), and 3) google docs, which does not match what's on either hard drive and has to be constantly updated to reflect our ever-changing policies, lists, minutes, etc.
Basically, it's terribly confusing and nobody ever knows where to find anything without asking the one or two people who have been with us the longest. We need to use something that is stable and long-term. I'm thinking google docs might still be the best thing, but I thought I'd fish on here first.
What I'm looking for is an online-system that can be synched up with our hard drive (for back-up purposes), which can be accessed from any computer and which can be categorized clearly and easily. I would like there to be a section for every staff member's ongoing to-do lists, a section for meeting minutes to be filed, a section for policy documents, etc. I would also like to have a section for forms (such as conflict or incident reports) that can be filled out as needed and filed online as well.
Does anyone currently have a system that they like using for this? Any input is appreciated.
sunny
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
participants (5)
-
allison karow -
james bledsoe -
momoko saunders -
veganboyjosh＠gmail.com -
Vincenzo loco