Exercise 1
Consider the following scenario:
You are joining an ongoing research project as a new team member. The team has recommended that you review the project materials. Additionally, you want to file the protocol from the last team meeting.
The project folder has the following top-level folder structure. What stands out to you? Which recommendations for creating an effective folder structure have not been followed?
Source: Structure of the project folder, Anne Voigt, licensed under CC BY SA 4.0
Proposed Solution
- The folder names are rather general (Tip: from general to more specific), but the folder „_important-documents“ does not follow this system.
- The names are kept short but are only somewhat descriptive. For example, at first glance, the difference between „Organizational“ and „Administration“ is unclear. Similarly, a catch-all folder like „Miscellaneous“ should be avoided.
- The location of the subfolder „Meetings“ is not clearly or intuitively recognizable. It is probably in „Organizational,“ but it could also be in „Research,“ „Administration,“ or „Miscellaneous.“
Tips:
- Ideally, structure the setup so that a document can only be filed in one folder.
- A README file explaining the folder structure briefly could help.