Gary, In my job I access thousands of files/presentations/emails/web sites annually over a range of subject and innovation areas. I have proven my detailed folder structures are not allowing me to “EASILY” find information and presentations in a timely manner. (I have just spent a couple of hours looking for a file I know have, unsuccessfully.) Frustration has set in. I have reviewed your video 490 on Tagging and it is good, but uses Spotlight comments. Further research suggests recent utilities are using “Openmeta” as the foundation, but there is no guarantee Apple will support it indefinitely. I would welcome any updated insight you are able to provide regards the latest/safest/most effective way of indexing/tagging files to take away these frustrations. Any recommended utilities that make the process”easy” would be welcome. And yes, I am aware that retrospectively tagging is a big job, but that is a little price to pay if the solution warrants it. Is there a better way? How do you achieve it ?
I would welcome your insight.
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Ian McKinnon
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Is Tagging the Best Answer for Indexing Information?
Comments: 2 Responses to “Is Tagging the Best Answer for Indexing Information?”
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Any time the word "best" is used in a question, it means the answer is probably subjective. For one person tagging might be the best solution. For another, it is not. Obviously there is a ratio of the amount of work to the ease of future searching.
Perhaps the answer is somewhere in between. Spotlight searches can look inside files to give you results. Documents, presentations, emails and other things can be searched by content. So perhaps your need can be filled by simply becoming a spotlight search expert. Search for text in the file, plus the file type, and approximate date created. I know that would be enough for me. And the advantage is that I don't have to spend time adding tags now.
But of course you can hit a middle ground by tagging some things some of the time. Also by using thoughtful file names.
So this is not a "here's what to do" black and white kind of question. This is a "put something into it that fits your need" question. For some people, no tagging. For some people, lots of tagging. For others, just good file names. Etc.
I would recommend DEVONthink Pro Office. I've been using it for almost a year and never misplaced a file since.It's a really powerful organization tool. Check it out...it might be what you're looking for.