I’ve just finished taking my own collection-combining medicine – and it’s produced an unexpected set of collections and a massively different PC landscape.

I started by going through the 92 collections I had previously accredited to myself and thinking about what I really wanted to be classed as a collection and how I wanted them to be categorised – dual considerations which influenced one another. The result was a surprise; not that it was different from what I expected (I hadn’t really any preconceived notions) – it was just very new. I’d elected to have 40 separate collections in the following 11 categories:

As you can see, the above list is a screenshot of the second level folders in my laptop, below a top-level folder named ‘APAWCOL’ – the ‘A’ being included to ensure it sits at the top of the folder list. The names in brackets are included to make it easy to know what collections are in each category. Of course, this overall structure only emerged after an extensive process of iterative developments. Some of the more interesting decisions taken on the way include the following:

• I decided that my original desire to call my toy steam engine and its 4 attachments a collection in its own right, was simply inappropriate: it was not substantial enough. I resolved the problem by realising that the steam engine was a long-standing reminder of my childhood, and just added it into the Mementos collection.
• When I considered the various computer equipment on the original list of 92 collections, and a folder on my laptop containing various files about my hardware and software, I decided that it was important to have clarity about my digital estate – not only for my own benefit but also to assist the executor of my will after my death. Hence, I established the Computing category with Hardware, Software and Documentation collections within it, and resolved to try to make their contents look more like inventories going forward.
• I originally categorised the chocolate wrapper, Computer Artefacts, and Stamp collections as ‘Pastime collections’ but realised that could be interpreted very broadly; so, I elected to use the very specific title ‘Consumer Objects’.
• When considering the collection of Letters and Cards I realised that the address database was an important associated collection.
• The collection of dated documents concerning my interactions with doctors and hospitals has become substantial enough to constitute a collection in its own right. Having made that decision, the other healthcare material I have (some documents about Denplan insurance and others about physio exercises and the like) had to be included too so that all the healthcare stuff is in the same place.
• It has always been my intention to eventually sell a box full of old copies of Boys Own paper, Rolling Stone, and Sci-Fi monthly which resides in the loft. However, I haven’t done so yet, and the substantial number of issues of each clearly constitute collections; so, they have, for now, become official and visible collections.
• The inclusion of lottery documents as a collection may seem an odd choice, however this growing set of over 150 single excel sheets showing results for a lottery syndicate for over 20 years is clearly a collection; and it sits nicely with my previously established archive of important finance documents for pensions and the like.
• The final set – Work collections – includes the seemingly out-of-place Loft collection. However, the establishment and management of this set of objects was one of a variety of investigations (Journeys) conducted into the impact of IT on organising household objects. It is clearly a collection, but it doesn’t fit into any other category. So, it seemed appropriate to set it alongside the Journeys collection of records about those investigations.

As the above examples show, decisions about personal collections are flexible and pragmatic; they just need to make sense to the owner.

The process of creating and populating these different collections within the overall APAWCOL folder involved the movement of individual files and folders, and the creation of many folders and shortcuts. It also involved sorting out and rationalising the material that had built up over the years in non-collection folders, and some folders which had mixtures of both non-collection and collection material embedded within layers of sub-folders. I soon realised that this exercise would require a complete revamp of all the files in my PC filing system.

When I started, my laptop had libraries for Music, Photos, and Videos, and the PAWDOC folder (containing thousands of files) in the Documents library. I left all these collections alone, and simply used shortcuts to access them from the relevant collection folders.

Within the laptop’s ‘Documents’ library there were 31 main folders when I started and only 11 when I had finished. 16 of the original 31 were moved into collection folders. Of the remaining 15 main folders, 1 was the PAWDOC folder, 8 were retained as ongoing day-to-day files, and 6 were destroyed. 1 new main folder was created.

The reorganisation took me 16 days and involved the following actions:

• 233 Shortcuts created
• 5 Shortcuts deleted
• 44 folders created
• 103 folders renamed
• 109 folders and contents deleted
• 52 folders and contents moved
• 67 files renamed
• 740 files deleted
• 1444 individual files moved

I’m very pleased with the result for a number of reasons:

• It has reduced the number of main folders and made it easier to see what I have and where to put things.
• It has got rid of many files which were no longer of any use.
• It has put all my collections in one easily recognisable and accessible place
• I now have a very clear view of what collections I have and where their associated files are in the laptop

I conclude from this experience that simply having the digital elements of multiple collections together into one place on the PC is beneficial and worthwhile. However, achieving it required much more than the movement of files and folders. There were substantial implications for indexes and cross referencing, and for actually combining some collections together. These are addressed in subsequent posts.