If You Prefer the Alphabet…
If you like the idea of using The Paper Tiger document management software, but find the concept of indexing or numbering your paper files impractical — or even frightening — fear not! You can use the filing system software and stay with the age-old alphabetic method of filing. You can still have the advantage of automatic cross-referencing, search your files to find a particular item, and automatically print out your file labels, a File Index, an Item Name Index, or a File Retention Worksheet.
You may have a situation where you want some locations with random numbers and others in a particular alphabetical or numerical order. That’s not a problem!
If you want all your locations in alphabetical order, you can move the grid line between Location and Item Name to the left margin and you won’t even be able to see the numbers. If you are using both methods, you can just ignore the Location field.
When you place the cursor on Item Name, a sort arrow will appear. Click once, and the Item Names will appear in alphabetical order in reverse order; click again and they will appear in alphabetical order following the “open” items. If you don’t want to see the “open” items, go to View/Quick Preferences, and remove the arrow from Show Open Items. (“Open” items must be visible when you are adding new Items.)
To add new files in alphabetical order, just enter the Item Name in any “open” field. Then use your cursor to resort your files in alphabetical order.
When you print out your File Index or Item Name Index, just ignore the numbers. Should you later decide to use the random numbering system, you can just add the numbered file tab assigned by The Paper Tiger to each file folder. You may choose to leave your text labels on as well.
Basically, you can continue to use the alphabetic method for filing but by adding The Paper Tiger software, you will be supercharging your work, making it much easier to find your information. When, and if, you become comfortable with the random nature of The Paper Tiger method, you can easily switch to it without losing any of your investment of time. The best of both worlds!
Tags: Document Management, Paper Filing, paper filing systems, The Paper Tiger 'Finding' System
[...] Alphabetic Method for Paper Tiger Desktop Version [...]