Stories about Information Management at Monash

Second prize winner

I usually spring-clean my files at the start of each year when it is relatively quiet. In addition to making a ZIP archive of my emails from last year, files stored on my local drives and on the network drive are reviewed for retention or disposal. More often than not, a number of files may have redundant copies. All these are spread across said storage media, not to mention some files were email attachments and a few were taken from archived files on optical discs. To save me time, redundant files must be identified and deleted first before the review.

Before I request for a ZIPped archive of my emails from last year, I go through each mail folder first and purge emails that need not be kept for my personal archive. Thanks to mail filters, most of these can be purged en masse. Next, I examine files with huge file attachments. I detach the attachments and save them on a new folder on my local disk. It is very likely that I have previously saved the attachments somewhere but I will find that out later in the process. Detaching file attachments make the ZIPped email archive more manageable in size.

To help one decide which files are identical, the usual methods are visual inspection of the file attributes (filename, size and timestamp) or opening the file with a suitable reader (if the file is a document) and comparing. Not only are these methods time-consuming and tedious, but also not entirely accurate. The problem is even compounded when crosschecking with renamed files and archived files stored offline.

A technique which I have developed myself makes use of a cryptographic hash function called MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5) which produces a 128-bit hash value of a file. I wrote a small C program adapting and optimizing the publicly available MD5 source code with the Windows 32-bit API. I originally wrote the program with the intention of checking the integrity of files downloaded from the Internet or copied across the network.

Now, I use this nifty MD5 utility to help me spring-clean active files stored on local and network drives. All files that I have previously archived on optical discs all have their MD5 hash values along with the corresponding filenames stored in a plain text file that I always name zMD5File.TXT for uniformity. Each line in the text file contains a filename, the character "|" as a delimiter and the MD5 hash value. Instead of restoring the actual files from archive for comparison with the active files, I simply copy the zMD5File.TXT from each of the archive discs.

With the use of command-line scripts, I run the MD5 tool on each of the active files to produce their unique 128-bit hash values. Note that the file attachments I have detached earlier and stored in a new folder locally are also scanned. The output format is the same as above but this time, instead of a filename, a full filepath and its corresponding hash value is produced. The output is stored as a plain text file.

At this stage, Microsoft Excel comes in handy in identifying which files have identical copies. The output text file must be imported into Excel as a "|"-delimited file. This produces a worksheet with two columns. The column of hash values should be sorted in ascending manner. Using an Excel formula like '=IF (B2=B1,A2,)' starting on the third column and second row and filling this down identifies the full filepath of files identical to the one just above it - their MD5 hash values are the same. A casual sanity-check can be done at this point. This list is then copied and pasted on a text editor like Notepad and saved. With a simple command-line script using this new text file as input, these redundant files can be safely deleted. The spreadsheet of active files can now be pruned by deleting the rows of deleted files.

Now, to crosscheck which files already exist in the archive, the zMD5File.TXT files from the archive discs must be combined and imported into Excel in a similar manner as above. We now have two worksheets of filename/hash values, one for the active files and another for the archived files. Writing yet another Excel formula that makes use of the VLOOKUP function on the spreadsheet of active files against the spreadsheet of archived files as the lookup table, active files that have copies already stored on archive discs are identified. This second list of redundant files can be deleted similarly as above. The number of files that are left behind for reviewing for retention or disposal would now be a lot less than before, thus saving me heaps of time.

Employing a combination of tools like the MD5 utility, Excel and some scripts, there is a very high level of confidence that what I trash are already in stash!

Edgar Maderazo 2006-11-24

Honourable mention

A To-do list is one of the most important things in my office!!
Working full time and having 3 kids at home there are so many things that I need to remember. For many years I have used a paper list, kept notes in a diary and of course had a barrage of post-it notes stuck to my monitor. I found this to be quite inefficient. Even with the right intentions, it would take me some time to go through my notes and lists. All the while thinking "have I missed something?"

Recently I came across a free program called Desktop Sidebar, which is very similar to Google desktop. These desktop programs allow you to customize your desktop with information from your computer and the web, such as news feeds and weather information. Desktop Sidebar also has a very flexible To-do list which has changed the way I now keep track of my tasks.

My To-do list sits in the background of my computer appearing to be a part of my desktop wallpaper. I am able to quickly view my tasks for the day, along with any reminders I set for my self. I can easily add, remove and update items on my list along with any additional notes about the item. I can also color code my list items (to match my email priorities), which makes it easy to see what is urgent, and what is an ongoing task listed in my performance plan.

My To-do list saves me lots of time and anxiety.

Karen Taylor 2006-11-24

As a web developer, I spend a lot of time in my web browser so I have spent some effort in optimising my time in it. The best opimisations I've done involve using the keyboard rather than the mouse.

Bookmarks are used frequently by everyone and I've discovered a little known feature that can save large amounts of time for commonly used bookmarks. The bookmarks menu (favourites in Internet Explorer) can be pulled up with the keyboard shortcut: alt+b (Firefox) or Alt+a (Internet Explorer). This is still common knowledge but the next bit is the killer, name your bookmarks with a unique first letter, then they can be selected by pressing that letter with the bookmarks menu open. For example, if I bookmark the my.monash portal as "Portal" then I can access it by pressing alt+b, p (Firefox) or Alt+a, p (Internet Explorer).

Some suggestions: e - ESS, p - portal (my.monash), g - Google, w - wiki. m - MUSO.

This has saved me a lot of time since I've implemented this naming convention, a second each time, leading up to at least a second coffee break each day! Also importantly, I don't have to remove my hands from the keyboard to access commonly used webpages.

Hamish Carpenter 2006-11-23

Even with good techniques to manage the incoming e-mail, it is easy to build up a large volume of messages in organised folders. I find a way of dealing with this is to title the folders logically and review whether I still need the contents on a regular basis.

Whenever I review whether I can delete old e-mails or documents I consider a few things:
• am I responsible for keeping the definitive record (eg being executive officer for the committee, managing agenda and minutes) or do I only have a reference copy (eg a member of a committee that is run by another unit)?
• if I am responsible for keeping the record, have I already captured it into a university records system such as by putting on an official file? If so, I am only dealing with my duplicate reference copy. And if I haven't filed it properly yet, I have some work to do on that!

Most of the time the documents and e-mails I have in my e-mail folders are duplicates – a copy I have kept for my own reference purposes. I don't need to keep them forever.

How long I keep a reference copy depends on my judgement about whether I need to have it immediately accessible any longer. I might want to look at major documents about budget or operational plans from the previous year but don't need more than that kept electronically close at hand. So in these cases I try to include the year in the folder title so that I can quickly check and delete. (The official record of budgets over the years is in a paper file)

Where I have been a member of a committee, I might keep significant documents or reports to refer back to for a while but I know I can go back to the committee secretary should I need a copy in the future. When the working group or committee has reached a conclusion or produced a report with recommendations, I can delete my copies.

In all decisions about how long records need to be kept, I know I can refer to the University's Disposal Authority to see if there an obligation to keep the record for a particular time. http://adm.monash.edu/records-archives/archives/disposal/index.html

Kathryn Dan 2006-11-23

First prize winner

The Secretariat and Academic Governance Unit of the BusEco faculty is a very busy workplace, where hundreds of agendas, minutes and reports are written, distributed and archived each year. Agendas and minutes are working documents until they get final approval from the chair, and reports receive several submissions that are incorporated until the documents are finalized. We also develop academic policies and procedures, support academic reviews, discipline hearings and elections. This is the tricky environment our staff encounter everyday.

Keeping our files, all their versions, and archive up to date has always been a difficult task. The staff have felt the need to streamline and standardize procedures. However, in such a busy environment, it seemed impossible to stop and rethink the way each one was doing their work.

In the past few months we have slowly started to incorporate ideas from the Information Management Strategy (IMS) into our work routine. I asked our manager at the time if I could lead the unit into an information management project, and have since promoted the concept to my team. I started forwarding the staff emails about the forums and seminars, and organizing a staff lunch before or after the event.

Since the IMS team started coming to Caulfield, at least one member of our staff has attended each forum or workshop. We then feedback the main ideas to the rest of the team, either by emailing the link to the IMS PowerPoint presentation, or giving a quick update at our weekly staff meetings. I have tried to incorporate the 'easy' concepts as soon as I get back to my office, so I don't lose momentum. Things like creating an archive folder, creating a template folder, or using templates on Thunderbird Mozilla. Other members of our team have done the same, and we all share and discuss the concepts we incorporate. This morning a staff member needed to access the terms of reference of a committee disestablished in 2004, and voila, it was in the newly created Archives folder!

In my new position of acting manager, I feel that my strong stance in favour of best practice regarding information management has an effect on the team. I ensure I 'walk the talk', so the team understands I am serious about this project. When working on their performance plans, we have agreed on individual portfolios, and this means maintaining the portfolio's folders, archives, and sharing the knowledge with the team and external clients.

On the other hand, since starting our information management project, I have realized that it is not a quick fix and cannot be done in a hurry. Otherwise the staff will see it as a burden, an additional task to their workload. By making small, but regular changes, we will have a strong adoption of the information management concepts we are learning via the IMS forums.

Renata Bernarde 2006-11-23

First prize winner

Having just completed editing November News bITS, I just had to share with you my 'spring cleanup' experience, where I took your advice and began working with e-files and e-mail more effectively. The process was easy-to-follow and instantly effective. It will save me hours of time in the future, loads of unnecessary stress and could work just as well for anyone!

As I am new to Monash, it wasn't until I was reading your article for News bITS that I discovered the Information Management (IM) principles. I was instantly attracted to the possibility of managing information more effectively, especially e-mail and e-files. As the benefits of being able to store and access this information more effectively, speaks volumes.

Given I was e-mailing and sending information back and forth to the Information Management team it was the perfect time to make a start. So, after reading the IM Monash only resource page I put your advice into action and I have to say it worked fantastically well. Here's what I did.

While editing News bITS, I receive and create many e-file articles. Sometimes e-file articles go through a back-and-forth editing process and include a number of people. So the first step was to develop an e-file article naming system that would be meaningful to all potential e-file article users. I followed the naming conventions detailed in your Monash only resources section. It works great and the reason for this will become crystal clear.

Originally I saved files in a directory: > publications > News bITS > Nov > file name.doc. So I knew exactly what and where the files went. The PROBLEM was if I sent out a file with a regular name on it say 'UPS upgrade.doc' that file name didn't mean much to outside users. So to address this, I came up with the News bITS naming convention of:

newsbits - UPS upgrade - nov06 - v0.1.doc

to record the name of the raw material e-file. This way its immediately apparent to all uses that it's a News bITS article about UPS upgrade for Nov 06 issue.

From this starting e-file name, I can record any changes by re-saving the file:

newsbits - UPS upgrade - nov06 - v0.2.doc

If the e-file article goes through a major rewrite then I'll go up a full number from v.02.doc to v2.0.doc.

When the article is approved I'll add v2.0 - approved swhite.doc

The benefits here are many and include:

1) I can keep track of the article though it's many stages of editing.
2) When I email the article to potential users, they can tell what the article is for, what it is about, when it will be published, the version, and if it's been approved.
3) Others in my team can see the articles status from its e-file name.
4) I have more options searching for articles. For example search for 'approved articles nov06 swhite'

Adding to my overall 'spring cleanup' improvement was an enhancement I followed when e-mailing articles, by tagging outgoing messages in the subject line and this has proven instantly effective.

In the e-mail subject line I'll put:

FOR ACTION: News bITS - when the recipient needs to 'take action' like checking to ensure none of the technical elements have been lost through the editing process.

FOR APPROVAL: News bITS - when the article is to be approved.

FOR REFERENCE: News bITS - when the recipient wants a copy of the final draft for their records.

Finally, I keep a copy of all e-mails relating to the November news bITS in a sub folder in my Mozilla Thunderbird inbox.

Inbox > Projects > News bITS > 0611 - Nov 06

(The 0611 is the year and month, which goes first so the sub folders stay in monthly order thanks to the numbers. Without the numbers first, Mozilla Thunderbird uses the alphabet to order the subfolders so April then August, etc are at the top of the list!)

Now the benefits of subject tagging e-mailing are very powerful and include:

1) Easy searching for FOR APPROVAL emails, which also means it's easy to follow up on approvals still outstanding.
2) Easy searching for FOR ACTION emails, which also means it's easy to follow up on actions still outstanding.
3) It gives peace of mind knowing I can quickly and easily find and show evidence of APPROVED articles!

I encourage everyone to visit the Information Management website as it only takes a couple of enhancements, which are very easy to follow to bring a profound improvement to your efficiency and effectiveness working with information.

Peter Stone 2006-11-03

Second prize winner

Once upon a time there was an assistant who had a problem - she had the task of sorting her boss's emails and coming up with a way of making sure that the boss knew which ones needed a response (as distinct from those for information only). First she created a folder called "Action items" and put them in there, but alas! there were problems because it meant there were two places for the boss to check instead of one, and sometimes the "Action" folder didn't show up properly.

Then she read a story about someone using the labels function to communicate with their boss. She already labelled her own emails sometimes, but this started her off on a new train of thought: what if...? So she looked up Thunderbird Help and came up with two small but very important pieces of information:
1. Using Tools - Options - Display - Labels, she could change the colours and also what they meant. "Important" became "Needs response".
2. Each label has a keyboard shortcut. Instead of right-clicking and choosing the label, she only needed to highlight the email and press 1, 2, 3 etc. This also meant that the labels could be turned off by pressing 0.

So now, all the emails stay together in the Inbox. The boss knows that red means "needs response" and that selecting the email plus 0 will turn the colour off once a response has been sent. The assistant has a whole new way of organsing something that didn't work too well before. And they both hope to live happily ever after...

Marion Miller 2006-10-27

Second prize winner

After attending the recent IM roadshow I resolved to do two things, start using some of those filters I knew my email client had and keep my lightweight super-fibre travel towel in my bag at all times.

I knew setting up filters was easy. I knew it would save time. I knew it was a smarter way to work ... I just didn't how to do it without referring to the online help. I swear there's a cursor repellent force field around that little button. But now, knowing I had my trusty towel in my bag under the desk gave me the security I needed ...

One of my more onerous tasks on the service desk is to check our spam filter newsgroup. On a Monday this means scanning over 300 messages. Never in two years has one of these messages been legitimate, but check I must.

It took me surprisingly little time to check the help and then create a filter based on 20 or so keywords such as 'Monash', 'portal', 'unit', 'course', and so on. Bam! 300 messages now down to ten.

And then I went nuts: I finally created a filter to send TWP mail to a dedicated folder I could assiduously ignore (until I needed it). No stopping me now. Next was an ITS service alert folder into which the 15 different brands of service notices could go. Dozens of email a day out of my Inbox and where I could easily check them a couple of times a day.

And now I'm onto labels. The red subject lines in my Inbox are the ones that it is worth more than my sorry hide to ignore.

With my filters, my labels and my towel ready to hand, it is once again safe for me to go on training for three days and face that Inbox like a man when I get back.

George Vidalis 2006-10-26

When I get emails I have a practice of 'processing' them that is to say, I do a quick scan of the email to determine what the email is about and what I should do with it. To record my decision about what I should do, I used to have to make a mental note. With an average of 50 emails constantly requiring my attention in my Inbox, this gave me a headache! So I started using the Tagging technique to label/colour my emails just like Christine (see story 19/10/06). To record my decision now I label emails, e.g.'To Do', 'Waiting', 'Delegate' or 'Defer/Later'. And that's worked great for the past 6 months for emails I get.

But I got to thinking: can I help people who *get* emails from me to more quickly determine what they should do with the email I sent? So I started using the Subject Line technique, i.e. putting a 'label' in the subject line of the outgoing email. For example: 'FOR ACTION: Pre-Committee reading material' or 'FOR INFO: Article in Industry journal'. One colleague in another division who gets these emails from me says about the technique "Helen is a model of consistency in its use. I am not as rigorous. But I have found it useful to be clear about what I want from the addressee. I also found it a useful sorting tool for messages I had received when I came back from a few weeks leave and was trying to clear the in-box."

There has been another surprising outcome of the Subject line technique: I can quickly identify and retrieve emails I have sent to my team when delegating work! Because the subject line will consistently have 'FOR ACTION' I have made a Saved Search in Thunderbird that a) looks in my Sent folder b) at all the emails that contain FOR ACTION in the subject line and c) emails that have been sent to Person x or Person y or Person z. I don't have to rely on my memory anymore! I just click the Saved Search and there is the short list of emails I sent to my team so I can check with them about the current status of the task. I delete the ones that have been completed so this keeps the list short and managable.

NB: The techniques mentioned above can be found in the IM Resources section of this website.

Helen Palmer 2006-10-20

As assistant to the head of our school part of my role involves 'managing his email' . That is twice as many to manage!! It is hard enough to know how to file/delete etc my own let alone when often they are about things of which I have little or no understanding. Also how did he or I know when the other had seen/actioned a particular email? Communicating with my HOS over action taken could either involve yet another email or waiting until he was at this campus. We used to have to set up meetings just to go through his email account. Now, with the help of the IM team, I have discovered labeling emails!!! Now my HOS and I have a colour code system for his account. Green means 'noted', so the other person can delete once seen. Or blue for 'file once seen'. Red means I will take action etc. Its much more efficient, both time and energy-wise for the both of us. We can communicate with colours!!

Christine Branton 2006-10-19

Changing the way I view and process my email inbox has left me more time to deal with other important tasks, given me more confidence that I have kept track of important incoming tasks through my email and finally halved my retrieval time for a particular email.

This are some of the things you will need to be serious about; First spend time browsing and labelling your incoming email, hence indicating what action is to be taken later and immediately delete or attend to very simple emails.

Then set some time to review what emails are labelled to be acted on then act. Finally move or delete any emails that have been acted on in order to keep your inbox empty.

Its amazing but it has worked for me. Ooh and yeah don't for get to set your email client to check incoming mail after longer periods, in my case I prefer to do the checking manually because this gets rid of email checking anxiety that took away a lot of my concentration from other tasks.

Dickson Muhita 2006-10-16

When I started this job with the Information Management and Strategic Planning group I hadn't thought much about managing information so when we started testing some of the suggestions to make working with information effectively and efficiently I started a steep learning curve.
Over the past five months I've trialled and tested many different ideas from many different sources. The true test was last week when someone emailed and asked me for a quote and information about an item we had produced.
Instead of spending 5 minutes puzzling over where the 3 associated files were and trying to negotiate a 3 hour turnaround I spent no more than 3 minutes locating the email, finding the 2 files with our plan and approved final layout. The reply email was on its way with all the information as requested in 3 minutes. Total stress free turnaround time? 6 minutes. Ah the wonders of applying a standard filing structure across email and efiles!

Claire Nicholls 2006-10-10