GBSSRL File Structure and Workflow Proposed Changes

Objectives

The G: drive (\\nickel.unr.edu\gbssrl) should host all electronic documents related to data that is hosted within GBSSRL. Currently, some of this data is spread between the N: drive and the G: drive. There are a number of duplicated PDFs between the G: drive and files used for NBMG’s open data pages (\\nickel.unr.edu\web). Additionally, there are many different versions of spreadsheets in various locations, so it is difficult to find the most current version. Finally, using the G: drive as an archive for large TIFFs is not an appropriate use of storage. Once TIFFs have been converted to PDFs and have gone through adequate quality assurance processes, the TIFFs should be migrated to “cold storage,” which is far less costly than using network attached storage.

Proposed structure

Archive

Once TIFFs have been converted to PDFs and both have been quality assured, move the TIFFs over to the “archive” folder. The archive folder will have the same structure as the “datasets” folder, so move the data accordingly.

Documentation

All documentation pertaining to GBSSRL should go in this folder. This does not include instructions directly related to data entry for any of the spreadsheets in the “dataset” folder – instructions for a particular dataset should be kept in that folder. General documentation should go in the “documentation” folder.

Datasets

This folder should contain all spreadsheets and scanned data from GBSSRL. New data folders and subfolders can be created, but be conservative so that everything stays organized. Put all related scans and spreadsheets in each topic based folder. Spreadsheets should go in the “metadata” folder. Only the most current version of a spreadsheet should be placed in the top level “metadata” folder. Older versions can be placed in the “old_versions” subfolder.

Scans should be put in the “scans” subfolder. Working scans should go in the _qa folders, and versions that have been qa’ed should go in the _final folders. Once scans are in the _final folders, there should not be copies in the _qa folders. Final TIFs should be moved to the “archive” folder. If PDFs are published on the web (in the \\nickel.unr.edu\web folder), then PDF’s should be removed from the pdf_final folder. Instead, put a link to the web folder in which they are contained inside the pdf_final folder (right click -> new -> shortcut -> path to files). This is to save space on the server and avoid duplication.

Grants

All grant RFPs, proposals, and documentation should go in this folder. Each grant should have its own subfolder within the top level folder.

Publications

This folder will essentially be the same as the current “PublicationSales” folder.