Master Library Organization

A powerful archive is an organized one. Without a coherent system, your collection becomes a digital junk drawer.

Folder Structure & Naming

A logical folder structure and consistent naming convention are the bedrock of your library.

Start with numbered broad categories in your archive's root. Numbers ensure consistent sorting.

Root structure

/mnt/archive/
├── 01_documents/
├── 02_media/
├── 03_projects/
├── 04_web/
├── 05_knowledge/
└── 99_system/

Best Practices

Use ISO 8601 dates: YYYY-MM-DD (sorts chronologically)
Use only alphanumeric, hyphens (-), underscores (_)
Avoid spaces and special characters
Make filenames descriptive

✓ Good

2026-03-10_ars-technica_review-of-new-cpu_v1.pdf

✗ Bad

article.pdf

Metadata Management

Metadata is the data about your data. While filenames provide structure, metadata provides rich, searchable context.

ExifTool is the definitive utility for reading, writing, and editing metadata.

ExifTool commands

# Read all metadata
exiftool some-file.jpg

# Write metadata
exiftool -Artist="Your Name" -Copyright="2026 Your Name" some-file.jpg

# Add keyword tags to all files in directory
exiftool -keywords+="project-phoenix" -overwrite_original .

# Rename photos based on creation date
exiftool '-FileName<DateTimeOriginal' -d '%Y%m%d_%H%M%S_%%f.%%e' .

# Remove ALL metadata (privacy scrubbing)
exiftool -all= some-file.jpg

Indexing & Cross-Referencing

Create a searchable index of your entire archive. Configure Recoll to run nightly via systemd timer.

Recoll indexing

# Configure Recoll to index your archive
# Edit /home/user/.recoll/recoll.conf:
topdirs = /mnt/archive

# Run initial indexing
recollindex

# Search from command line
recoll -t "climate change research"

Document Your System

Create a README.md file in your archive root (99_system/00_readme.md). Explain your folder structure, naming convention, and any abbreviations. Your future self will thank you.