In my office in Puerto Rico we had an additional problem - what LANGUAGE
are we storing things under - we finally decided that whether the material
was in English or Spanish we would file in English, otherwise we'd be
looking under "Sore nipples" and "Pezones adoloridos"

Then, I have LARGE folders marked "benefits of breastfeeding"  "Risks of
formula" "Education" (for ideas for teaching moms) and "Training" (for
ideas on teaching Health Care Prof.) which hold a lot of "stuff" (these are
also copied and filed under each individual subject) because when I'm
looking these things up, it's to get ideas.

On the computer, I started before Lactnet digests were  so easily
"searched", so I have a file called Lactnet, with files under it for
"adoption", "baby friendly", "benefits", etc,  Each of these files had
individual files for specific items Ex: under "adoption" I have "Donor" 
and "protocol" and "resources" and "books" and "mom" (for a particular mom
who wrote and said she was willing to talk to other moms)...

All these I have saved as .txt files using the Notepad section under
Accessories in Windows, so that I can access from Word or any other PC
compatible program (or send as a file to a friend).

Most of the time now I don't save on my computer as I know I can search the
lactnet files, but in PR, this was not as easy or as inexpensive (toll call
to internet service provider).

I got frustrated at trying to remember in which book or journal I read this
or that, and copied the indexes of the books I have and the indexes of JHL
and Breastfeeding Abstracts and put them in a 3 ring binder.  It helps in
trying to locate something when I have NO idea where it is!

BUT I have found one great way to get organized - move!  I had to get all
my files into the filing cabinets (2 4-drawers for breastfeeding stuff and
1 for personal), so things got filed or pitched. 

One point that others have made - if you can hire a high school or college
student, a lot can be accomplished in a short time just because you don't
get so distracted.  I hired my daughter a few times when she was home to
help with my files at home and at work.



Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, IBCLC, LLLL
Vacaville, CA
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