Adding and Organizing Archival Documents in DEVONthink ![rw-book-cover](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ybRRQjD3oZU/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEjCNACELwBSFryq4qpAxUIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJDeAE=&rs=AOn4CLCIbrsxFxxwQe-LaJs1DCBIzIUAOw) ## Metadata - Author: [[DEVONThink for Historians]] - Full Title: Adding and Organizing Archival Documents in DEVONthink - Category: #articles - Document Note: about the article topic. This document provides an overview of how to add and organize archival documents in the digital organization tool DEVONthink. It starts by explaining the various ways to add documents to DEVONthink, such as using drag-and-drop, the web browser extension, or the browser bookmarklet. It then goes on to cover the different ways to organize the documents in DEVONthink, such as using tags and folders. This document also covers how to customize the document view, use search function, and export documents from DEVONthink. Abstract: This document provides an overview of how to add and organize archival documents in the digital organization tool DEVONthink. It explains the various ways to add documents to DEVONthink, such as drag-and-drop, the web browser extension, or the browser bookmarklet, as well as the different ways to organize the documents, such as using tags and folders. It also covers topics like customizing the document view, using search function, and exporting documents from DEVONthink. Main Points: • Adding Documents to DEVONthink: o Drag-and-drop o Web browser extension o Browser bookmarklet • Organizing Documents in DEVONthink: o Tags o Folders • Customizing the Document View • Using the Search Function • Exporting Documents from DEVONthink Paraphrase 1: Instead of manually saving documents to DEVONthink, you can use different methods such as dragging them in, installing the web browser extension, or using the browser bookmarklet. Paraphrase 2: You can customize the view of the documents in DEVONthink to make them easier to find and use the search function to quickly find documents. You can also export documents from DEVONthink for use in other programs. Press Release: Are you looking for a way to easily add and organize your archival documents? Look no further than DEVONthink! With its intuitive drag-and-drop feature, web browser extension, and browser bookmarklet, DEVONthink makes it easy to add documents without the hassle of manual saving. And with advanced organization features like tags and folders, you can easily keep your documents organized and find what you need quickly. DEVONthink also allows you to customize the document view to make them easier to find and has the ability to This document outlines the steps for adding and organizing archival documents in DEVONthink. It provides instructions on how to create a database, add documents, create databases within databases, and organize documents. It also explains how to use the various tools available to help manage your digital documents, such as tags, folders, and smart groups. Finally, it provides tips on how to keep your data secure and backed up. 1. What kind of archival documents can I add to DEVONthink? 2. What are the best practices for organizing archival documents in DEVONthink? 3. Are there any tips for efficiently searching for archival documents in DEVONthink? Creators Avi Gail Oren and Ada Bartlett offer courses on using database software for researchers. In this video, Oren organizes files on painter Abraham Work Dots. [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=0) Teach historians to use powerful database software [01:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=103) Screen recording of organizing first research document [03:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=209) Demonstration of text search and creating a super annotation with DevonThink [05:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=307) Guide to using DevonThink for historians [06:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=397) Creating text-searchable, tagged and annotated files with citation information. [08:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=496) Attach citation information for easy file retrieval [09:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=592) Linking citations to Bookends saves time and ensures success [11:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=695) DevonThink allows users to create custom archival document formats for citation and reference managers. --------------------------------- Detailed Summary for [Adding and Organizing Archival Documents in DEVONthink](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU) by [Merlin](https://merlin.foyer.work/) [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=0) Teach historians to use powerful database software - Courses designed by Avi Gail Oren and Ada Bartlett - Software helps in storing, organizing, and writing from documents [01:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=103) Screen recording of organizing first research document - Demonstration of creating a new folder and subgroup for the document - Renaming and noting document versions and details [03:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=209) Demonstration of text search and creating a super annotation with DevonThink - Using the 'PDF plus text' feature to view a document that needs to be OCR'd - Creating a super annotation with all necessary citation data [05:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=307) Guide to using DevonThink for historians - DevonThink allows you to save archive documents with specific dates and information - Use the plugin with Bookends and a word processor to easily cite archival documents [06:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=397) Creating text-searchable, tagged and annotated files with citation information. - Detailed process of creating these files is explained in the super user guide. - Final step includes exporting files to Bookends and adding ID number to file name. [08:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=496) Attach citation information for easy file retrieval - Make use of structured opportunity to review collected documents - Add appropriate tags and information for easy search and retrieval [09:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=592) Linking citations to Bookends saves time and ensures success - Bookends populates citations and bibliography automatically - Repeat citations are formatted efficiently [11:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&t=695) DevonThink allows users to create custom archival document formats for citation and reference managers. - Creating a custom archival document format is a valuable hack explained in detail in the DevonThink Super User Guide. - Most reference managers do not have a custom archival document format, making DevonThink's super annotation format sufficient for the majority of archival documents. - Summary: Description: In this video, Avigail walks through how she added the first 7 archival documents from her January trip, and what she did to make sure that all of the citation information was attached to each individual document, and then transferred to a reference manager. This is a sneak peek at the SuperAnnotation templates and scripts that come with the DEVONthink for Historians Super User course -- and the process we teach for how to best use them. If you are interested in learning how to use DEVONthink, or how to use its more powerful features to optimize the historian’s workflow, check out the DEVONthink for Historians courses at www.devonthinkforhistorians.com Affiliate link to purchase DEVONthink: https://www.devontechnologies.com/?fpr=avigail-ada66 Affiliate link to purchase DEVONthink (Students and Educators Discount): https://www.devontechnologies.com/customers/students?fpr=avigail-ada66 - URL: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ybRRQjD3oZU&feature=share foreignthink for historians YouTube channel myname is Avi Gail Oren and I along withmy co-creator Ada Bartlett have designeda set of courses that teach historiansand other researchers who work withqualitative data how to use thispowerful database software so that theycan better store organize and write from their documents so if you're interestedin looking at Devin think for historianseither this the starting up or superuser guides and the link is in thedescription box below but today I wantto kind of continue our journey throughthis series about the dots uh Devonthink database as we're calling itum so uh there are there's a playlist ofvideos if you want to catch up if you haven't seen the context butto sort of Briefly summarize it Istarted a new project about a familymember who was a painter in early to mid20th century New York Cityum named Abraham work dots and inJanuary I went to the archive ofAmerican art to look at one of twocollections in the United States withhis papers and I also looked at the papers of another relative who was asculptor named Aaron goodelman so feelfree to catch up on those videos if youwant to know more in today's video whatI am going to do is walk you through ascreen recording of how I processed andorganized the very first document andfolder that I added to the dot step andthink database from this research trip soum basically uh in just a few shortmoments we'll move over to the computerand I will voice over and tell youexactly what I'm doing and whyum and how you can do it too and whatyou can learn from watching my processso let's get to itwe're starting off in the folder orgroup rather for the a mark dots papers at The Archives of American art I'mopening box one and I'm creating a newgroup for folder oneI've just airdropped the first seven PDFfiles which are what the are the totalcontents of folder oneI'm now dragging and dropping the sevenPDFs into the subgroup named folder oneand you can see when I maximize it they are showing up the first one I'm goingto renamedotsCVand I'm going to note that there areactually two versions of the CV in thisfile when I name it so two copiesand then I'm putting that it is Circa1961.I'm also going to tag it biography whichis a tag I am using on documents that are going to help meum outline the basic chronologicalContours of dots's lifeI'm just quickly scrolling through toshow youwhat this document looks likenow even though that this document isshowing that it is PDF plus text meaningthat it was ocr'disn't actually um text searchable in Devin think and Ineed tore-o-cr it so what you're seeing here isnow I can highlight and I can alsosearchso I'm just putting in1889 and I can see that Devin think isable to find that text in the file soI'm just deleting the original version now this one is fully text searchableand I'm going to go on and create asuper annotation a super annotation as acustomannotation file that we created and thatcan be purchased as part of the Devonthink for historian super user courseand basically as you can see it collectsall of the data the citation data thatyou need in order to create a Chicagostyle Citation for an archival document so I have the author and title TheCollection this archive does not includea collection number that's why I'mskipping it this document is from boxone folder one I know the date is Circa1961 and then I'm just filling in thebasic name and location of the archiveI'm also just typing in a reminder to MyFuture Self in the comments andannotations section so that when I comeback to this document I know to look for these specific dates about an eventum in dots's lifenow once I'm done typing I'm going tomake sure to hit the save button at thetopand then I'm going to close the superannotation and I'm just going to makesure that I've highlighted the superannotation file rather than the originalfile so that I can then go and run myscript to export the super annotation tobookends which is a reference managerand in the Devon think for historian super user guide you also get thisscript so that your citation informationis sent over to bookends and basicallywhat this allows you to do is touse the plugin between bookends and aword processor like Microsoft Word tocite your archival documents the sameway you would cite Journal articles andother secondary sources basically whatI've just quickly done is I've checked to make sure the information is correctand now I'm copying the ID number forthis reference and I'm going to add itto the file name for the this documenthaving this at hand when I go to writewill accelerate the citation process inMicrosoft Word and we show that wholeprocess in the Devon think for historiansuper user guide finally I'm going to drag the superannotation file into the annotationsfolder because I will be able to viewall of that content in the inspectorpane when I toggle over to theannotations this is again something thatwe show in the super user guideokay and this is what it looks like whenI've repeated the process for everysingle one of these documents in thisfolder I've named them all I have made sure that they're all text searchable Ihave tagged them and I have createdsuper annotations that contain all ofthe relevant citation information andany comments or annotations I want toattachI've also createdum I've also exported them all tobookends and made sure that all of thatinformation transferred over and then Imade sure to add the ID number to the file name of each fileso what is the point of going throughall of this rigmarolefirst of all you always want to have thecitation information connected to yourdocuments because should somethinghappen and a file gets accidentallydragged removed or misplaced ordisappears uh from where you think it should be you will be able to consultthat attach citation information to knowwhere to put it back or if you arepulling documents from many manydifferent places into something like asmart group you will not have tobacktrack to where thatum that Source came from in yourdatabase you will just know from Theannotation aha this is what archive this was from wonderful wonderfulnextI believe that this process is a greatopportunity and like a structuredopportunity to do a first review of thedocuments you collected it just forcesyou to kind of slow down and think aboutwhat that item what the value of thatitem is and how you may want to use it in the future soum you can add the appropriate tags andinformationso that when you go to search for itlater or stumble upon it later youalready have primed the pump if you willyou sort of already knowum what to look for in ituh finallyby linking it to bookends you begin thiscritical step of setting yourself up for Success when you writecitation is tedious but if in the momentyou are writing from a document you areable to gosquiggly line hashtag ID number closesquiggle period at the end of a sentenceabout making a claim based on thisparticular document you will have done future you a great service because atthe end of writing you can just run thatwhole document through a scan bookendswill pop in all of the citations andvoila your bibliography will be doneyour footnotes will be done and not onlywill they be done the software will havedoneum repeat citations like if you cite onedocument multiple times it will automatically format them so that thesubsequent citations are in the shortformat it saves you so much time so it'sa little bit of energy up front but atthe end of the day you will be so happyand relieved and that you just spent alittle bit of timeto get organized and process yourdocuments that's it it's pretty simpleum obviously as with everything there are exceptions and you know trickycitations but for the vast majority ofarchival documents this super annotationformat will be sufficientummost uh wordum sorry not word processors mostreference managers like zoteroum and others don't have a customarchival document format you have to create it but with our Devon thing forhistorian super User Guide we walk youthrough exactly how to set up thatcustomcitationrecord and uh yeah just it's a reallyvaluable hack I thinkum so I hope this kind of gives you alittle bit of insight intoyou know what Devin thinkum and this Devin think bookendsintegration can do for you and um that you get one more peek into the dotsDevon think database project okay that'sit from me leave any uh questions in thecomments that you may haveum as always the whole YouTube SpielPlease Subscribe like notification Bellwhateverum we're very glad to have you along forthe ride all right have a great rest ofyour day take careforeign, Adding and Organizing Archival Documents in DEVONthink, DEVONThink for Historians, 01gwhpr66mb5v1n0s4jm3enq4h.