THERE are many filing systems ministers use and one must find one that will adapt to his method of doing things. Most systems require more time to keep up than the average minister has.
Most ministers use a regular file folder to hold clippings and items that are loose and can readily be stored. All that needs to be done is to write the topic on the folder's tab and it is ready to be filed. However, when it comes to retaining materials found in books, it is not practical to clip pages. Thus, a system needs to be found for retaining the great wealth of materials one discovers in his reading. Purchase a good three-ring notebook that holds 5-1/2 by 8-1/2 pages. Use an A to Z divider where a page for each subject desired may be placed.
In the first section of the notebook, a list of books you have read will be listed by consecutive number. This will give you an excellent bibliography with the necessary information if you do some writing at a later date. As an example:
1. Andreasen, M. L., What Can a Man Believe, Pacific Press, Mountain View, Calif., 1951, 211 pp.
2. Gordon, A. J., How Christ Came to Church, Judson Press, Valley Forge, Pa., 1951, 123 pp.
List the topics for which you have reference in capital letters on the right hand upper part of the page one topic to a page. Examples of such topics might be: ADOLESCENTS, ALCOHOLIC, ANGELS, et cetera.
Now you are ready to list the gems, illustrations, and thoughts you have discovered in your reading. First, you place the number of your book and then the page number. It will look like this 203/29. As as example, under the page entitled ADOLESCENTS will be: 1. The problem of steady dating 292/99 2. 111. E. S. Jones's adolescence 417/30, 31
(NOTE: 111. stands for illustration; 417 is E. Stanley Jones's book, A Song of Ascents, and 30, 31 are the pages on which the illustration appears.)
Each page in your notebook will hold about twenty-five citations on each side. Thus in a few years, one will have many fine quotations and illustrations. What an asset this is in preparing a sermon!
In sermon research, I practice the plan of writing my thoughts on 4-by-6-inch cards. Thus at the end, I can write 293/127 rather than writing out the author and title of the book in full. This saves much time and effort and is easy to check the source of the idea.
Another advantage of this system is to place in your sermon notes the code of where you found an illustration or thought so if you plan to write the sermon for future publication, hours of search can be eliminated.
When reading a book, use a red and blue pen or pencil. Write in the margin the main topic under which you plan to file the thought. Then when you finish the book, list what you have found in your filing-system book. This will take only a few minutes, but if put off to a more convenient time may never be done.
The advantage of this filing system is it takes a minimum of time and costs very little to set up. It will pay big dividends when sermon-preparation times comes. When you travel, you can take your "Filing System Book" with you in your brief case. This is so helpful, for when you read a book you can make your notations on the run.
