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Physical storage and organization are different things. As a former librarian I can tell you that there's a whole field of cataloging devoted to this sort of organization, and it has evolved over centuries. Technology has moved this sort of thing from physical card catalogs to databases and changed how the physical material can be delivered, but the process of organizing the material (cataloging) hasn't really changed much.
Books etc. are cataloged into specific subjects in order to make it easy to find all available material on a specific subject, but they are also cross-referenced so that they can be discovered when looking for related subjects. It's similar to a primary-to-foreign-key relationship.
But what really matters is the organization of the information, how it is physically stored is just a matter of convenience like you say. So, for example, you can classify an early rock album as rock, but cross-reference that to blues as well. That makes the database design pretty simple, the hard part is coming up with the categories you need and deciding what goes where. There's a lot of grunt work in cataloging.
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I looked at this problem when I wrote SnipAssist (PineTreeJoe.com). The problem with most code reuse is having it but not finding it. To solve this problem, I used three parts for a snippet. An administrative part, a description and the actual text to reuse. All three parts can be searched together or separately. The search returns a list of snippets. As libraries get larger, the descriptive part gets more important.
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There is a very simple way to find it: Buy another, identical set. Then you'll find the first one the next day.
(And for the next time you need it: Store the two sets in different places. That increases your chance of finding one of them.)
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Thats thing with Lidl, bakery and tools! I must confess to doing that more than once, That will be useful one day, One day comes tool is ???, botch it and scarper.
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I do that with code: write a routine (again) that I already wrote previously while "in the zone".
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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I find that as I get older the "zone" becomes ever more fragile.
Anything over about three months old (on a good day) and I can't even remember that I wrote it, let alone where it is!
Andy
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I started woodworking about 2 years ago in earnest.
Watched a lot of YouTube Wood Worker content creators.
They all talk about loosing their tape measure WHAT ? ?
That is not going to happen to me. It is only half a two car garage
WRONG oh so much not true
One Work Bench 72" by 35"
One Table Saw 60" by 36" Top
One Assembly Table 5' by 30"
One Tool Bench 4' by 25"
Too Many Places to Hide is the issue
I don't like the pocket clip on the 16' Tape Measure
Spend more time looking for the Tape Measure than I care to admit
OH and the 6 inch Machinist Ruler Great Hide & Seek player
I believe in a place for everything and everything in it's place
Believe it or NOT Taught to us in High School Wood Working Class Thank You Mr. Frank
One YouTube guy has 48 Tape Measures I think he has an Obsession
OR more money than common sense
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When you give up searching and decide to buy another tool to replace the first, after you've used it, you'll find the first one in your shed when you go to put the second one away...
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Strangely, I have now completed both of the jobs that I wanted to do with the drills but, more than 24 hours later the drills still haven't surfaced.
Sod's law is broken, or more likely just lurking.
Andy
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That's because you expected them to turn up after you'd finished, so by Sod's law,... 
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C:\> dir /s filename.ext
Software Zen: delete this;
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But, doesn't work for content. And how would I remember the file name!?
Andy
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Remote controls are famous for vanishing into another dimension only to be reborn after you have replaced them. Just happened last Friday, I swear. Had to replace 2 different remotes, TV and Roku.
Old ones haven't been been found so still in another dimension.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Do you suppose it's the same dimension that socks go to from the dryer? 🤔
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That's a known theory yet to be proven. However, if my remote returns with a funny smell ....
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Was thinking of an 'innovative idea'. Now that everything is smart, why don't they introduce a 'Beep Remote' button on the TV set, which when pressed, causes the remote to beep from wherever it is, within a certain radius. Or, is such a thing already present?
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That has existed for years.
I think actually for decades.
It can be used for other things also.
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This describes my entire life.
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All too often!
And in a similar vein, never put that 'important item' somewhere safe so that it doesn't get lost.
You'll never see it again!
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Constantly.
Every time I look for my brain, I can't find it. 
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You could have all my sympathy - if I could remember where I'd left it!
Andy
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Yes, but usually this happens when, upon stumbling on the thing at random, I decide that it needs a special place. Yeah. So going back to where I've stumbled upon it many times before is not going to work unless I can cast my mind back to that one time when I thought of a special place for the thing, which I am generally unsuccessful in doing.
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I pretty much solved that problem years ago. I wrote an inventory program to keep track of almost everything. I have almost 10,000 items cataloged that are stored in about 700 locations. Locations can be rooms, drawers, table tops or boxes to name a few. If something is stored in a box, I also print Location Content Reports that are attached to the box. So, If I want to find my step drill, I simply enter "Step Drill" in the search box and it reports how many items were found. In this case I find 1 item: "Drill Bit, Step, 3 piece set" located in "Tool Box, Top Section, Bottom Drawer", which is located in the "Workshop."
The biggest problem is that I don't necessarily catalog everything, so sometimes I have to rummage through boxes of similar items to find what I want. I use Quicken to keep track of all my purchases and itemize each item in Quicken and periodically export the Quicken data and import it into the inventory program noting where the item is going to be stored.
Problem solved!
More information on this program can be located at: Lucid Inventory System[^]
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The other similar problem is to not need something for so long that you forget you have it and buy one to do a job
Really annoying to find that I now have two when I go to put the new one away
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Sure, but it usually goes like this:
Spend 15 minutes searching for it. If it's not expensive, spend another 45 minutes when I head to Lowe's or HD and buy another one, along with something else that catches my eye. Head home, get the project done. Next week, I move something and wow, there's the original one.
The good thing is that with two of them, the next time I have an increased chance of finding one of them, well, sometimes
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