Just went through photographer Derrick Story's latest on Lynda.com about organizing and archiving digital photos. I found it extremely helpful. It's geared more toward the professional (which I'm not), but covers a lot of basics, too.
Two points that he made which I found interesting and wanted to share:
1. Use a system that works for your brain. If you think in color, tag your photos with the name of the color to make them easier to find later. If you think a different way, use that. Don't try to use a system that works against your thought process rather than with it.
2. Start using your new system with your new photos. Refine it, be comfortable with it, then worry about your old photos. He says that it's easier to get a new system in place if you only have a few hundred recent photos to work with instead of a many more photos that you took years ago.
I've just switched from iPhoto to Aperture, so I was starting out fresh anyway. Not having to worry about my photos from ten years ago right now makes it a lot easier to get going.
Derrick's post on his website is here: http://thedigitalstory.com/2011/09/organizing_and_archi_1.html and there a link on his post to his tutorial on Lynda.com. Some of the videos are free, but the whole series requires a membership.
