diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index d738760bc..184e87911 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 	e) add an element to status stating the "update state"
 	f) store stuff to updated in a linked list prior to update fork
 	g) update child writes db file, parents reads db file when done (the msells/sbh alogrithm)
+	h) when reading directory db and checking for deleted, new, or changed stuff, assume all info is sorted (so we can deterimine if its new very quickly without searching through lists of stuff every time).  Also, for new stuff, insert it with insertInListBeforeNode() function, to keep lists sorted.
 
 2) rewrite interface stuff, specifically command list handling etc so its less of a hack and deals with the above update stuff better
 
diff --git a/src/list.c b/src/list.c
index 8ce872fc2..d14f5b874 100644
--- a/src/list.c
+++ b/src/list.c
@@ -56,6 +56,51 @@ List * makeList(ListFreeDataFunc * freeDataFunc) {
 	return list;
 }
 
+int insertInListBeforeNode(List * list, ListNode * beforeNode, char * key,
+		void * data) 
+{
+	ListNode * node;
+
+	assert(list!=NULL);
+	assert(key!=NULL);
+	/*assert(data!=NULL);*/
+
+	node = malloc(sizeof(ListNode));
+	assert(node!=NULL);
+
+	if(list->nodesArray) freeListNodesArray(list);
+
+	if(beforeNode==NULL) beforeNode = list->firstNode;
+
+	node->nextNode = beforeNode;
+	if(beforeNode==list->firstNode) {
+		if(list->firstNode==NULL) {
+			assert(list->lastNode==NULL);
+			list->lastNode = node;
+		}
+		else {
+			assert(list->lastNode!=NULL);
+			assert(list->lastNode->nextNode==NULL);
+			list->firstNode->prevNode = node;
+		}
+		node->prevNode = NULL;
+		list->firstNode = node;
+	}
+	else {
+		node->prevNode = beforeNode->prevNode;
+		beforeNode->prevNode = node;
+	}
+	
+	node->key = malloc((strlen(key)+1)*sizeof(char));
+	assert(node->key!=NULL);
+	strcpy(node->key,key);
+	node->data = data;
+
+	list->numberOfNodes++;
+	
+	return 1;
+}
+
 int insertInList(List * list,char * key,void * data) {
 	ListNode * node;
 
diff --git a/src/list.h b/src/list.h
index 4ae32160a..14f7f396b 100644
--- a/src/list.h
+++ b/src/list.h
@@ -69,6 +69,9 @@ List * makeList(ListFreeDataFunc * freeDataFunc);
  */ 
 int insertInList(List * list,char * key,void * data);
 
+int insertInListBeforeNode(List * list, ListNode * beforeNode, char * key,
+		void * data);
+ 
 int insertInListWithoutKey(List * list,void * data);
 
 /* deletes the first node in the list with the key _key_