Symbolizing GIS data

Hello all,

The reason for this thread is to try to understand the various ways choose and save symbols for known data types. In my situation, I receive several shapefiles of a standard schema. I'd like to apply symbology to these shapefiles to sometimes include subtypes if possible. So my question has two parts:

1) What is the best way to apply symbology to GIS data?

2) What is the best way to save those symbology choices to those known GIS data types to use as a standard?

 

Thanks for any suggestions!