I used the Organizer in Elements and all I can say is that it pales in comparison to what you can do with the Catalog management facility of Lightroom. The unfortunate thing is (unless they've changed it since LR 3.6 & PSE 9) you cannot import your PSE Organizer information into LR. So if you think you'll ever make the move then all the work you're doing now is only good for as long as you stay with PSE.
Here's a thought for those who do not want to pay for LR or deal with the subscription thing, or feel you're not ready to dive in with both feet. Adobe has stated that with LR 5.6 that if you subscribe to CC and cancel your subscription you will never lose the functionality of the LR Catalog. You will no longer be able to use the Develop module, or the Maps, Book and Slideshow functions, but you will be able to organize and print from it. So, for $9.99 (or so with tax and depending on your region) you can get the catalog management functions of Lightroom for life. You will be able to right-click on the photo in the catalog and choose Edit In... and ship it off to whatever program you are using, just as you would from the PSE Organizer. But the best part is, when you eventually decide to upgrade to LR/PS you can simply import the catalog(s) you have!! You lose nothing.
As for using it, I have a Current Year Catalog that is perpetual. I import by date, add metadata, sort, edit and then (eventually) move the photos into a folder structure for the year within that catalog. Generally there is a folder for each specific large topic/event that I shoot, like Musikfest, Easton Farmer's Market and Celtic Fest, and folders for specific subject matter, like IR, Birds, Local Landmarks, Flowers, etc. At the end of the year I will select the folders for that year and then use the Create Catalog From... function to create a catalog specific to the year, creating Smart Previews in the process. The images in that catalog are then archived off my laptop hard drive onto a separate external drive. I can use the Smart Previews to export jpegs for the web if need be and only need to connect if I want to print or revisit the edits. I then clear out the year from the current catalog and start again.
