Submitted by: Jake Carlson, Associate Professor of Library Science/Data Services Specialist, Purdue University, jakecarlson@purdue.edu, @jrcarlso
Recently I had the pleasure of co-teaching a group of graduate students in a semester long data information literacy program. Amongst their many interests was learning how to organize their data files and folders in a logical fashion so that they can easily find what they need, when they need it. Locating a specific component of their data often devolves into a needle in a haystack search because they had named their files based on whatever thoughts were going through their head at the moment. This problem is compounded when they had to find files from or share files with their advisor, peers or collaborators.
We spent a class session discussing naming conventions for files and folders as a means to alleviate this situation. Naming conventions are means of communicating descriptive and useful information through the name given to a particular file. These names are generated through the consistent application of articulated rules that have been vetted and agreed upon by participating individuals. Well-chosen naming conventions make it easier to not only identify the content of a file at a glance, but also to understand how any given file relates to other files in the collection.
Generating an effective naming convention is an investment of time and effort. Naturally every naming convention will be unique to the environment in which it was created, but we covered some common considerations for getting started. They are:
- Identify the commonalities and important distinctions between the data files. This may include things like author, date, type of experiment, procedure, etc. Naming conventions are usually comprised of multiple elements. Ideally, these elements should be meaningful to the intended audience and significant enough to include as a part of the file or folder name. One way to approach this exercise would be to consider the stages of the data lifecycle and what happens in each stage.
- Find the right number of elements and characters. Including too many elements in a naming convention weighs it down and reduces its usefulness; too few elements create ambiguity. Four to five elements are usually sufficient. Similarly, too many characters can cause problems in transferring files. Consider using meaningful abbreviations where possible and err on the side of brevity.
- Define the elements and acceptable entries. Be sure that these decisions are documented and accessible. A naming convention will break down if not followed consistently and so a reference document will need to be made available to all. You may want to include a “keyword” element that could accommodate a free text description to further convey the content of a file to a user to allow for some flexibility in the naming convention.
- Decide upon the order of the elements. The order of the elements in the naming convention will determine how they are listed and how they are grouped together. Consider what is important to your audience. Do they want files organized primarily by chronology, by author, or some other means? Start out by listing the general elements first and then move towards the more specific ones.
- Versioning. If a versioning number is included be sure to define what constitutes a new version of the file and how lesser revisions will be accommodated in the documentation. Avoid using words like “final”, “update”, or “new” in the file name as they loose meaning over time.
Using these and other guidelines, we had our students develop their own naming conventions to apply to the data they were working on. This assignment was well received by students as it was something they could apply right away. Several students reported sharing what they learned with their peers and making an effort to develop a naming convention for their lab.
References and More Information on Naming Conventions:
North Carolina Dept of Cultural Resources (2008) “Best Practices for File-Naming” http://www.ncdcr.gov/Portals/26/PDF/guidelines/filenaming.pdf
Santaguida, V. (2010) “Folder and File Naming Convention – 10 Rules for Best Practice” http://www.exadox.com/en/articles/file-naming-convention-ten-rules-best-practice
Smith, E. (2011) “Folder Hierarchy Best Practices for Digital Asset Management” http://www.damlearningcenter.com/resources/articles/best-practices-for-folder-organization/