This document was initially generated as an internal document to outline the procedures for a small institution. At the request of a number of professionals, I have broadened this document to function as a more general set of guidelines for use by other cultural heritage institutions. Please note that the File Naming Guidelines within were developed based upon the needs of one institution, using existing published best practices, and the reader’s own institution may have established procedures. If this is the case, the Process and Guidelines below may serve as templates going forward, or may be modified as needed.

1. File-­‐naming
conventions
and
best
practices
for
cultural
heritage
collections
Introduction:
This
document
was
generated
initially
as
an
internal
document
to
outline
the
procedures
for
a
small
institution.
At
the
request
of
a
number
of
professionals,
I
have
broadened
this
document
to
function
as
a
more
general
set
of
guidelines
for
use
by
other
cultural
heritage
institutions.
Please
note
that
the
File
Naming
Guidelines
below
were
developed
based
upon
the
needs
of
one
institution,
using
existing
published
best
practices,
and
the
reader’s
own
institution
may
have
established
procedures.
If
this
is
the
case,
the
Process
and
Guidelines
below
may
serve
as
templates
going
forward,
or
may
be
modified
as
needed.
However,
the
following
rules
should
always
be
adhered
to:
1. Exclude
special
characters
from
filenames,
including:
“
*
:
<
>
?
|
periods
and
spaces.
Underscores
and
dashes
are
acceptable:
_
-­‐
Lowercase
only,
including
file
extensions,
is
preferred,
because
if
the
institution
is
placing
media
online,
or
plans
to
in
the
future,
the
way
URLS
are
case-­‐sensitive
may
affect
the
file
being
retrieved
efficiently.
It’s
not
a
big
problem,
but
can
cause
some
difficulty.
2. Unique
filenames
for
every
image
or
media.
Like
culture
collections,
unique
filenames
for
each
representation
is
extremely
important.
a. There
is
some
debate
as
to
whether
or
not
the
file
name
should
bear
a
human-­‐
readable
relationship
to
the
item
or
subject
it’s
representative
of.
However,
files
generated
by
Digital
Asset
Management
Systems
(DAMS)
will
be
assigned
their
own
unique
identifier
(UID).
I
am
personally
of
the
opinion
that
it
simply
makes
it
easier
to
organize
digital
assets,
regardless
of
if
the
files
relate
to
cultural
objects,
exhibits,
events,
or
marketing.
3. Keep
the
filename
shorter
than
255
characters.
Old
systems
have
a
limit
of
25-­‐25
characters,
but
modern
computers
and
operating
systems
can
handle
up
to
255.
Process:
1. Materials
are
digitized
according
to
internal
digitization
procedures
–
National
Archives
and
Records
Administration
“Technical
Guidelines
for
Digitizing
Archival
Materials
for
Electronic
Access”
(June
2004)
http://www.archives.gov/preservation/technical/guidelines.html
is
a
preferred
resource.
Select
the
PDF
to
view
recommended
best-­‐practices
for
Master
,
including
file
sizes
and
formats,
for
archival
and
access-­‐level
digitization.
2. Master
File
is
named
according
to
File
Naming
Guidelines.
3. Preferred:
File
is
named
and
descriptive
metadata
embedded
(using
Adobe
Bridge,
Photoshop,
or
Lightroom
for
images.
A
DAMS
can
also
be
used
for
embedding
metadata).
4. File
is
processed
(TIFF
to
JPG;
to
PDF
if
needed;
AVI
or
MOV
for
video,
WAV
and
MP3
for
audio)
a. Scrapbooks
and
other
large
related
sets
of
images
should
be
bundled
into
PDF
format.
b. If
a
DAMS
is
in
use,
a
JPG
derivative
is
generally
not
required,
as
it
will
be
generated
by
the
DAMS
as
required.
Prepared
by
Perian
Sully,
http://www.emphatic.org.
Revised
3/29/2011
1

2. File-­‐naming
conventions
and
best
practices
for
cultural
heritage
collections
c. Refer
to
the
NARA
guidelines
at
http://www.archives.gov/records-­‐
mgmt/initiatives/dav-­‐faq.html
for
more
information
about
audio
and
video
formats.
5. Store
Master
files
away
from
Access
files,
preferably
in
offsite
storage
or
within
RAID
arrays.
Refer
to
Digital
Preservation
in
Museums
–
Recommendations,
Canadian
Heritage
Information
Network
(2003)
(http://www.pro.rcip-­‐
chin.gc.ca/contenu_numerique-­‐digital_content/preservation_recommandations-­‐
preservation_recommendations/index-­‐eng.jsp)
for
a
set
of
recommendations
about
migration,
evaluation,
cycling
of
media,
and
other
preservation
practices.
6. Store
Access
files
in
locations
accessible
to
staff,
but
without
folder
permissions
that
allow
staff
to
change
or
delete
files.
File
Naming
Guidelines:
Exclude
the
following
characters
from
filenames:
“
*
:
<
>
?
|
periods
and
spaces.
Lowercase
only,
including
file
extensions.
Filenames
should
all
point
to
the
accession
number
of
the
item
or
collection.
Museum
or
Library
Items
(or
for
images
without
prefixes
in
the
accession
number)
Accession
Number
Shot
type
Filename
2009.0.33
Single
image
of
piece
2009-­‐0-­‐33_001
2009.0.33
Front
of
piece
2009-­‐0-­‐33_001
Back
of
piece
2009-­‐0-­‐33_002
2009.0.34a-­‐b
Both
pieces
together
2009-­‐0-­‐34a-­‐b_001
Both
pieces
separately
2009-­‐0-­‐34a-­‐b_002
Piece
a
(whole,
no
detail)
2009-­‐0-­‐34a_001
Piece
b
(whole)
2009-­‐0-­‐34b_001
Piece
b
(detail)
2009-­‐0-­‐34b_002
LIB
67.3271
Front
cover
lib67-­‐3271_001
Inside
front
cover
and
forward
lib67-­‐3271_002
through
_***
Archival
Items
(or
for
collection
items
with
prefixes)
Accession
Number
Shot
type
Filename
WJHC
1967.014.*
A
physical
object
(silver,
wjhc1967-­‐014-­‐*
_001
(as
painting,
sculpture,
textile)
to
be
above)
“removed”
from
the
archives
and
cataloged
according
to
museum
practices
at
the
item
level.
The
*
refers
to
the
number
assigned
according
to
the
archivist
and
other
objects
already
catalogued
in
this
way.
WJHC
1967.014.AR1.1
A
photo
album
within
the
first
Prepared
by
Perian
Sully,
http://www.emphatic.org.
Revised
3/29/2011
2

3. File-­‐naming
conventions
and
best
practices
for
cultural
heritage
collections
collection
belonging
to
the
accession
root
WJHC
1967.014,
and
subcollection
AR1
wjhc1967-­‐014-­‐ar1-­‐1_001
Front
cover
wjhc1967-­‐014-­‐ar1-­‐1_002
Page
1
wjhc1967-­‐014-­‐ar1-­‐1_3_001
Page
2
(whole)
wjhc1967-­‐014-­‐ar1-­‐1_3_002
Page
2
(detail)
WJHC
1972.001.AR1.2
A
stack
of
handwritten
pages
from
the
same
letter:
Sheet
1,
side
a
wjhc1972-­‐001-­‐ar1-­‐2_001a
Sheet
1,
side
b
wjhc1972-­‐001-­‐ar1-­‐2_001b
Sheet
2,
side
a
wjhc1972-­‐001-­‐ar1-­‐2_002a
Sheet
2,
side
b
wjhc1972-­‐001-­‐ar1-­‐2_002b
These
guidelines
may
also
be
followed
for
audio
and
video
content.
Bibliography
Digital
Preservation
in
Museums
–
Recommendations,
Canadian
Heritage
Information
Network
(2003)
(http://www.pro.rcip-­‐chin.gc.ca/contenu_numerique-­‐
digital_content/preservation_recommandations-­‐preservation_recommendations/index-­‐eng.jsp
access
3/29/2011)
Frequently
Asked
Questions
(FAQ)
About
Digital
Audio
and
Video
Records,
National
Archives
and
Records
Administration
(http://www.archives.gov/records-­‐mgmt/initiatives/dav-­‐faq.html
accessed
3/29/2011)
Technical
Guidelines
for
Digitizing
Archival
Materials
for
Electronic
Access,
National
Archives
and
Records
Administration
(June
2004)
(http://www.archives.gov/preservation/technical/guidelines.html
accessed
3/29/2011)
Prepared
by
Perian
Sully,
http://www.emphatic.org.
Revised
3/29/2011
3