11.8 Titling of Digital Filenames

There is no one standard for naming digital files as the nature of materials and collections in different institutions and organisations are very different - as are their systems.

It is preferable and recommended to utilise the unique identification number of the actual Item record within the filename if possible, as this is less likely to change potentially, e.g. titles and other elements could change on the Item in the future, with data cleaning for instance, which would possibly mean having to rename the file itself as well. Barcodes and location numbers can change over time as well so are similarly riskier to use.

Example

N_500227_01of01.mov

Example

154428044_01of01.mp4

However, in systems that do not have an immutable unique number, or are not electronic databases, and more identifying details may be needed within the filename for better identification and access, then other descriptive filenames can be used.

The consistently used best practice file naming practices fundamentally seem to be the following:

1) Omit special characters, eg. * ( [?@', + = and use only underscore _ hyphens - or . full stops.
2) Use alphabetical A-Z, or a-z [some use just lower case, others a mixture of upper and lower case - often with capitalisation of initial letter of each word]
3) Either omit spaces (also tabs, returns, etc.) altogether or replace with a hyphen.
4) Omit initial articles (e.g the, a, etc.) - with option of also omitting other articles within the film title element of the filename for further abbreviation of title, e.g. WindInWillows, rather than WindInTheWillows. If abbreviating titles further then it should be within a standardised practice and rules, eg. deciding that the word Adventure is always abbreviated to Adv (or whatever form is preferred) rather than different practices by different cataloguers, eg. Adv, Advt, Advnt. With 1 in mind also omit apostrophes or other punctuation from the title.
5) Use lead zeros with numbers, eg. 01, 03, 09, etc.
6) Additional file naming components, such as full dates, should be separated with a hypen - instead of an underscore, eg. 1965-10-02 7) Always include the 3 character file extension identifier (preceded by a full stop) to end the filename, eg. .jpg, .mp4, .mov
8) Do not use more than one full stop . in a filename and limit its use to preceding the three character file extension at the end of the filename.

Additional suggestions and options, using examples from flat non-relational systems, often utilising folders and sub-folders for capturing digital file listings and links:

a) Use ISO dates, so that full date if known can be included, or partial dates or just year, e.g.

Example

TimeOfFury_1965-10-02.mov

Example

TimeOfFury_1965-10.mov

Example

TimeOfFury_1965.mov

If including circa dates then put in front of the date with no space:

Example

TimeOfFury_c1965.mov

b) Indicate extent, i.e. the number of files that make up the moving image concerned, and ideally retain the same number within the folder for the one moving image, even if it is made up of 3 digital files, e.g.

Example

F_147_1_TimeOfFury_1965_01of03.mov
F_147_1_TimeOfFury_1965_02of03.mov
F_147_1_TimeOfFury_1965_03of03.mov

rather than

Example

F_147_1_TimeOfFury_1965.mov
F_147_2_TimeOfFury_1965.mov
F_147_3_TimeOfFury_1965.mov

If there is only one file then it would simply be:

Example

F_147_1_TimeOfFury_1965_01of01.mov

This both makes it clearer that the files belong to the one entity, and also clarifies the order in which the digital files should be run or viewed.

There is also the option of adding other distinguishers too, for example should there be a duplicate copy of the film one in HD and one in Dolby Stereo, and there is a need to denote which file of the film is which, e.g.

Example

F_147_2_TimeOfFury_1965_HD_01of03.mov

c) Consider other acquired moving image materials relating to the film, eg. trailers, rushes, production material etc. that might be acquired and which stylistic options would be preferred within the filename to distinguish them, e.g.

Example

F_147_1_TimeOfFuryTrailer_1965_01of01.mov

Or

Example

F_147_1_TimeOfFury_Trailer_1965_01of01.mov

Or

Example

F_147_1_TimeOfFury_tlr_1965_01of01.mov

Or

Example

F_147_1_TimeOfFury-Trailer_1965_01of01.mov

Again, if using these it is important to have standardisation of terminology and abbreviations within an institution's system.

d) Also inclusion of other metadata for disambiguation, e.g. if there are two different films with identical titles and release years, then the director's full name or surname could be added, i.e.

Example

F_147_23_Hamlet_1965_Smith_01of01.mp4
F_147_23_Hamlet_1965_JohnSmith_01of01.mp4
F_147_23_Hamlet_1965_JSmith_01of01.mp4

F_147_34_Hamlet_1965_Jones_01of01.mp4
F_147_34_Hamlet_1965_DavidJones_01of01.mp4

or other identifier, such as production country.

b), c) and d) are all necessary to help in identification and in ensuring that each file has a unique name, as two files with an identical name in a system leads to the high risk of one file over-writing the other.