{"id":1658,"date":"2014-04-28T18:53:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T18:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjhblog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2014\/04\/28\/organizing-digital-files-getting-your-photos-and\/"},"modified":"2014-04-28T18:53:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-28T18:53:00","slug":"organizing-digital-files-getting-your-photos-and","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/index.php\/2014\/04\/28\/organizing-digital-files-getting-your-photos-and\/","title":{"rendered":"Organizing Digital Files: Getting Your Photos and Scans in Shape | Preservation Week 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re honoring National Preservation Week (April 26 through May 3) with a series of posts from our archival experts about the best way to take care of your precious artifacts at home.\u00a0From April 29 to April 30, we’re also holding free events at the Center<\/a>. Come by to learn more in person!\u00a0
<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/span><\/p>\n

by Shayna Marchese, Digital Asset Production Associate,\u00a0Center for Jewish History<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re scanning older documents or taking new photos, chances are you have a growing number of files on your hard drive and no clear way to organize them. People used to keep scrapbooks or boxes of old photos with dates stamped on the back, or maybe even handwritten captions. <\/p>\n

But what tools will future generations have to decipher the subjects and dates of our digital files? Our cameras and scanners generate names as mysterious as they are dull; \u201cscan_001.tif\u201d and \u201cIMG_0001.jpg\u201d convey only the file’s extension type. As your collection grows, the names will start repeating\u2014sometimes confusing your computer (and you) and canceling each other out. One of the most important ways to preserve digital files is to name them accurately in the first place.<\/p>\n

Here in the Gruss Lipper Digital Laboratory at the Center for Jewish History, we create digital images (whether photographs or scans) for each of the five partner institutions. That means there are a lot\u2014<\/em><\/em>hundreds of thousands\u2014<\/em>of files to keep track of. As archivists, it’s important for us to use a naming convention that’s consistent without being too lengthy. <\/p>\n

Below is an example that pairs two halves of a single image:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

At left: <\/strong>la-ar10042-b01-f05-014-r.tif
At right: <\/strong>la-ar10042-b01-f05-014-v.tif\u00a0<\/p>\n

What do the elements of these two file names mean?<\/p>\n

la:<\/strong> The initial two-letter code indicates that the material comes from the Leo Baeck Institute<\/a> Archives. (We would use the initials \u201cli\u201d for library material.)<\/p>\n

ar10042:<\/strong> The second part is the collection number; we use it in our cataloging, and numbers are never repeated.<\/p>\n

b01:<\/strong> The item is part of Box 1.<\/p>\n

f05:<\/strong> Within Box 1, the item is in Folder 5.<\/p>\n

014:<\/strong> The item is the fourteenth in its folder.<\/p>\n

r or v:<\/strong> Both the recto<\/em> (front) and verso<\/em> (back) were digitized, as in the case above.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A system like this may well be overcomplicated for some purposes, and requires maintaining a naming guide. But the same principles can be used for a personal collection. Here are some key things to keep in mind:<\/p>\n