managing your data: assign descriptive file names robert cook oak ridge national laboratory section:...
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Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names
Robert CookOak Ridge National Laboratory
Section: Local Data Management
Version 1.0October 2012
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Local Data Management - Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names; Version 1.0 October 2012
Overview
•Users will learn how to construct unique file names that can be readily found and identified
•File names should reflect the contents of the file and include enough information to uniquely identify the file
•These practices have been written for data files, but also pertain to other types of files • Documents, spreadsheets, presentations, pictures
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Local Data Management - Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names; Version 1.0 October 2012
Relevance to Data Management
•Clear, descriptive, and unique file names may be important later when your data file is combined in a directory or FTP site with your own data files or with the data files of other investigators.
•File names that reflect the contents of the file and uniquely identify the data file enable precise search and discovery s.
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Local Data Management - Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names; Version 1.0 October 2012
• Use descriptive file names• Unique• Reflect contents• ASCII characters only• Avoid spaces
• Provide an explanation of the convention used to name files
Bad: Mydata.xls2001_data.csvbest version.txt
Better: bigfoot_agro_2000_gpp.tiff
Site name
YearWhat was measured
Project Name
File Format
Assign descriptive file names
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Local Data Management - Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names; Version 1.0 October 2012
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Courtesy of PhD Comics: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php
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Local Data Management - Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names; Version 1.0 October 2012
Biodiversity
Lake
Experiments
Field work
Grassland
Biodiv_H20_heatExp_2005_2008.csv
Biodiv_H20_predatorExp_2001_2003.csv
Biodiv_H20_planktonCount_start2001_active.csvBiodiv_H20_chla_profiles_2003.csv
…
…
Organize files logically
• Make sure your directory system is logical and efficient
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Images courtesy of S.E. Hampton, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
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Local Data Management - Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names; Version 1.0 October 2012
References
•Hook, L.A., S.K.S. Vannan, T.W. Beaty, R.B. Cook, and Bruce E. Wilson. 2010. Best Practices for Preparing Environmental Data Sets to Share and Archive. Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A. doi:10.3334/ORNLDAAC/BestPractices-2010
•Borer, E.T., E.W. Seabloom, M.B. Jones, and M. Schildhauer. 2009. Some Simple Guidelines for Effective Data Management. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 90:205—214. doi:10.1890/0012-9623-90.2.205
•Cook, R.B., R.J. Olson, P. Kanciruk, and L.A. Hook. 2001. Best practices for preparing ecological and ground‑based data sets to share and archive. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Am. 82(2): 138‑141. 7
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Local Data Management - Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names; Version 1.0 October 2012
Other Relevant Modules
•For more information about best practices for file naming in a laboratory setting, see • Local Data Management – Managing Your Data:
• Lab-based Approaches to Data Management
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Local Data Management - Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names; Version 1.0 October 2012
Cook, R. 2012. “Local Data Management – Managing Your Data: Assign Descriptive File Names.” In Data Management for Scientists Short Course, edited by Ruth Duerr and Nancy J. Hoebelheinrich, Federation of Earth Science Information Partners: ESIP Commons. doi:10.7269/P3F18WNR
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