Data Organization File and Directory Names Data Discovery Proposal

Data Organization File and Directory Names Data Discovery Proposal Planning Writing Project Start Up Re-Use Data Collection Data Analysis Deposit Data Archive Data Sharing Re-Purpose Data Life Cycle End of Project

Organizing Your Files and Directories Improves Searching & finding Sharing Security Clarity Preservation

Organizing Files & Directories Folders named for major functions/activities Structure by date or event (especially subfolders) Names should be selfexplanatory Avoid duplication Make it simple & consistent

File Names Use descriptive names Not too long; CamelCase Try to include time – Date using YYYYMMDD – Use version numbers Don’t use spaces – May use “-” or “ ” Don’t change default extensions

File Naming and Directory Organizing 1 Directory: source date Ex. September 2012 sep12 Source: c40 Las Campanas 40-inch 2 Sub-Directory: one directory for each night; n# (# for the number of the night). Additional directories for “special” data, and log files that apply to entire run. 3 Files: for each nightly directory, number sequentially starting w/1001 (for night 1, first data frame), then for night two start with 2001, etc. The original raw data files are kept in a separate, read-only directory. Astronomy Observatory Runs 1 2 3