Naming Scanned Slides

When archiving, you need a consistent method of naming files so that you can organize and find the files. Over time, I have developed a file naming method that works for most files I am archiving, as follows:

YYMMDD.Source description.Source information.External information.File type

YYMMDD = The two digit year, month, and date information (e.g., 090916). This allows the file types to sort automatically by date when in their computer directory.

Source description = Any description that exists as an original part of the source material. On a slide, for example, this would include the information printed on the frame by the developer.

Source information = Any additional information existing on the source material in addition to the source description. Often with slides, for example, information will be written on the frame about the image. It is very important to maintain all the information about the slide, as this provides all the know context for the image at the time of archiving.

External information = Any additional information about the the source gained from outside sources. This information could come from related source material or from someone's identification of the content of the source. I rarely have external information, although I hope to gain some (from you!) about the Mystery Pictures I post.

File type = The file extension, such as jpg or pdf.

(Note that I use periods to separate each component of the file name.)

Let's see an example of how this works in real life. First, let's get a slide with an interesting picture.

Here's Grandma doing something, somewhere, sometime. The slide frame provides some important about the image.

Aha! There is a source description on one part of the frame and some source information on another part. Using my file naming method, here what I named the file:

710300.MAR 71 P 4 (17).Mom pitching a little wow - trip to Manila.jpg

Broken down by file name component, here I how I came up with each:

YYMMDD = I used the information about when the slide was developed, substituting 00 for the unknown date.

Source description = I used the information printed on the frame by the developer, beginning with the date, followed by the roll information, and concluding with the frame number in parentheses, each component separated by a space.

Source information = I used the information written on the frame.

External information = None! I would like to know why Grandma was doing traveling to Manila, with whom she traveled, etc., but need external sources to provide this context.

File type = I kept the jpg file extension that is necessary for identifying the type of file.

And that's it in a nutshell! In real life, things fall apart sometimes and I have difficulty with missing or obscured information. In those cases, I just do the best I can to maintain the file name method.

UPDATE

Susan adds in the comments some great memories that provide context for this picture and for her current profession.

"Your Uncle Tom taught school for awhile in Manilla Utah. It is out in what's called the basin (eastern utah) Tom tells some great stories about the couple of years he spent there. Both Carl and Boyd were both little toddlers. I remember the visits as being really fun. Once Tom took us to his classroom. I loved playing school in his room and that was probably why I decided to be a teacher too."

BTW, am I reading the slide correctly to say "Mom pitching a little wow"? I know "snow" would make more sense than "wow", but it sure looks like "wow" to me!