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Hi Chad,
 
At the MFA, Boston we place little meaning in the filename. Here is the general breakdown.
 
If an asset is purely digital and created by our Digital Image Resources department, the file gets the prefix SC and then the next available number starting from one. So the very first digital image is SC1.
 
All of our physical media cataloged in our Visual Archives have numbers based on the type/size (ex: CR1234 for Chrome film). That number is used as its rendition number in TMS. If the physical media is scanned, the image is named using the same number. 
 
If an asset is purely digital and created by our conservation department, the file gets the prefix CON and then the next available number starting from one. So the very first digital image is CON1.
 
We are in the process of scanning the physical media scattered among our conservation labs. Since this media wasn't cataloged in any organized fashion, we are using the CON prefix for those files as well.
 
TMS images are jpeg format at 72dpi, 1600 pixels on the longest side. Thumbnail and screen sized images use the same filename.
Master images are uncompressed TIFF format, resolution varies depending on method captured.
 
Jeff

Jeff Steward
Manager of Collections Information Systems
Department of Collections Management
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
phone: 617-369-3450
fax: 617-247-9063
email: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chad Petrovay
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 2:00 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Image Standards and Naming Conventions

The Walters Art Museum is undertaking a digitization project to coincide with our transition to TMS. However, we are currently stalling in the area of policy making governing how information is entered, and in particular, how images are named.

 

Can anyone share the naming convention their institution has adopted for digital image assets, or the standards for image resolution that they are using?

 

Many Thanks! ~Chad

 

Chad M Petrovay

Collections Database Administrator

The Walters Art Museum

600 North Charles Street

Baltimore, MD  21210

P: 410.547.9000 x266

F: 410.837.4846

[log in to unmask]

 

www.thewalters.org

 

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