Even across a system boundary like TMS <-> DAM, the filesystem should be abstracted away from users by the system and its tools.  While Filesystems can generally handle many files in the same directory, operating systems have not been designed with that use case in mind (see: thumbnail generation, speed of browsing directories with tens or hundreds of thousands of files).  We settled on import date largely as a safety measure, if the uploader catastrophically fails, we've got a tidy folder full of items that were directly added.  We've never had it catastrophically fail, but it's still a nice safety measure. 

Furthermore, as filesystems and storage evolves, even the tidiest human filing is less desirable than an automated system.  Let the computer handle file naming and organization, and it will pay dividends when migration rears its complicated head.



On Sep 22, 2011, at 1:58 PM, Peter Dueker wrote:

> With the DAMS and TMS  managing access structured directories exist primarily for legibility and cleanliness –  with modern OS’s you could just put all of your  dedicated TMS images into a single directory and not worry about it.  For captures (master and derivatives),  a date based folder structure is generally quite effective, I’m not so sure about trying to define specific folders for each object based on ID , seems like you’d end up with a lot of extra folders and work.  Leverage the metadata in Portfolio for that (e..g prepared searches or galleries) to find these assets.
> 
> Although geared towards commercial workflows, Peter Krogh’s the DAM book is has valuable, sensible advice on folder structure and file naming. http://www.thedambook.com/
> 
> Peter Dueker
> Head of Digital Imaging Services
> Division of Imaging and Visual Services
> National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
> 
> 
> 
> On 9/22/11 12:45 PM, "Ryan Donahue" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> We have an uploader that pushes images from our Dam to tms. It puts them in folders by date Transferred to tms. The uploaded is a combo of a dam asset action and script that preps the media loader access db. 
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>> On Sep 22, 2011, at 12:25 PM, Hassan Najjar <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>>> This is a question I need the answer to as well. Is there a software package that allows you manage this? 
>>>  
>>> Thanks!
>>>  
>>> 
>>> From: The Museum System (TMS) Users [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Radvak, Liana
>>> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:05 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Another DAM Question!
>>>  
>>> Hi,
>>>  
>>> I am looking for any advice from TMS institutions that use DAMS. We are in the middle of an integration project, Extensis/TMS, and would like to know how other places organize their image folders. Our initial thought was to organize by object ID, each object having its’ own folder, the most recent recommendation is a directory structure that is chronological – date of capture.
>>>  
>>> Many thanks,
>>>  
>>> Liana
>>>  
>>>  
>>> Liana Radvak
>>> Manager, Collection Information & Resources
>>> Art Gallery of Ontario
>>> 317 Dundas St. West
>>> Toronto, ON. M5T 1G4
>>> 416.979.6660 x.463
>>>  
>>>  
>>> 
>>> From: Vuleta, Virginia 
>>> Sent: September 22, 2011 10:03 AM
>>> To: Radvak, Liana
>>> Subject: Update on Portfolio progress
>>>  
>>> Image Resources have finally agreed to move ahead with using Object Number as the master field between TMS and Portfolio, and to reorganize the image catalogs from the CD/DVD based directory structure to a chronological structure (i.e., Images\YYYY\YYYYMM).
>>>  
>>> I’m going to bring in an extra body to work on the file migrations, but it’s going to take a lot of searching (since the image files don’t have date information embedded in metadata, I expect the person will have to cross reference TMS to decide where to move images).  Do you know of anyone who has the right combination of skills and would be interested in a temporary position?
>>>  
>>> We can’t implement the TMS scripting until the directories are restructured, so I want to get this going quickly.
>>>  
>>> Virginia Vuleta, PMP
>>> Deputy Director, IT & New Media
>>> Art Gallery of Ontario
>>> 317 Dundas Street West
>>> Toronto, ON M5T 1G4
>>> 416.979.6660 x.244
>>>  
>>> To unsubscribe, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following commands in the body of the email: 
>>>  signoff TMSUSERS 
>>> 
>>>  //  eoj 
>>> 
>>> You will receive a confirmation that your subscription has been removed. To unsubscribe, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following commands in the body of the email: 
>>> 
>>>  signoff TMSUSERS 
>>> 
>>>  //  eoj 
>>> 
>>> You will receive a confirmation that your subscription has been removed.
>> To unsubscribe, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following commands in the body of the email: 
>> 
>>  signoff TMSUSERS 
>> 
>>  //  eoj 
>> 
>> You will receive a confirmation that your subscription has been removed.
> To unsubscribe, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following commands in the body of the email:
> signoff TMSUSERS
> // eoj
> 
> You will receive a confirmation that your subscription has been removed.


To unsubscribe, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following commands in the body of the email:

     signoff TMSUSERS

     //  eoj


You will receive a confirmation that your subscription has been removed.