Data Management

What file formats should I use for my data? Am I using proprietary formats? How accessible will my data be if the software I'm using to work with it disappears?

To ensure the future use of your data, file formats should:

• be non-proprietary and based on open, documented standards
• be commonly used by your community
• use standard character encoding (ASCII, UTF-8)
• be unencrypted
• be uncompressed

Examples of preferred formats:

• PDF/A (not DOC)
• ASCII (not XLS)
• MPEG-4 (not MOV)
• TIFF or JPEG2000 (not GIF or JPG)
• XML or RDF (not RDBMS)

For more examples of supported file formats see UK Data Archive Formats Table.

Rules to follow when naming directories and files:

• Avoid using special characters: \ / : * ? “ < > | [ ] & $ , .
• Use underscores instead of spaces or periods.
• Try to avoid long names and be as brief as possible.
• The name should be as descriptive as possible (in case it is moved).
• Include dates (i.e. YYYYMMDD) and times (i.e. hhmmss).
• Be consistent.

Example:
     Project_instrument_location_date_time_version.ext

If you need to rename many files, try using a file naming application such as:

• Bulk Rename Utility (Windows)
• Renamer (Mac)
• PSRenamer