07.09
Please! STOP using spaces in your folder and file names on the Butler network, the Web or any other network for that matter. Most of us use Outlook here at Butler, an email client that is quite capable of making hyperlinks out of properly formatted URLs and file locations. However, when University staff members insist on using spaces and special characters in the file names, the hyperlink functionality fails because the hyperlink stops at the first space in the string, rendering the link useless.
A perfect example of this is when someone sends out a BUFILES location that contains something I really just want to go check out quickly. Recently, IR had a picnic and several staff members posted pictures and video to this location:
\\bufiles\group\InfoRes\~~ IR Resources ~~\IR Photos\IR Picnic 2010
Of course, an email went out telling everyone about it. As you can see from my example here, only a portion of the string is hyperlinked automatically. Sure, someone COULD have taken the time to hyperlink the whole line, but when Outlook (and many other communication tools) have the built-in capability of converting these strings to hyperlinks, why can’t we just learn to stop putting spaces and special characters in these file and folder names?
Call me old school, but I can still remember the days before Windows and other GUI operating systems unchained us from the eight-character limitations of DOS (as well as other legacy file naming conventions). However, we have also become a society that relies heavily upon connectivity, Web technologies, etc. Those technologies don’t give a rat’s booty about “pretty,” user-friendly or aesthetically-pleasing file names. You throw a space in a file name of a Web page or file accessed via the Web and that’s when you start seeing those wonderful “%20” blemishes showing up in your URL strings.
So, I’d like to plead with everyone who has or will ever share data with anyone on a network (including the World Wide Web) to please STOP naming files this way. The world gave us Camel Case for a reason … USE IT! This is a habit I formed many years ago when systems were less forgiving and as an acceptable best practice when naming variables in programming languages. If nothing else, use hyphens as spaces. Most “user-friendly” URLs are generated this way (just look at the URL of THIS Web page). Google will even recognize hyphens as spaces, so it’s a win-win for everyone.
Whatever you do, it should FACILITATE the quick and easy sharing of information. If you reference a file location in an email, I should NOT have to copy and paste the whole string into some other window. I should be able to merely click the link, look at the data you’re sharing with me and then move on with life. If this is my expectation at 42 years old, imagine what our students in their late teens and early twenties must expect. Jumping through hoops to share or access data is old school, not me.
So, how SHOULD that previous link be formatted? Like this (assuming all folders and file names were changed to ACCURATELY reflect their purpose AND avoid redundant words in the file architecture):
\\bufiles\group\informationResources\general\photos\picnic2010
It’s a thing of beauty, folks. 🙂 Of course, I realize that this would require a GIANT project that would include a billion conversations surrounding library science naming conventions, etc., but I think it IS feasible with a little determination and communication. I’m sure this pipe dream of mine will never be realized and the tools we use may never catch up with the uninformed ways in which we use them … but, I can always hope.