تنظيم الملفات - أشكال ألوان

This document aims to describe suggested mechanisms to create an organized media archive that would both live in a filing system in addition to multiple archiving systems for various media types with a vision to keep as much information as interchangeable as possible among the filing system, files and the management softwares/systems.

PREAMBLE

Filing systems are typically hierarchical, inherently suggesting hierarchical classification of data or taxonomy. this “feature” inhibits storing data with multi vector and multi perspective - possibly opinionated - classification. This document tries to avoid getting into overcoming those shortcomings within the filesystem itself.

The importance of having an organized filing system is due to the need for a clean and easy way to store and later retrieve it primarily using computer/programming, yet it needs also to be browsable manually by humans as well.

== File Hierarchy within Volumes == Key:

[…] :

Means that whatever within the square brackets is optional and is to be used where needed.

{…|…|…}:

Means one of entries separated by the “|” sign is to be used; example {Film|Documentation|Lecture} means one of those three can be used.

Suggested Structure

/SRC/Year/Project/Item Title/Author/Type

Or, in details:

{AA|MT}/
   YYYY/
    {Home Works|HWP|Videoworks}/
      Item Title[-Sub Item Title][-date]/
        Last, First/
         {Lecture|Presentation|Critique|Conversation|Roundtable|Panel|Talk|Seminar|Workshop|Work|Documentation}

SRC:

Is the source of this content, it can either be Ashkal Alwan (AA), or bequests, from individuals/groups submitting material through the mediatheque {AA|MT}

Year :

YYYY (4 digit year)

Project :

{Home Works|HWP|Videoworks|...}

• In the case of a parallel event, “project” refers to the event name.
• In case of an item that is not part of a project or larger event, use “NA“

  For example : Manufacturing of Rights; Symposium on the Arabic Language; etc.

Item Title :

the main name to reference the item. If it’s a complex Item, sub Item titles and dates can be used as follows:

Item Title[-Sub Item Title][-days|-parts|...]

Example : Why do we kill ourselves, a reading of suicide missions - part 1

By (Author/Artist/…) (Multivalue):

Last, First [; Last, First [; ...]] In the case of multiple authors, separate using “;” Example : Terdjman, Sandra ; Castera, Gregory

In the case of documentation, use photographer/videographer’s name. If unknown, use “NA”.

Type (Multivalue):

{Work|Documentation}[,{Performace|Lecture|Presentation|Critique|Conversation|Roundtable|Panel|Talk|Seminar|Workshop|...etc}[,{Images|Audio|}]]

Type should be used to distinguish different types of audiovisual material relating to a same Item. For example, this would help us distinguish the work itself “Work”(if it is in audiovisual format); the documentation of the work in a particular setting/as part of a project or event ”Documentation”; and a critique session about the work ”Documentation, Critique”. It would distinct between the video art in the background of a dance performance “Work, Video Art” and the recording of that dance performace ”Documentation, Performance, Dance” when they are part of the same Item, even if by different people. In other words, using Type will allow us to put in relation different media around a same work. It can also hold multiple values, which should all be objective values as easily spottable taxons. If the taxon is disputable or subjective; it should not be used.

At the time of writing this documentation, It was common to use one taxon, Work or Documentation, other medium specific taxons were used such as Audio and Stills and Images. the above described is a later intervention that should be followed until a new cycle of use and critique is complete.