ETD Guide/Students/Naming standards: file names; unique Ids

The ADT Program uses two simple protocols to describe – the PDF files associated with a thesis, and the generation of a unique ID for each thesis.

ADT Program filename standard
To facilitate access to ADT theses it is important that the following filename standards are followed for naming the PDF files prior to uploading them through the Deposit form:

Please note - ADT filenames should only contain:


 * Letters from the alphabet (upper or lower case). Example: 05appendix.pdf; 05APPENDIX.pdf; 05Appendix.pdf
 * Or numbers (0-9)
 * Or any appropriate alphanumeric combination. 02Chapter1.pdf; 09Chapter10.pdf
 * The only symbols permitted are - (hyphen) or _ (underscore). Example: 06Appendix-Images.pdf; 06Appendix_Images.pdf

Create one PDF file containing title/author information; abstract; acknowledgments; table of contents; introduction; preface and any other introductory text that is not part of the main body of the thesis. Call this file - 01front.pdf

Create another file containing the whole of the thesis (including what is contained in the front.pdf file) and call this 02whole.pdf …alternatively…

Break the thesis up into smaller files maintaining a relevant filename structure such as 02chapter1.pdf; 03chapter2.pdf; 04appendix1.pdf; 05bibliography.pdf; etc.

In order to maintain the desired file sequence the files need to be numbered using the standard 01- 99 (or 001-999 if individual files exceed more than 99 for an individual thesis). Numbering theses is required no matter which filename standard is adopted.

The 01front.pdf file is compulsory. The official ADT v1.0 or v1.1 software will create an empty front file automatically if a real one is not uploaded during the deposit/submission process. This is to serve as a memory prompt for administrators. While it is difficult to recommend exact file sizes the project team suggests that the whole.pdf file should be within the 2-4MB range. For larger, and hence multiple file theses (necessary for scanned ones) it is suggested that the file size should be in the 4-10MB range.

This standard will allow viewers to easily identify the relevant parts of the ADT theses via a common filename structure. It will also allow viewers to quickly look at the table of contents and other introductory information without having to wait for the whole thesis to download, or to better determine if they want to see the whole thesis in the first place. The standard is also an effective and simple way to present an introductory view of a thesis at the outset. This is similar in a way to the 20-25-page view that UMI/Bell&Howell have introduced for the DAI database. Similarly, this ADT standard will facilitate e- commerce transactions if participants choose this option. This would work just as the UMI/DAI model - the metadata/abstract and front.pdf file would be available freely, with charges kicking in to access the rest of the theses' pdf files.

ADT Program unique Ids
The combination used by all ADT members is as follows: the word "adt-" immediately followed by the unique national institution code as per the Australian Interlibrary Resource Sharing Directory, immediately followed by the year, month, day, hour, minute & second/s the thesis was deposited to the local server. As the ADT Program is a distributed national model, it is critical that the URLs are unique within that context. The combination above ensures this. Examples of the other institutions would be:

../adt-ANU20010223.162256/ (Australian National University)

../adt-WCU19991112.125812/ (Curtin University of Technology)

../ adt-NUN20010510.153038/ (The University of New South Wales)

….and so on.

Next Section: How to submit your ETD?