Portable Document Format (PDF) documents were originally intended for universal publishing and readability across platforms and operating systems. For the longest time there were competing format wars until in 1993 Adobe made the specification free. After that it took 20 years before the majority of applications adopted it as a standard. Beyond something to read the files, there is the life of the medium to consider as well. Paper gets brittle, magnetic tape looses a charge and now older optical discs are suffering from rot. There is a product out that has been on the market for almost 15 years. The M-Disc claims a lifespan up to 1000 years and can be burned by current optical read/write hardware. They are currently sold by Verbatim if you want to test their longevity claims.
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Dan Wyckoff AIA
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-23-2026 08:24 PM
From: Thesla Collier, Intl. Assoc. AIA
Subject: Naming Conventions: Necessary Evil?
Great perspectives. It is a pet peeve of mine as well to maintain strong office organizational systems, as they create consistency and make troubleshooting and archiving far more efficient.
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Thesla Collier
HNTB
Original Message:
Sent: 01-23-2026 06:02 PM
From: Jim Solon, AIA
Subject: Naming Conventions: Necessary Evil?
Hrrrrrrr...I have always been pretty fastidious in stashing files in the system where they are dictated by management to reside. But once it is archived, rotsa ruck opening it. Some of it is on 3.5" floppies, some of it is on ZIP disks, some of it is on CD/DVDs, none of which I can access from any computer currently in my office. Today's cloud storage will doubtless be archaic technology in a few of years. I suppose IT can cobble together a machine which has all the antique drives to maintain access. Then put the intern to work transferring all the data to some future-proof-until-tomorrow format.
Jim Solon AIA
Jim Solon, AIA, NCARB
Project Architect
Architectural Expressions, LLP
113 Illini Drive
Forsyth, IL 62535
P: +1 (217) 877-4620
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Original Message:
Sent: 1/23/2026 10:50:00 AM
From: Daniel Wyckoff, AIA
Subject: RE: Naming Conventions: Necessary Evil?
If you archive your projects how else would you expect to find information later? Whether that is a specific sheet or a photo? A common organized file system would at least reduce your search times to say nothing of the size bloat you may encounter when you go to archive. If this was 50 years ago you would have multiple tubes of drawings you would need to flip through or file folders to ask an intern to sift through. Your future self will thank you.
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Dan Wyckoff AIA
Original Message:
Sent: 01-22-2026 12:53 PM
From: Thesla Collier, Intl. Assoc. AIA
Subject: Naming Conventions: Necessary Evil?
That is a very interesting perspective.
I am curious, for projects based in the United States, what is your view on this same topic?
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Thesla Collier
HNTB
Original Message:
Sent: 01-22-2026 09:11 AM
From: Gustavo Pardo
Subject: Naming Conventions: Necessary Evil?
Hi Thesla,
The approach depends on whether you intend to harvest and organize your data. If you want to capture and pre-organize information effectively, establishing a file naming convention is critical.
ISO 19650 is a good standard for this purpose.
Gustavo
Original Message:
Sent: 1/20/2026 9:01:00 PM
From: Thesla Collier, Intl. Assoc. AIA
Subject: Naming Conventions: Necessary Evil?
Do strict naming rules help or hinder your team?
Some swear by rigid file naming standards; others find them stifling. Where do you stand?
Share your naming convention or rebel story.
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Thesla Collier
HNTB
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