Subject Research, Course Guides, Documentation: Digital Records Beyond Union: Student Theses/File Management

Honors Thesis Submission

Submitting Your Honors Thesis
Please go here for the thesis permission form and comprehensive information about formatting and submitting your thesis.

Did you complete your thesis but didn't receive departmental honors?

Schaffer library doesn't keep or publish theses from students who aren't listed in the Commencement Program as receiving departmental honors.
Don't rely on anyone else but yourself to keep copies of any important papers or presentations you've completed, including the thesis you worked hard on!

It's important to put some thought into naming your files if you want to be able to find them again.

Tips for file naming:

Think unique!
- Try to think ahead to future you. In a couple of years you're in grad school and trying to find a paper from one of your undergraduate classes to show a friend or a professor. What name would you be looking for? Chances are that paper you quickly named "final.doc" won't make any sense to you in three or four years.
Add dates!
- Dates can be really helpful for distinguishing files and dates you put in the file name will be more dependable and static than the dates listed in a file's description.
But don't add too much detail!
- Long file names and special characters can be problematic for certain apps. Try to keep file names as short, but detailed and descriptive as possible.
Be consistent!
- Once you've hit on a structure for naming files that you like, try to stick with it for each type of file you create.

Where are your files stored? How do you find them?

These are really good questions to know the answers to as you embark on your post-college life.

Folders:

No matter what operating system or cloud-based system you use all file structures are based on folders.
- Take a few minutes to learn how your operating system (Mac or Windows) or cloud-based system (One Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.) works, find tutorials online if you're having a hard time figuring it out yourself.
Pay attention to WHERE you're saving a file, or where the system is saving it for you. Many apps let you choose whether you save on your local device (phone or laptop) or to the cloud. If an app is offering to save it to the cloud make sure you know where the file will be located.
- File Paths
  - File paths are like web addresses for your files. They're structured broader to more specific and can be used as breadcrumbs to figure out where your files are located.
Use hierarchical organization - this just means use subfolders. Make use of organizing your files in categories within categories.
- For Example:
  - My Documents
    - Photos
      - Spain2024July
      - UnionCollSpring2024
    - SeniorThesisProject
      - ThesisProjectDrafts
        
        LiteratureReviewFirstDraft2023Nov
        
        ThesisProposalDraft2023Sep01
        
        JohnSmithsApproachToEconomicsWorkingCopy
      - ThesisProjectFinalVersions
        
        ThesisProposalFinal2023Sep15
        
        JohnSmithsApproachToEconomicsFinalDraft
Use the same naming conventions for folders as you do for individual files.

Guides from other universities with even more hints and tips: