A practical reading method
Name a Book File So the Edition Is Recoverable
Choose a normalized title and author form that remains readable outside your current folder. Add edition, translator, publisher, or year only when it changes locators or wording. Keep personal reaction labels inside the note rather than making the filename reveal sensitive context.
Use this when saving lawful excerpts, personal notes, reading guides, or exported annotations across editions. Page references become ambiguous when files lose their edition context. A compact naming convention keeps later matches possible.
Use case
When this method helps
Use this when saving lawful excerpts, personal notes, reading guides, or exported annotations across editions.
Page references become ambiguous when files lose their edition context. A compact naming convention keeps later matches possible.
Method
Build the note
1. Choose a normalized title and author form that remains readable outside your current folder.
2. Add edition, translator, publisher, or year only when it changes locators or wording.
3. Keep personal reaction labels inside the note rather than making the filename reveal sensitive context.
Example
See the boundary in practice
The file becomes 'The Example Book—Lee—River 2024 translation—notes.pdf' instead of 'book that upset me final.pdf.'
Quality check
Before you trust the note
The filename should identify the correct text without exposing more about the reader than necessary.