Hi, this is what I am (very, very slowly because it's extremely boring) doing:
1. using archival clear negative / slide pages, file one film per page. Give it a unique number written on the page or on a label stuck to the page. 2. Write a caption sheet for each film. The sheet has the same number as the film, of course. Keep the sheet with the film 3. Store the film and caption pages in an archival ring binder. 4. Keep an index page at the front of each binder with a one-line description of each film, in film number order. 5. Give the ring binder & index page a unique number. 6. Write the start and end film number on the outside of the binder. It might also be useful to date the binders. Once you've done the initial work they should be chronological if you're keeping up with it. However, you have to be a bit like Michael Palin's fiancee in the film "The Missionary". 7. Store the binders in sequence on your extensive shelving in a humidity and temperature controlled environment guaranteed to withstand earthquakes, nuclear attacks and insect infestations. Or shove them under your bed. This doesn't make things easy to find, but using the caption sheets with their film/frame numbers and the binder number it's a very simple matter, but extraordinarily tedious, to type the information into a spreadsheet or cheap dbms such as Access or Ocelot which give you more sophisticated search facilities. Whenever you print a frame or label a slide you should include the binder, film and frame number so you know where it belongs and can find the negative for the print very quickly. Some places, such as www.silverprint.co.uk, will happily sell you archival negative pages and binders. --- Bob Tuesday, November 19, 2002, 6:58:51 PM, you wrote: > Currently I have probably a thousand or more negatives in shoeboxes and the > like stashed in closets. They're all sleeved or in the pouches from the > minilabs. These are mostly snapshots and I'm not making any money from > reprints. But I'd like to be able to find a shot I wanted to use for this > month's PUG and am faced with the thought of rummaging through the boxes to > find it. > What's a good way to archive these things? I'm imagining big three-ring > binders with pages designed to hold negatives but I've never seen such a > thing in the wild. What to you guys do? > Cory Waters
