Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The recent exchange about filing system reminds me of an incident, many years ago when Joan and I went to visit her family in Iowa. Aside of the fact that they made me cook a dinner for 8 just because Joan, my girlfriend, bragged of my culinary skills (I got even, cooked liver), I was able to observe the results of too casual a filing system. Joan's father was a studio photographer and had lost a set of negatives to a current job. We all looked everywhere to no avail, the irreplaceable negatives were lost for ever. I tried to persuade Frank to adapt my system of filing negatives and slides but, stubbornly he refused to grasp the value of a tried and true system. Here, therefore, is how I have filed my negatives and slides for the past 30 years: THE LOG Every job, every shoot is logged and assigned a Job Number according to chronology by year and number i.e. 01-089 (year 2001, job number 89 for the year). Every Jan 1 the job numbers start anew from 001. The log could be a simple binder with penned matriculation or a computer program. THE INDEX Once logged the job is crossed referenced according to subject matter and other pertinent data. A database program is great for this purpose. If using a computer, logging and indexing are one operation. THE ARCHIVE - NEGATIVES Kept in envelopes large enough to hold negs, proofs, prints (Manila is best). The envelope would show on the upper left corner the job number and would be filed in chronological order for easy retrieval. THE ARCHIVE - NEGATIVES Clear Polypropylene pages in three-ring binders for budget archive. Each page to hold slides of a single group i.e. "birds" (or even a single species of birds). The page would be identified with a four-letter code i.e. BIRD or MOUN for mountains. Vinyl pages should be avoided as the material is not intended for archival purposes. In all those years I have failed to find a previous job only when the envelope was not returned to its proper place in the archive. This system may seem cumbersome until we think in terms of years and hundreds of shoots. For slides I do not use the logging/indexing part. Even with many binders I can pinpoint any slide in minutes with the system outlined above. Joe Codispoti