First Shot at Inventory

My sister Jamie has completed an initial inventory of approximately 250 photographs.  These are the photos that were pulled as being particularly relevant to the June and Art blog.

Jamie organized a “Who-When-Where-What” system in Excel.  Theoretically, each column can be sorted to easily find photos.  If I want a photo from around 1950, I can sort the “When” column chronologically.  If I need a photo of Ada Belle Price, I can sort the “Who” column alphabetically and look up at the top.

Using this system, each photograph is labeled with a letter and number with a soft pencil.  For these photos, Jamie used “A” to designate pictures of June’s youth and family life, “B” for pictures of June alone, “C” for pictures of Art’s youth and family, “D” for Art’s Navy pictures, and “E” for pictures of June and Art as a couple.  Cataloging numbers (starting at 1, working up) are assigned after the letter.  For instance, B1 is a baby picture of June from 1929.

The system makes sense but I see some minor problems in the execution.  Over the next week, I hope to consult with a preservation specialist on possible tweaks to the system.

© 2010 Lee Price