OT - need advice on organizing letters possibly from librarians

Everyone, not just librarians, is welcome to chime in, but I thought the
librarians might have some special insight into this. Usually we think
of librarians as knowing how to navigate existing systems to find
materials. The catalogs and indexes are there, and we depend on the
librarians to use them to help us find the book or article or
information we want. We tend to take for granted that the indexes are
there. Now I'm in the position of needing help in knowing how to
organize something in the first place.


For the past 30 years, I've been saving letters by throwing them into a
large cardboard box. Sometimes I'd put all the letters I received one
semester at school in a biggish brown envelope, and that envelope would
go unsealed into the box. Play programs, post cards, comics I cut out
and taped to the wall but took down upon moving apartments, notes I took
for the great literature I would write some day, the occasional school
paper or school notes, all ended up in the box. I've kept a journal on
and off, and that's in the box too. There are 4 boxes.


I'm not sure what I was saving this all for. I probably imagined in my
melodramatic youth that I'd become famous, and someone would want to
publish my diaries and letters so the world could know the development
of my genius.


But I digress. A friend has asked if I have the letters she wrote me
from Spain our junior year when she studied abroad, and I remained at
college. I rifled through briefly but couldn't find them. I recognize
her handwriting and know those letters would be in the distinctive blue
aerograms, but that's all I have to go by without picking up each letter
and examining it individually. There's no organization to any of this
except that the oldest stuff is at the bottom. If I'm going to do a
real search, I'm going to go through many people's letters and conjure
up lots of memories. I should be organizing as I go so I can find
something in the future, but I don't have the first idea how to go about
this. Do I separate by author of the letter, by date? Is there
software to help with this sort of thing? Someone must have done this
before. Where do I start?


--Lia

I"m not a librarian but I"ll offer advice anyway

First of all you have a big job ahead of you and the least times you handle
each letter / article /writing the better.

I would suggest a spreadsheet, one that you are already comfortable working
with and know the program.

Each column should have it's own heading...i.e. 1. name of person writing 2.
city 3. type of artcle 4. key words from contents 5. day written etc etc.

If you pick up any article to be recorded, label it No. 1. Your first row
to enter data in your speardsheet is numbered No. 1 Enter your information,
adding column headings as needed. Not all columns would necessarily have
data inputed,

When you are done entering data (or at any given time) you can sort your
entered data and by any given column You can use your program to search of
certain words thus the reason for the keyword column.

Each article/writing would be numbered in order of entering and a search of
your data would tell you which number it is. And of course it woudl be
stored in your storage boxes in numeracl order.

Hope this gives you some idea and help

Ann
http://community.webshots.com/user/mrs_ducky

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
news:7Xflc.18234$0H1.1733135@attbi_s54...
Everyone, not just librarians, is welcome to chime in, but I thought the
librarians might have some special insight into this. Usually we think
of librarians as knowing how to navigate existing systems to find
materials. The catalogs and indexes are there, and we depend on the
librarians to use them to help us find the book or article or
information we want. We tend to take for granted that the indexes are
there. Now I'm in the position of needing help in knowing how to
organize something in the first place.


For the past 30 years, I've been saving letters by throwing them into a
large cardboard box. Sometimes I'd put all the letters I received one
semester at school in a biggish brown envelope, and that envelope would
go unsealed into the box. Play programs, post cards, comics I cut out
and taped to the wall but took down upon moving apartments, notes I took
for the great literature I would write some day, the occasional school
paper or school notes, all ended up in the box. I've kept a journal on
and off, and that's in the box too. There are 4 boxes.


I'm not sure what I was saving this all for. I probably imagined in my
melodramatic youth that I'd become famous, and someone would want to
publish my diaries and letters so the world could know the development
of my genius.


But I digress. A friend has asked if I have the letters she wrote me
from Spain our junior year when she studied abroad, and I remained at
college. I rifled through briefly but couldn't find them. I recognize
her handwriting and know those letters would be in the distinctive blue
aerograms, but that's all I have to go by without picking up each letter
and examining it individually. There's no organization to any of this
except that the oldest stuff is at the bottom. If I'm going to do a
real search, I'm going to go through many people's letters and conjure
up lots of memories. I should be organizing as I go so I can find
something in the future, but I don't have the first idea how to go about
this. Do I separate by author of the letter, by date? Is there
software to help with this sort of thing? Someone must have done this
before. Where do I start?


--Lia

I can't help but wonder how much time you are willing and able to devote to
this project. Assuming the worst, how about at least doing a bit of "Divide
and Conquer"?
Sort them by categories: funnies, programs, letters and postcards,
other. As you go along, the "other" pile will tell you what additional
divisions would strike you as reasonable when you are on a search.
Then, at least, if you only get to do this step, when you need a
program, a letter, whatever, at least you will know which box it is in. The
mind is an amazing thing. Just going through and sorting, you really will
remember quite a lot about what is in which box.
I need so badly to at least dump every piece of assorted things that
have addresses on them in just one big heap and do something. Anything.
There are addresses in my Christmas cards from too many years, a family
reunion file, my quilt directory and quilt drawer of things I want to do one
day, not to mention the bill bin. Usually, I am organized but the addresses
mess has gotten out from under me somehow. Probably because I just don't
want to do it. Polly

Classic office/secretarial standard would be a folder for each
correspondent, folders sorted alphabetically (last name, first name),
letters in folder newest to oldest.

If you have too many from a particular correspondent for one folder, then
split by dates however it makes sense----Smith, Kathy, 1975-1984 & Smith,
Kathy 1985-2000 or whatever.

One place you may want to make a decision early on is what to do in the case
of letters from Sally, who has over the years gone from being Sally Jones to
Sally Anderson back to Sally Jones and then Sally Robertson.

The two logical ways to deal with that (that don't require a folder for
every surname) are either to use her maiden name (but that's possibly
inconsistent with your other correspondents) or to file it all under
Robertson, Sally (Jones) (Anderson), i.e., current surname, with other
surnames listed in parentheses.

(Since you're the only one going to be looking thru the files, you don't
have to worry about whether or not other folks understand your system. If
it was a multiple user situation and other folks would be digging in the
files, I'd have something at Jones and Anderson saying "see Robertson".)

--pig

On 5/2/04 18:59, opined:

Everyone, not just librarians, is welcome to chime in, but I thought the
librarians might have some special insight into this. Usually we think
of librarians as knowing how to navigate existing systems to find
materials. The catalogs and indexes are there, and we depend on the
librarians to use them to help us find the book or article or
information we want. We tend to take for granted that the indexes are
there. Now I'm in the position of needing help in knowing how to
organize something in the first place.


For the past 30 years, I've been saving letters by throwing them into a
large cardboard box. Sometimes I'd put all the letters I received one
semester at school in a biggish brown envelope, and that envelope would
go unsealed into the box. Play programs, post cards, comics I cut out
and taped to the wall but took down upon moving apartments, notes I took
for the great literature I would write some day, the occasional school
paper or school notes, all ended up in the box. I've kept a journal on
and off, and that's in the box too. There are 4 boxes.


I'm not sure what I was saving this all for. I probably imagined in my
melodramatic youth that I'd become famous, and someone would want to
publish my diaries and letters so the world could know the development
of my genius.


But I digress. A friend has asked if I have the letters she wrote me
from Spain our junior year when she studied abroad, and I remained at
college. I rifled through briefly but couldn't find them. I recognize
her handwriting and know those letters would be in the distinctive blue
aerograms, but that's all I have to go by without picking up each letter
and examining it individually. There's no organization to any of this
except that the oldest stuff is at the bottom. If I'm going to do a
real search, I'm going to go through many people's letters and conjure
up lots of memories. I should be organizing as I go so I can find
something in the future, but I don't have the first idea how to go about
this. Do I separate by author of the letter, by date? Is there
software to help with this sort of thing? Someone must have done this
before. Where do I start?


--Lia

Don't know if this is the most efficient method, but I once organized a big
stack of letters by first sorting them into chronological order. (Makes
sense to me, and many of them were responses to each other.) Then I started
cataloguing into a database, with date, "from", "to", and topic (s). Each
letter went into a plastic pocket, then into a binder. Personally, I dislike
cardboard boxes.
Roberta in D

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
news:7Xflc.18234$0H1.1733135@attbi_s54...
Everyone, not just librarians, is welcome to chime in, but I thought the
librarians might have some special insight into this. Usually we think
of librarians as knowing how to navigate existing systems to find
materials. The catalogs and indexes are there, and we depend on the
librarians to use them to help us find the book or article or
information we want. We tend to take for granted that the indexes are
there. Now I'm in the position of needing help in knowing how to
organize something in the first place.


For the past 30 years, I've been saving letters by throwing them into a
large cardboard box. Sometimes I'd put all the letters I received one
semester at school in a biggish brown envelope, and that envelope would
go unsealed into the box. Play programs, post cards, comics I cut out
and taped to the wall but took down upon moving apartments, notes I took
for the great literature I would write some day, the occasional school
paper or school notes, all ended up in the box. I've kept a journal on
and off, and that's in the box too. There are 4 boxes.


I'm not sure what I was saving this all for. I probably imagined in my
melodramatic youth that I'd become famous, and someone would want to
publish my diaries and letters so the world could know the development
of my genius.


But I digress. A friend has asked if I have the letters she wrote me
from Spain our junior year when she studied abroad, and I remained at
college. I rifled through briefly but couldn't find them. I recognize
her handwriting and know those letters would be in the distinctive blue
aerograms, but that's all I have to go by without picking up each letter
and examining it individually. There's no organization to any of this
except that the oldest stuff is at the bottom. If I'm going to do a
real search, I'm going to go through many people's letters and conjure
up lots of memories. I should be organizing as I go so I can find
something in the future, but I don't have the first idea how to go about
this. Do I separate by author of the letter, by date? Is there
software to help with this sort of thing? Someone must have done this
before. Where do I start?


--Lia

Polly Esther wrote:

Sort them by categories: funnies, programs, letters and postcards,
other. As you go along, the "other" pile will tell you what additional
divisions would strike you as reasonable when you are on a search.

I think I would start by getting as many empty boxes as categories. Then
you can do the sorting, without creating a mess of piles all over the
place like I usually do. Also you can label them, because I tend to
forget what pile was what.... I have my letters organized by person and
then by date.... I've lived away from my home country for over 10 years
now and before email I used to get lots of letters...

--
Dr. Quilter
Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out before replying)

Piglet wrote:



One place you may want to make a decision early on is what to do in the case
of letters from Sally, who has over the years gone from being Sally Jones to
Sally Anderson back to Sally Jones and then Sally Robertson.


See, this is why we don't change names when we get married back home.. I
have always been and will always be Marissa Vignali, no matter what
telemarketers may call me!!!!

--
Dr. Quilter
Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out before replying)

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not sure yet, but I think the real
upshot of this is that I'm going to leave everything in the box longer.
I'm not up to this. This is a project for long winter nights. As it
is, I have 2 tops to baste and another quilt that needs a binding. I've
been to the library for the latest Alexander McCall Smith. I don't want
to read old letters!


I like the spread sheet idea. I might use it to familiarize myself with
a spreadsheet program. I've never used one before. Sorting by sender
first and date second is starting to make sense. That's the way my
computer files are organized. Luckily, I don't have alternate names to
deal with. I know everyone by only one name. If they went and changed
them, that's their business. I still think of them as the one name.
Everything else, the appointment calendars, the school research papers,
the post cards, the clipped cartoons, that can all get stored together
for who knows what reason.


--Lia