For those interested in documenting your finds, here’s how I do it

[Bill D. (VA)]

I wish I had started doing this from the beginning, but several years ago my good friend Stan put me onto a great idea for documenting the sites I hunt and the finds I’ve made. Basically, it consists of printing out all my original posts in color, putting them in protective document holders, and storing in 3-ring binders. Many of you may wonder why my posts are so long-winded, and it’s to provide a detailed narrative for future reference and enjoyment. I might even use this material to write a book one day. Before I print out my posts I do a little bit of editing to add some details that I cannot reveal online. These include the names and locations of the sites, the owner’s name, site pics, maps, specific location of finds, and other info that I can’t include in my posts for obvious reasons. I’ve been doing this for about 7 years now, and it gives me great pleasure to be able to sit down and look through my finds from years past. It also upsets me that I don’t have detailed write-ups on all the hunts and finds for the many years prior to starting the documentation process. But at least I have the finds and pics for those. For any of you interested in pursuing this, you can begin by pulling up your old posts which are available on T’Net for about the last 3 years. That might be a big job, but that’s what I did in the beginning to get started.

I’ve also started keeping my finds in separate, labeled boxes for better organization and easy retrieval when I need to look at something. I keep these arranged on some special shelves I had made up for the closet in my relic room. But my best finds always go into my lighted curio cabinet or one of my other showcases. And last year I started to put all my top finds for the season into a separate wooden display case. I plan to do the same this year as well.

Anyway, this all may seem like way too much work for many of you, but I think we all have a responsibility to properly document and display our finds for not only ourselves, but for future generations. And it may help to fend off some of the bad press we get from the archaeological community and others.

 

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[screwynewy]

That's a great suggestion and organization. I pull out all of my better finds and store them in a medium sized tackle box. A different one for each year. Sometimes I wish that I kept everthing from a specific site together in a collection but you can't really do both. I am going to take a guess and say that you are retired. I'm way jealous - only 15 more years and I can focus more on my relic hunting. Always enjoy seeing your post.

 

[vpnavy]

Outstanding Bill D. (VA)!

 

[joeyfresh]

Great ideas Bill. There's no such thing as too much information. The love of local history is what got me into metal detecting so I would be doing myself a disservice by not thoroughly documenting my research and finds even if just for future reference. I may incorporate some of your suggestions into what I already do. I really like your books!!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Great ideas Bill. There's no such thing as too much information. The love of local history is what got me into metal detecting so I would be doing myself a disservice by not thoroughly documenting my research and finds even if just for future reference. I may incorporate some of your suggestions into what I already do. I really like your books!!

Thanks Joey. I can't imagine how much fun it will be a few years from now to sit down with these binders and relive all my detecting adventures. But for now I hope I can keep cranking these things out.

 

[Jeff H]

I predict Staples will see a run on 3 ring binders and printer ink. Great post Bill. Thanks for sharing.

 

[CASPER-2]

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/members/29748-albums.html
Im surprised that more people here dont start photo albums here and do the same thing
to show there finds from the past
I have Flickr albums too with finds pics
I used to print mine out when I first got a computer - ended up with alot of pages
like yours Bill

 

[yelnif]

Excellent library Bill D.- You are not only a historian but an archivest as well. I have not been on this site very long but I enjoy reading through the archived threads. There is a ton of info. here if your willing to search it out. Your work- to me- just enhances the prospects that this hobby holds/ hides underfoot. I like that you are printing your photos' there is nothing worse than having 3+ yrs. of stored pics disappear because of a computer meltdown!!! If you decide to pen a book someday let us know where the first signing will be held. HH yelnif...

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Excellent library Bill D.- You are not only a historian but an archivest as well. I have not been on this site very long but I enjoy reading through the archived threads. There is a ton of info. here if your willing to search it out. Your work- to me- just enhances the prospects that this hobby holds/ hides underfoot. I like that you are printing your photos' there is nothing worse than having 3+ yrs. of stored pics disappear because of a computer meltdown!!! If you decide to pen a book someday let us know where the first signing will be held. HH yelnif...

I know what you mean about computer issues. I now use a back-up drive where I keep all my detecting photos and other documents I can't afford to lose. Very small price to pay for piece of mind. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[relicmeister]

Thanks for sharing your system with us. It is a good idea for everyone to do something of this nature. The documenting
system you decide to use can be as simple or elaborate as you want.

 

[hamiddetecting]

Very nice

 

[Beans]

Great idea. I just tape the pull tabs on a piece of paper and file. I may start a pull tab binder as soon as I find enough pennies (for you picky people - cents)

 

[Kayaker]

Cool!... (sigh) I DO envy the quantity and QUALITY of the great finds you've had. I suspect soon it'll look more like this!




I have a 4 x 4 inch box my daughter made out of popsicle sticks!

 

[Valley Ranger]

"printing out all my original posts in color, putting them in protective document holders, and storing in 3-ring binders." I do the EXACT same thing! Great minds think alike. I've not been relic hunting nearly as long as you, but I quickly found myself becoming overwhelmed with keeping and documenting what I'd found. I want my children and grandchildren to be able to share in the adventures when I'm gone. Thanks for the post!