Re: "Ending Catalog Chaos"

[Sandra Huemann-Kelly <HUEMANS5630@COBRA.UNI.EDU>]

Following is a reprint of a _brief_ article published in the October, 1991
"SCHOOL LIBRARIAN'S WORKSHOP" - - if it is helpful to someone, help yourself
Sandra Huemann-Kelly - author.

                ENDING CATALOG CHAOS
     While catalogs from publishers and others are nice to have and necessary
when it is time to place orders, unless they are well organized they are not of
much use.  I developed a simple code system consisting of one letter circled
plus the month and year the catalog was received.  The letter corresponds to
the company (ex. Highsmith = H, Clarion = C).
     Student helpers file the catalogs by letter (in no particular order within
each letter) in file cabinets with hanging files (VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED).
For weeding, I simply do a letter or two as I pull catalogs to browse or place
orders.  Occasionally I go through them from A to Z when the files begin to
bulge.  Since the date is included, I can quickly keep the current one(s) and
feed my wastebasket with the rest.

ADDED NOTE:  The editors added that some people find dividing them by category
with one or two letter codes is helpful.  I have not found this to help me.  As
so many companies sell so many different things, it would be hard to decide
which category they belonged in.

Additional tips:  I ask student helpers to bring me any that they find are
EXACTLY alike  as they are filing.  Some companies send a new one of the same
catalog EVERY MONTH -  ETR associates and Sunburst are especially good at this.
I can easily see if they are the same and pitch the one with the older date.

Another caution is to not go hog-wild loading up on catalogs at conferences.  I
find I usually have them already.

If you have a REAL hard time remembering which vendor sell what  you may make
yourself a SHORT list of items and companies to jog your memory.

Good luck!

Sandra Huemann-Kelly
Tilford Middle School
Vinton,IA  52349