When it comes to organizing home videos, most of us…don’t. We scratch a vague title on a sticker (i.e. “Christmas 1988), slap it on the tape, and throw it into a large plastic bin, with all the other borderline-ancient VHS tapes.
1. ORGANIZE VIDEOS ON A SHELF OR INSIDE A COMPARTMENTALIZED STORAGE CASE.
Instead of a big plastic tub, try using a shelf or rack of some kind. This not only is a better way of
protecting your videos, but it will also allow you to place them all side-by-side with the labels clearly displayed. Much easier to read and sort through, you’ll be able to finger your way through the rows and find what it is you’re looking for much more quickly—all without tossing the tapes around and damaging them.
2. LABEL THEM CLEARLY, AND INCLUDE CONTENT DETAILS.
Write clear labels on the side, and include a small blurb of video highlights on an additional Post-It note or smaller sticker. For example, you might write “Christmas 1998” on the
side of a VHS-C, and on the front have a small sticker that has a bulleted list of its content: “Granny and Pops making turkey; Mom and Aunt Sue dance in living room; Christmas cookies with family”. This way, when you are trying to find something specific, you know exactly how to find it.
3. CATEGORIZE.
Arrange in alphabetical order and/ or category. For example, have all Christmas tapes in one group, all birthdays in another, etc. Another idea would be to sort them by year. Start with
all the 1960s tapes, and
work your way up to the 90s.
4. CONSIDER COLOR-CODING.
In addition to categorizing and ordering
your tapes, you can color code them. This is especially helpful if you choose to organize the videos according to year. Put a green sticker on all school dances, a pink sticker on all birthdays, a blue sticker on all baby content, etc.
5. HAVE A BACK UP.
One way to keep track of your videos, and protect their longevity, is to
digitize them. It’s important to keep in mind that VHS tapes only have a lifespan of about 15 years, so preserving content in other ways is vital. That’s where Legacybox comes in! (Or you can always do it yourself!) Let us transform your film, so that you can treasure those videos for years to come. By digitizing the videos, you’ll be able to safely store footage on a hard drive or computer forever! (Just remember to back up your digital files, as hard drives and computers can crash!) Next time you’re on the hunt for Mom’s most embarrassing prom date or Dad sledding into a ditch, consider taking a couple hours to organize the entire bin of VHSs. Not only will you find what you’re looking for in the process, but you’ll make future searches much more efficient. All you need is a set of pens, labels, a shelf…and us!
