Thursday, December 30, 2010

Archiving Your Career

I'm going through the dual process right now of building a portfolio website for myself, as well as rearranging my office – both of which require me to go through my archives. It seems to be an apt time of year to engage in self-reflective activities, you know, as everyone is in the mood to look back at the year that was.

I have rediscovered that I tend to keep multiple copies (as much as seven!) of each issue that I've worked on. And I'm inclined to think that I'm not the only one.

I'm curious: how do you track and archive your past work? Do you keep every issue? Do you tear out or scan just the stories that you've written? Do you keep a list of everything you've ever worked on? Do you keep only the work of which you are most proud? Do you organize it by subject, year or publication? What about those of you with 20+ years in the biz? Have you changed what you choose to keep?

I'm interested in the nitty-gritty details. Please share!