Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with catalogs

A 20,000 Item Mess

Xurando — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:34:18 -0800

Before I set up Adobe Lightroom on my new IMac, help me figure out how to clean up my catalogs with 20,000+ photographs. My lightroom catalogs are a mess. My hard drive crashed last year and in the restoring process lightroom took a hit. About 10% of the pictures have a ? mark next to them with a an "offline or missing" message. Most of the pictures are actually there but I don't want to have to locate 1000 pictures. I also have a large group of folders which also have question marks next to them. I only want to import to the new computer after I have a clean catalog. Can I delete folders in my catalog?

How to get Filemaker and HomeBase databases on the web?

nessahead — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:41:17 -0800

How do I build a website to catalog historic documents, photographs, autographs, books and magazines out of FileMaker and AbeBooks.com HomeBase databases? My uncle collects rare books and magazines, autographs, photographs and other documents and wants to put a catalog up on the web that he can direct people to.

He uses HomeBase from Abebooks.com to catalog the books and magazines. He uses (an old version of) FileMaker to catalog the documents, photograph, autographs, etc. I'm not familiar with either of these applications but told him I'd try to help him figure out how to get it published to his own domain name.

FileMaker seems to support publishing to the web. And perhaps the best solution for the books is to go with Abebooks.com or Alibris.com and just link to those sites from his website?

What are the world's most useful dead-tree catalogs?

cadastral — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:23:14 -0800

What is the iconic (or just "your favorite") dead-tree product catalog (listing of merchandise for mail-order sale) for your hobby, industry, or trade? I get a lot of inspiration and project ideas from those huge, cinder-block-sized industry-specific catalogs that most every industrial supply company puts out. I really like the feeling of having these things on the shelf for when I need... something to fix a particular problem, but am not sure at all what that something is or what form it might take.

I want more of these catalogs. Hard copies. On my bookshelf. I want to know the inside scoop on all of the thousands of vocations and hobbies about which I know nothing. I want to know what the go-to catalog is for model railroaders, scrapbookers, field geologists, rock-climbers, steamfitters, tailors, hydroponic gardeners, blacksmiths, glaziers, restauranteurs, casino-operators, robotic-arm builders... just, everything.

By way of example, I love love love the Grainger catalog (catalog order form). It's filled with amazing things. I'm not shilling for them whatsoever and I couldn't endorse their product or their service anyway, having never ordered from them (I usually use it to get my ideas, and then I try to buy local from a similar, smaller supplier close by). The B&H photo and video catalog (catalog order) is another favorite (same deal, never spent a cent with them... I'm real big on keeping my money local).

So eager to see what y'all got. I've always been so awed by the disparate fields of knowledge and expertise that are brought together by MeFi. I am very interested in your little corner of experience and interest... and I thank you so much for sharing it with me, if you'd be kind enough to do so.

Help me with my "laser".

Telf — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:57:06 -0800

Is there an online source for digital, high resolution old catalogs? I'm thinking turn of the century Sears & Roebuck sorts of things. I have access to a laser engraver. It's has lot of potential for making very cool prints. It's attached to a computer and set to print from either corel draw or autocad. I don't have a problem converting jpgs to vector graphics. I'm not too handy with graphic design stuff, so I wanted to find some cool old prints/plates. Since the laser can only produce monochromatic works, I figured that old black and white catalog plates would work well as a source.

Does any one know of a good repository to find such pictures? Old copper engravings and etchings work well too.

So far I've had luck with visipix, but the material mostly limited to Japanese woodblock prints.

Bonus if you can find things with a turn of the century victorian feel. Penny farthings and that sort of thing.

Catalogs with editorial content?

jeff-o-matic — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 14:17:49 -0800

Point me towards catalogs (or catalog websites) that include editorial content along with the things they sell. I need this as reference material for a project I'm working on. The J. Peterman catalog is a classic example of the kind of thing I'm looking for. I've also seen the Williams Sonoma catalog which mixes recipes and techniques in with the cooking utensils they sell.

Can anyone point me to other websites like these or merchants who print catalogs along this line? It would be ideal if the merchandise was electronics or telecom.

Thanks.

Where do I get rid of art auction catalogs?

LimePi — Tue, 31 May 2005 14:39:30 -0800

I have a huge number of auction catalogs in my garage. Where can I donate/sell them? My mother is an art appraiser, and in order to track the art market, she had a subscription to all the catalogs for the major auction houses: Southeby's, Christie's, Butterfield & Butterfield, etc. Online databases have made these catalogs obsolete, but we still have 17 banker's boxes full of them.

Pretty much all the major and minor works of a great deal of famous and not-quite-as-famous artists are reproduced in these catalogs. The catalogs are almost all 4-color, on heavy stock. I'm not especially interested in personally using them for an art project, but I'm sure that someone could do something great with them.

or, alternately, what sort of library would gladly accept them as a donation?