Hello all -- There were some interesting suggestions in response to my question about negative film strips. Based upon input from readers of this list, I intend to proceed as follows: 1. I will continue to have my pictures copied at the good photo lab I have found. And I will leave the negatives in strips. I will handle the strips very carefully, touching the edges only. 2. I will give each negative strip a unique number, written on the strip with a special archival marking pen. 3. I will store the negative strips, in numerical order, in archival pages (with negative strip sleeves) in an archival binder. 4. Each photo will be identified on the back with the unique number from the applicable negative strip. FYI -- I never write directly on the back of my photos. I purchased archival (acid-free) labels. I write on the labels and then put the label on the back of the picture. I learned the hard way about writing directly on the back of photos: I found that ball point pens sometimes leave an impression on the front of the photo. If I had to write directly on the back of the photo, I would do so only with a number 2 pencil and not press very hard. I have many old photos more than 100 years old with pencil notations on the back and there is no apparent damage from this method of identification. Phyllis in NJ