As I belong to a small church, and asked about putting some flowers in the urn on the stairs, I have now been asked to rework the landscaping at the parsonage and the church.

For the first few years, it’s just going to be setting up the aerobic compost pile, doing soil samples, and getting a plan drawn up.

(Anyone know a landscape architect in Miami, who’d be interested in joining a conservative Protestant church? ) (Missouri Synod Lutheran)

The weird thing is I realized this is a “permanent” landscaping project. I talked to my tech friends, and they said the records have to be on paper, because we are working on a 100 year+ time scale.

So, does anyone have an experience with doing a project on paper? I’m trying to figure out what to do.

I think laser printing on neutral/waterproof paper, with a handwritten journal to keep notes in - either keeping that in a small filing cabinet or 3 ring binders.

I would suggest a 3 ring binder. Put the paper in plastic sleeves. Use archival paper, sleeves, and binder.

Do something to create an interest factor for future generations. Partly for the historical aspect and partly to encourage people to keep the records and to look at them.

My great-grandmother was the hostess, aka Innkeeper's wife, at The Wayside Inn a hundred years ago. She keep notebook diaries (The Hostess Diaries) of events at the Inn with photos, drawings, and descriptions. Sometimes it was just "Mr. Smith of Boston arrived with his family for a week in the countryside". Sometimes it was about one of the family at school, or a project at the Inn.

Gaylord Archival sells lots of archival products for long-term storage.

I am not likely to live long enough to know if the stuff works as intended.

https://www.gaylord.com/c/Document-Preservation

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
I would suggest a 3 ring binder. Put the paper in plastic sleeves. Use archival paper, sleeves, and binder.

Do something to create an interest factor for future generations. Partly for the historical aspect and partly to encourage people to keep the records and to look at them.

My great-grandmother was the hostess, aka Innkeeper's wife, at The Wayside Inn a hundred years ago. She keep notebook diaries (The Hostess Diaries) of events at the Inn with photos, drawings, and descriptions. Sometimes it was just "Mr. Smith of Boston arrived with his family for a week in the countryside". Sometimes it was about one of the family at school, or a project at the Inn.

All that sounds good; I would like to add pdf copies also.

quote:

My great-grandmother was the hostess, aka Innkeeper's wife, at The Wayside Inn a hundred years ago. She keep notebook diaries (The Hostess Diaries) of events at the Inn with photos, drawings, and descriptions. Sometimes it was just "Mr. Smith of Boston arrived with his family for a week in the countryside". Sometimes it was about one of the family at school, or a project at the Inn.

I enjoyed meals at The Wayside Inn years ago. I lived in Boxborough and Bolton.

You’ll be needing monks. They are all about this sort of thing. From design to implementation to record keeping, monks are the age old answer.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:

I enjoyed meals at The Wayside Inn years ago. I lived in Boxborough and Bolton.

The Inn is well run these days, and a nice touchstone back to the pre-electronics age. We stayed there briefly this past August. Sudbury has a great history as well. I love their zip code 01776.

" I talked to my tech friends, and they said the records have to be on paper, because we are working on a 100 year+ time scale."

What are you talking about here? Does the church require this record keeping or the municipality? If so which one. I think you might be spinning your wheels on the record keeping aspect of this.

Well, they’ll spend 20 years arguing, until someone dies, so… (general statement about churches, but some indicators this is the same)

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:

I enjoyed meals at The Wayside Inn years ago. I lived in Boxborough and Bolton.

The Inn is well run these days, and a nice touchstone back to the pre-electronics age. We stayed there briefly this past August. Sudbury has a great history as well. I love their zip code 01776.

Years ago I was a co-owner of a quick lube shop in Maynard, MA...right next door to Sudbury. Great zip code! I should get back up that way for a visit sometime.

Some years ago I ran point for our building campaign for our little modest church. We completed it five years ago, and I have the files on paper and digital (pdf).

I realize God's kingdom is infinite and all, but whose plan calls for 100 year recordkeeping? I guess it doesn't cost anything, and if we use the last 100 years as a guide, only paper would stand that test of time. Not that digital media with pdf on it may not, it's just the way technology changes, I doubt that'd work beyond say 30 years...

My experience is, nobody is going to go back and reference it anyway...