Labeling Notebooks On The Spine

[cambridgecafe]

I've accumulated quite a number of Moleskine hardcover journals, and I'm trying to find a better way to label the spines of these notebooks so that I can arrange them on a bookshelf and identify them at a glance.

 

I tried a silver colored marker (I forget which brand), and it works OK, except for the fact that the ink starts flaking off if you scratch it.

 

Does anyone have better suggestions?

[The Good Captain]

Have a look at the Moleskine website. There are templates there for making what look like file storage 'sleeves' but in miniature form for the notebooks. They are in the section myMoleskine and under MSK templates, or just search for that on the net.

Edited April 29, 2012 by The Good Captain

[cambridgecafe]

Thank you for the suggestion. I hadn't thought of making a simple dust jacket for the moleksine. That might do the job.

[Ghost Plane]

Alternative is a label maker. Peel and stick. This is only good if you won't be flexing the spine very often. Otherwise it peels off.

 

Look on the European Paper Company site. I think they had stickers that were designed for this, but I could be wrong.

[comfortableshoes]

+1 on the label maker. I picked up a inexpensive Dynalabel maker at target for about $15. I print the dates stacked and in the small font and wrap the label around the spine with a half inch or so on the front and back covers. I find it holds better as I review the journals. If I don't plan on reviewing them often I print the label and stick it on the long way. I've also written on washi tape with a sharpie and stuck it on the spine. the washi tape is much more flexible than the label maker labels and comes in all kind of patterns.

 

I like how clean the label maker labels look on the spine. I've had the label maker for a few years now and I haven't even gone through a whole roll of the labels.

[DoctorZhivago]

Have a look at the Brother P-touch line of label makers. The printing is actually laminated between two layers of tape. Every now and then Buy.com put some model on sale.

[penocd]

how about a paint maker...i use a Sharpie that does well and does not flake

[CAG_1787]

The Leuchtturms actually come with sized stickers for the spine.

[chomann]

+1 I use a Silver Sharpie and place the dates on the spine and front cover. No flaking. cheap. Can label anywhere on the go. Granted if it ever starts to wear off, I've also labelled the notebook on the inside covers so re-labeling isn't too big of an issue.

 

The whole idea in keeping notebooks around is to technically "archive" them. Therefore I would never use a label / sticker system where the printed ink, glue, or material of the labels are all in question. That sticker will fall off anyways in time, possibly leaving residue, simpler to marker label and label insides to reference should the covers ever be compromised.

 

I've also seen people use a pen to label with dates the "sides" of the pages like the gold edged bibles. I've only ever had moderately bad luck with that, since once your done the pages are all uneven and spaced differently depending on your notebook usage. Unless of course you could label them correctly before you've filled the notebook...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sharpie-39109PP-Metallic-4-PACK/dp/B00009L1WE

 

how about a paint maker...i use a Sharpie that does well and does not flake

[cambridgecafe]

+1 I use a Silver Sharpie and place the dates on the spine and front cover. No flaking. cheap. Can label anywhere on the go. Granted if it ever starts to wear off, I've also labelled the notebook on the inside covers so re-labeling isn't too big of an issue.

 

The whole idea in keeping notebooks around is to technically "archive" them. Therefore I would never use a label / sticker system where the printed ink, glue, or material of the labels are all in question. That sticker will fall off anyways in time, possibly leaving residue, simpler to marker label and label insides to reference should the covers ever be compromised.

 

I've also seen people use a pen to label with dates the "sides" of the pages like the gold edged bibles. I've only ever had moderately bad luck with that, since once your done the pages are all uneven and spaced differently depending on your notebook usage. Unless of course you could label them correctly before you've filled the notebook...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sharpie-39109PP-Metallic-4-PACK/dp/B00009L1WE

 

how about a paint maker...i use a Sharpie that does well and does not flake

 

OK I like your whole philosophy on archiving journals and want to try the Silver Sharpie. Thanks for laying this all out.

[StephenBrown]

If your bookcase is organized is such a way that you can see the top of your notebooks, you can use any marker to write a title on the top sides of the sheets... if you catch my drift .

[snowblink]

Label maker + sticky tape to keep it on the spine. If it comes off - then make another one!

[pmsalty]

how about a paint maker...i use a Sharpie that does well and does not flake

 

That's what I use, a silver sharpie. No issues with it.

PMS

[Plume145]

a more rough 'n' ready version of the dust jacket AND the label maker would be a strip of paper the size of the spine, held in place with a piece of clear packing tape the length of the notebook; the packing tape should normally be wide enough to stick out about half an inch either side onto the notebook, and thus hold the label in place.

 

But overall I think choman has the best system That's what I'd go for if I had several notebooks to archive.

[mwpannell]

Does anyone have better suggestions?

 

Maybe not better, but another suggestion. If it's only to see archived books you won't be carrying around much, you could save the "paper wrapper" they come in (as in the yellow/orange paper below that folds into the covers and wraps around the book), turn it "inside out", write on the spine section and there you go. Or you could cut a new piece of paper if you don't have the original around-the-book label from when you bought it. Just a thought. It does save writing on the spine, is visible, but the downside is it's not attached if you have to carry the book around again.

 

I don't think this is the same as the dust cover suggest above, I didn't look at the template refered to, but if it is, sorry.

 

http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a424/PS27Bucket/Moleskine.jpg

[Notebookish]

Have also just used a label maker for years with zero problems or peeling off on my Moles and Leuchtturms. The custom labels that came with Leuchtturms were too thick and large for me.

[chomann]

a more rough 'n' ready version of the dust jacket AND the label maker would be a strip of paper the size of the spine, held in place with a piece of clear packing tape the length of the notebook; the packing tape should normally be wide enough to stick out about half an inch either side onto the notebook, and thus hold the label in place.

 

But overall I think choman has the best system That's what I'd go for if I had several notebooks to archive.

 

Thanks for the mention! I spent a long time thinking about this. I wanted something that aligned with the whole theory of "archival" itself. Something that can be easily replicated and won't become an obsolete method if some piece of technology goes away (label maker etc.). I also wanted something that is cheap and easy to implement "on the go". This led me to the sharpie Silver markers, much like how I was finally led to paper and Fountain pen instead of digital. Instead of waxing and waning on and on, basically look at things like an engineer, Ask yourself, "what are the failure points?" Eliminate the failure points and you've got a decent answer, not the best, but usually an easily workable one.