I am writing this because I have run across a problem that I am sure many out there have run into once in a while. How many times have you asked yourself,("now where did I put those drawings and photos of the uss whatever??) I would heartily recommend that you get some file folders and BLACK large envelopes and keep drawings and comments in the folder , put the photos in the black envelope and insert it in the folder . Label the outside as to which ship or boat info resides within. I am in the position of trying to find photos for some requests and I am having to go through every box in storage. It seems they , the drawings and the photos got separated between moves and rv-ing.Take those files and put them in a watertight storage box and label the outside as to what is in there. There you have it. I hope this helps someone out there. tankerbuilder
I tend to keep files and images in binders with the spine marked with content, I use those clear sleeves that hold photos and print outs.
On my computer I have labeled files as well, like Subs, Class, Individual boat. (Gato Class, USS Cod)
i have ben doing exactly that for over two yrs now also i have it all backed up on cd’s
joe
All my files are digital scans, so I don’t have that problem 
With regards to CDs, you should keep multiple copies if you go that rout as CDs will degrade over time; the term is disc rot.
I keep multiple hard drives for back ups. Much faster than having to burn to multiple discs, but since I’m a researcher, we’re talking about hundreds of gigabytes of images.
I’m doing the same thing. The external, portable hard drives are now USB so I can interchange them between mutliple computers and take them with me, like the memory card but only a lot more storage and security.
You might also consider an on-line backup service for your photos and research files (like Carbonite). Relatively inexpensive and you have easy access to the files but they are also secure.
Let me know if you have any questions about it.