It is important to collect as much information as possible about the storage media upon acquisition.
The following is a template from the University of Buffalo Libraries on what information to record in a media inventory spreadsheet:
- Accession number – the accession number assigned to the collection
- Unique ID – a unique ID assigned to each piece of storage media (ex. accession#–sequential number, 2017-001-01; 2017-001-002)
- Label information – a transcription of any pre-existing labels on the media
- Date(s) – The creation date or date range of the files stored on the media
- Storage media type – The type of media
- Storage capacity – maximum storage capacity of the media, expressed in gigabytes
- Physical dimensions – dimensions of the media expressed height x width
- Manufacturer – manufacturer of the media
- Model / Series – if known, the model and series of the media
- External parts – list of any other parts that came with the media (cables, chargers, etc.)