I'm not great on organization, but when I started shooting for magazines, I learned a friend's system and it has served me well. This is good, because, left to myself, I'd never be able to find anything.
I've not made any distinction between 4x5, 8x10, or rollfilm in the way I handle the negatives and information. Each "job" receives a number of its own; the job name, date, place, etc. is recorded in a notebook. The negatives (transparencies, or whatever) are sleeved and placed in a file folder, along with proof sheets and any other pertinent information there may be. If there are rolls, each roll is numbered 1,2,3 etc. and the frames are identified by the numbers printed on the film, which also appear on the proof sheets. If sheet film, I use a technical pen to write the job # and the negative # on the edge of the film. The file folders are placed in a filing cabinet (of which I have several).
When I changed over from glassene sleeves to the printfile pages nothing much changed. I am not entirely happy with the printfile pages because unless you use a binder, which I don't, they are floppy and hard to handle. They are handy, though, because proofing is a lot easier.
The only disadvantage of this system as I see it is that filing cabinets take up a fair amount of space, and full of film and paper, the drawers are heavy, should one need to move them. Otherwise, the system works beautifully.
