{"id":5866,"date":"2021-11-23T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=5866"},"modified":"2022-02-11T20:34:01","modified_gmt":"2022-02-12T01:34:01","slug":"inventory-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/inventory-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Inventory Method Update"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Three and a quarter years ago, I wrote about inventories<\/a> as part of my fountain pen series<\/a>. Bac then, I was using Google Sheets to keep track of my pen and ink collections. Of course, at the time, I only had 50 total pen records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As my collection grew, I found that I needed something with more features than Google Sheets. After some searching, I found Airtable<\/a>. It’s basically a WYSIWYG<\/a> database. You can customize your databases quite a bit, if you’d like, or you can work with very basic features. You can use most of the features with a free account, but there are additional features and reporting abilities available with a paid account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Airtable stores data in nested “areas.” An individual piece of data (like a pen model or ink color) is stored in a Field. All of the Fields for a single item form a Record. The Records are stored in a Table. Tables are in a Base. And, finally, Bases are stored in a Workspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can create multiple views for each table, with various filtering, grouping, and sorting options. I currently have 16 views for my pen collection alone, letting me get quick snapshots of my collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airtable also lets you link between tables and records, so you can connect data. Jim uses that feature to keep track of what ink is in which pen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite a few of the DC Metro Pen Crew members have started to use Airtable as well, and they al seem to like it. Some have dived in quite a bit deeper than I have. Others are using only the most basic features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I Track<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you aren’t interested in what data I track and the specifics of how I track it, then thanks for reading to this point, and I hope I’ve peaked your interest in Airtable. What follows is really for data geeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a data hoarder, I keep track of A LOT of information. To be honest, I maybe track too much. But<\/em>, I enjoy having all the extra info. And it came in handy for my pen collection overview<\/a> earlier this year. Below I’ll be discussing what type of field I use for each item and why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve put together an elongated screenshot of my pen table<\/a>, showing all of the fields, and another of a single pen record<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click on the field name to see a screenshot of how I set up that field. Please note that screenshots open in a new window. For fields that are set up identically \u2014 except with a different name \u2014 I link them all to the same screenshot. I’ll only provide descriptions for fields that aren’t self-explanatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pens<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For pens, I now track: Purchase Order, Brand, Model, Name, Number, Distribution, Manufacture Date, Discontinued?, Purchase Location, Event\/Site, Purchase Date, Date Received, Nib Width, Nib Material, Nib Color, Nib Size, Nib Brand, Filling Mechanism, MSRP, Paid, Tax\/Fees, Converter, Shipping, Extras, Pen Spending, Total, Status, Rotation Group, Pen Color, Condition, Came with Sleeve?, Came With Box, Kept Box, Sell Price, Date, Reason, and Origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n