Threads in the Hobbyland forum highlight the major weakness of bead collecting -- no comprehensive catalog. For example, the thread concerning the red "chevron" beads has appeared in various incarnations over the years, always going over the same material, correcting misconceptions (bad lore), and offering up some nice scans for our inspection. We wonder if anyone has a complete set of all these red chevrons, along with the wherewithal to compile decent pictures of them, properly captioned. In this way, another section of the "Comprehensive Bead Catalog" could be completed and the same material would not have to be repeated over and over, only to disappear into ephemeral cyberspace.
There is no "Comprehensive Bead Catalog", but some sections have been admirably completed, such as the seminal work of the Picards concerning beads found in Africa. The structure of the CBC was established long ago by van der Sleen and manifests itself both in the various timelines and in everyday parlance. Like stamp and coin catalogs, the primary division of the CBC would be geographic. The second level in a coin catalog is denomination and coins of like denomination are shown in chronological order. Stamps too are first divided geographically, followed by type (regular, commemorative, airmail, etc.), then chronologically, then by denomination. Beads are analogous to coins, stamps, any many other collectibles.
The main division of the CBC would be geographic, followed by material. For each region (and the geographers out there know the meaning of "region"), beads would be presented by material in chronological order. The "material" lines (analogous to the stamp "type") can be subdivided or labeled according to "technique" (analogous to the stamp "denomination"). All this looks a lot like lines in a bead timeline, except for refinements in terminology called for by present efforts.
The CBC is a big book and exists as a concept only, but it's clear the bead collecting hobby is in dire need of such a book and, in the meantime, ought to be working to build it a section at a time. Which sections are ready to go, other than the Picards' books?
