During the FSA-OWI years, the mounted photographs were kept in file cabinets, organized roughly by state and subject. As the file grew, it became increasingly difficult for FSA and OWI staff to use. The OWI hired archivist Paul Vanderbilt to organize the prints for easier access. Often images from separate assignments are combined. A LOT generally consists of images with the same subject matter or from a specific geographic region.
LOTs vary greatly in size from a few photographs to over one hundred photographs.
For example, LOT 44 consists of 197 images by John Collier of facilities and activities at the Seabrook Farm in Bridgeport, New Jersey, as well as a Farm Security Administration camp and Fourth of July celebrations. LOT 267 contains 14 photographs by both Arthur Rothstein and Russell Lee of a tourist attraction in Wisconsin. T he majority of the LOTs are available only on microfilm. About 400 LOTs were not microfilmed. These are kept in storage areas, and may be used by researchers in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room .