These symbols were added to the negatives in white ink. On the cards in series A6510 the box list number of the negative was entered in the section 'serial no. of negative', eg V, 185. In 1989 the material was copied for preservation purposes with duplicate negatives and reference prints being produced. This series consists mainly of reports of specific patrols in Papua and the Territory of New Guinea sent to the responsible Commonwealth Department in Canberra. It also includes a small number of more general reports such as district monthly reports, anthropological reports, etc.
Some reports contain detailed maps and occasional photographs.
It is evident that these reports, when received in the departmental head office in Canberra, were filed together with the covering correspondence on files in series A518. A simple numerical control has been imposed on the reports by the National Archives. These correspondence files, produced by the Australian Department of Home and Territories, cover most of the transactions between the Australian government and the New Guinea administration in 1923 and 1924. They cover topics ranging from the importation of cattle and birds to purchasing of shipping and deportation of remaining Germans. The files are an annual single number system with 'NG' prefix.