Every once in a while you run across an unusual product that immediately fits right into your workflow. In my case, one of the members of the recently formed Middle Tennessee Pen and Stationery Group (Thanks John!) alerted me to Book Darts, reusable bronze page markers/bookmarks that quickly have become a staple in my work life.
For my initial purchase, I bought a tin of 50 bronze book darts - I'd probably recommend paying an extra $3 or so for 125.
Though I've tried to reduce the stack of "junk paper" that constantly sits on my desk at home and at work, I still print too many pdfs out, carry far too many notebooks around with me on a daily basis, and inevitably forget where, exactly, I've written something down or where in a book I made an important note that I'd planned to come back to later. Until recently, I would go through a dozen packages of Post-it document flags a month, which works fine in the short term but they tend to dry out and fall off, can't be reused, and they're not exactly environmentally friendly. Enter the book darts.
Book Darts are extremely thin tin clips, sold with either a bronze, brass, or stainless steel finish, that you slide over the page of your book or notebook. They're shaped like a point, so you can use them to either mark the page in general or a specific line of the book. The company markets these things as "archival quality linemarkers," meaning that they are a "safe alternative to paperclips, underlining, & highlighting. Will not stain." (In other words, I will never again have to pay a fine for over dog-earing or underlining in a library book.) I've also started using them as page markers in my pocket notebooks and Midori Traveler's Notebook. So far, I've not seen any wear or tearing to the page from the Book Dart, nor have I seen any of the smudging or staining that you'd see with a paper clip. These things stay put and have not fallen out.
Where to Buy
Get them via Amazon. The barrier to entry is very low, and I'd recommend that you go ahead and buy the box of 125. If you want to spend a little more and get something really cool, Levenger sells a tin of 35 page markers that ARE SHAPED LIKE FOUNTAIN PEN NIBS. They're definitely more expensive on a per-clip basis, but hey, they're bookmarks shaped like fountain pen nibs! Midori also makes some larger brass clips that are somewhat similar and can be used to divide notebooks into numbered sections. These might be my next pickup.
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