Backing up iPhoto 08 library onto External Seagate

I've searched past forums and didn't find an answer so maybe someone can help.
All of my photos are stored in my iPhoto library. I back them up onto a Seagate external drive. Typically I back up by plugging in the external then going to Macintosh HD, to Places, to "carolyn" (that's me) to the "Pictures" folder to "My Pictures" selecting all and dragging them over.
I just noticed that under "My pictures" the events/folders go from Feb 2003 to Aug 2008. I have events each month from Aug 2008 to today when I'm in iPhoto...why aren't they showing up here? Is there a limit to the storage? Currently, my iPhoto library has 125 events and 11,000+ photos (about 28 GBs).
Soooo, I'm looking for the best way to backup my photos and still be able to access them easily.
Sorry, if this is a simple question. Please help! Thanks!!!!
caro

to backup manually like you are doing you simply drag your iPhoto library intact as a single entity from your boot drive to your backup drive that is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)
From what you describe that should be happening
Why do you think that only part of the photos are there?
BTW - iPhoto '08 is designed for up to 250,000 photos so 11,000 is not an issue - many people here have much larger libraries
As to backup one way is manually
Another way is using a backup program (Apple's backup that comes with MobileMe is one possible solution)
Another way is using a clone - I do that daily using SuperDuper
Another way is TimeMachine - I also use TM
LN
LN

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