Anyone use a database to keep collection info?

Kinetic · November 2006

I saw that 'my record crate' pot in the announcement section and it reminded me: I've been wanting to find a good way to keep a comprehensive list of my collection for some time. I was gonna use excel but it just doesn't seem to work well.Any other suggestions / good on-line ways of keeping a database?

Guzzo · November 2006

I saw that 'my record crate' pot in the announcement section and it reminded me: I've been wanting to find a good way to keep a comprehensive list of my collection for some time. I was gonna use excel but it just doesn't seem to work well.

Any other suggestions / good on-line ways of keeping a database?

I keep mines on Excel.

just remember to e-mail yourself the file after several updates. When my computer crashed info on nearly 3,000 LP's dissapeared into nothingness

Kinetic · November 2006

It's so damn time-consuming too.

I would lose my brain if I lost 3,000 entris - that's like days of work!

I might just go with excel. What fields do you use?

Artist/Title/Format/Label/Year ?

DjArcadian · November 2006

Get an Access Database built. Something as simple as keeping track of your record collection can be made in about an hour. Just go to elance.com and get bids for it. You can probably get it done for like $20 or $30 or just go to Craigslist and post an ad under services.

holmes · November 2006

I use excel. I have seperate ones for LPs & 45s. They are alphabetical. The LP one is just Artist & Title. The 45 one is Artist/Titles(both sides)/Label/Notes(country/promo/variation etc.) It took ages to get them done initially, but if you keep them up to date they are handy as hell. I take a reasonably up to date printout of my 45s digging with me all the time.

motown67 · November 2006

Like most people here I keep my record "records" on Excel. I have one list that is just a list of LPs, then a separate list of 45s, then a separate list of when I bought the records, where and how much $$$. Yes, I am anal. I will not going into my Iraq database, or article database, etc.

DJ_WubWub · November 2006

if you want a preformatted excel file that is preformatted for GEMM uploading PM me, that way if you want to have stuff out for sale on Gemm it is easy to just cut and paste and send for listing. I haven't started cataloging (1000lps) for gemm yet as it seems like a mammoth task but my wife is going away with bubby for 3 weeks so i will use the time productively then.

There are some fairly cheap Collectors database softare around . I have used this one collectorz at the local community radio
and found it easy to use and works well. If you have stuff that has been released on CD as well and info is in the CDDB and you connect to the net with it it will automatically input track listing and times etc for the entry (pretty cool). Though mainly for Cd collections it would work well with a vinyl collection.

Another collectors databse software

33thirdcom · November 2006

Yes indeed... SQL

DjArcadian · November 2006

Yes indeed... SQL

$10,000 SQL server just to store your record info.

Zeke · November 2006

Yes indeed... SQL

$10,000 SQL server just to store your record info.

Not necessary.

Maybe a few nerdstrutters could come together and build something like del.icio.us for records. Interactive, taggable, and a great way to keep your collection organized. It wouldn't be too hard to design. That said, I don't personally have the time to design, but I'll donate the hosting and server space at least for round 1 if anyone is interested.

roisto · November 2006

I have maybe 1/5 of my collection in discogs.com, which can be saved to excel.

mattB · November 2006

Kinetic, ive recommended this a couple of times before, but if you're willing to spend US$ 39.95 then CATraxx is definately the way to go. Well worth it IMHO.
The previous thread is here

cpeetz · November 2006

No but this guys does!

Jonny_Paycheck · November 2006

I keep my sales logs in excel, which is fine; but I recently began work on a large discography project for a colleague's book and decided to try filemaker pro - I found that they have a great catalogue template designed for music collections.

It's a breeze to use and I will be copping it for my shop at some point too.

hammertime · November 2006

i have a list of my records on my website. i keep an excel file of everything i've bought/sold in the past couple years...i try to stay at $0 net. I've also started an Excel file to try to predict what ebay auctions will finish at based on what price they're at with X hours left.

maru · November 2006

i've always thought it would be amazing to catalog my collection using http://www.delicious-monster.com/

i use it for dvds and apparently you can use it for anything: books, cds, records. it would almost be like your own virtual collection, but i'm too lazy to get started.

Beek · November 2006

Maybe a few nerdstrutters could come together and build something like del.icio.us for records. Interactive, taggable, and a great way to keep your collection organized. It wouldn't be too hard to design. That said, I don't personally have the time to design, but I'll donate the hosting and server space at least for round 1 if anyone is interested.

I would lend my programming expertise to such a project

piedpiper · November 2006

discogs.com

discogs is quite useful for electronic dance music and Hip-Hop, but does not include a lot of raer stuff/Jazz/Funk aso. It??s very easy to use and you can get a lot of additional information there though.

bull_ox · November 2006

discogs.com

discogs is quite useful for electronic dance music and Hip-Hop, but does not include a lot of raer stuff/Jazz/Funk aso. It??s very easy to use and you can get a lot of additional information there though.

On another forum dudes were bitching about records they submitted WHICH THEY ACTUALLY RELEASED getting deleted because the mods claimed they 'didn't exist'

edulus · November 2006

a buddy of mine put together this interface for me....it saves i think to an access file

http://www.sendspace.com/file/2rr5gh

yoigotbeats · November 2006

decided to try filemaker pro - I found that they have a great catalogue template designed for music collections.

It's a breeze to use and I will be copping it for my shop at some point too.

I've been using filemarker pro for the last seven-eight years and rock excel for ebay hustle.

hcrink · November 2006

Perhaps I'm missing something, but aside from possible insurance reasons, what good does it do to have a text file of your records? It just seems kind of pointless to me.

kitchenknight · November 2006

Perhaps I'm missing something, but aside from possible insurance reasons, what good does it do to have a text file of your records? It just seems kind of pointless to me.

I (actually, my wife) just got off the phone with the insurance company, and they said that it helps, but it really only does you any good if you also get a formal appraisal of your records.

Most would be covered up to a certain point as 'daily property,'but after you run out of that, you have to pay for the extra insurance on a collection, artwork, etc.

Too busy at work to relay all of this, but long & short: keep a list, but if you really want to get serious, you're gonna need an appraisal.

mannybolone · November 2006

Perhaps I'm missing something, but aside from possible insurance reasons, what good does it do to have a text file of your records? It just seems kind of pointless to me.

I would think cataloging something as massive as one's library collection would make a lot of sense for any collector. The main reason most don't do it is b/c 1) it's time consuming and 2) it's time consuming.

I remember that, back in the '90s, Davey D paid a few people to catalog his entire collection (at the time). I've been tempted to do the same since then but I've been too lazy to put in the work to find someone to do this.

faux_rillz · November 2006

Perhaps I'm missing something, but aside from possible insurance reasons, what good does it do to have a text file of your records? It just seems kind of pointless to me.

I would think cataloging something as massive as one's library collection would make a lot of sense for any collector. The main reason most don't do it is b/c 1) it's time consuming and 2) it's time consuming.

I remember that, back in the '90s, Davey D paid a few people to catalog his entire collection (at the time). I've been tempted to do the same since then but I've been too lazy to put in the work to find someone to do this.

Okay, but why?

rocco2nr · November 2006

Yes indeed... SQL

$10,000 SQL server just to store your record info.

http://www.sqlite.org/

JLR · November 2006

I expect a "FLOSS YOUR COLLECTION DATABASE" in a few days.

I once started an Excel file with my collection data, then I switched to Access because Excel only allows 65000 rows.

mannybolone · November 2006

Perhaps I'm missing something, but aside from possible insurance reasons, what good does it do to have a text file of your records? It just seems kind of pointless to me.

I would think cataloging something as massive as one's library collection would make a lot of sense for any collector. The main reason most don't do it is b/c 1) it's time consuming and 2) it's time consuming.

I remember that, back in the '90s, Davey D paid a few people to catalog his entire collection (at the time). I've been tempted to do the same since then but I've been too lazy to put in the work to find someone to do this.

Okay, but why?

I don't think it's for everyone but for many, I think there'd be some practical value. The most obvious being: to keep track of what you have, especially in cases of buying/selling or needing to cross-reference for research purposes. I'm not saying a database is something you'd use every day, but if it were relatively affordable (either time or money-wise), why not? I own appx. 7000+ albums which is, by far, more than anything else I have. Having a catalog of what's actually in there can prove useful on variety of levels (maybe this is just the sociologist in me though) that may not be obvious in the present but may prove useful down the road (like when wifey divorces you and gets half).

Actually, for anyone who's using Microwave, in a sense, that cataloging is built into the digitizing/organizing process on some level already. Knowing what you have might also be useful in figuring out what you want to select down the road for digitizing.

faux_rillz · November 2006

Perhaps I'm missing something, but aside from possible insurance reasons, what good does it do to have a text file of your records? It just seems kind of pointless to me.

I would think cataloging something as massive as one's library collection would make a lot of sense for any collector. The main reason most don't do it is b/c 1) it's time consuming and 2) it's time consuming.

I remember that, back in the '90s, Davey D paid a few people to catalog his entire collection (at the time). I've been tempted to do the same since then but I've been too lazy to put in the work to find someone to do this.

Okay, but why?

I don't think it's for everyone but for many, I think there'd be some practical value. The most obvious being: to keep track of what you have, especially in cases of buying/selling or needing to cross-reference for research purposes. I'm not saying a database is something you'd use every day, but if it were relatively affordable (either time or money-wise), why not? I own appx. 7000+ albums which is, by far, more than anything else I have. Having a catalog of what's actually in there can prove useful on variety of levels (maybe this is just the sociologist in me though) that may not be obvious in the present but may prove useful down the road (like when wifey divorces you and gets half).

Actually, for anyone who's using Microwave, in a sense, that cataloging is built into the digitizing/organizing process on some level already. Knowing what you have might also be useful in figuring out what you want to select down the road for digitizing.

I don't know--I hear "7000 albums" and think one's energy would be better spent on getting rid of 80% of them than on cataloging all of them.

mannybolone · November 2006

I don't know--I hear "7000 albums" and think one's energy would be better spent on getting rid of 80% of them than on cataloging all of them.

Oh, if only.

But in any case, in order to get rid of them, I'd end up cataloging them anyway (in the case I decided to eBay).

I'm also a packrat, if that helps.

faux_rillz · November 2006

I don't know--I hear "7000 albums" and think one's energy would be better spent on getting rid of 80% of them than on cataloging all of them.

Oh, if only.

But in any case, in order to get rid of them, I'd end up cataloging them anyway (in the case I decided to eBay).

I'm also a packrat, if that helps.

So I gather.

Do you still have copies of all of those late nineties Sandbox-type 12"s?

Community

Anyone use a database to keep collection info?

Comments