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L.P. Cataloging Sytem Advice

I have a pleasant problem that I hope I can get some suggestions on solving.

My friend's brother just moved out of his mother's house (well he is in his 40's!). He had a large L.P. collection that would not fit in jis new apartment. He was going to throw everything in the trash but instead I offered to take his albums for the price of shipping Chicago to California.

Ten days later 27 boxes of L.P.s showed up!

This is a 1500+ L.P. collection of breathtaking ecclecticity. Everything from mainstream rock like U2, Eagles etc. to obscure rock like the Pixies, Dumptrucks, Red Lory/Yellow Lory to a nice Jazz collection to a classical (the entire Funk and Wagnals series for example) collection. Most of it in VG+ to NM condition. Breathtaking!

The question is: Rather than invent the wheel, does anyone out there with a similer type collection have advice on how to sort such a collection so it makes sense and, most importantly, one can find things????

Thanks in advance.
eddaytona
9 responses Add your response
am_dial
35 posts
 
I created a simple database using FileMaker Pro software. This way I could control what fields I wanted (e.g., in my case, I added--in addition to usual stuff such as title and catalog #--fields to note condition, whether the record has been cleaned yet, vinyl color, etc.). By using a database, I can sort through all of the records any number of ways, or find all records by a particular band or on a particular label. It took several months to get everything entered into the database, but now when I bring a new record into the house the first thing I do is catalog it.

By the way, if you ever want to get rid of any of that "obscure rock" stuff, just drop me a line...

Good luck!
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,229 posts
 
Consult "High Fidelity" for numerous suggestions for the best way to sort your collection. Read the book by Nick Hornby or see the movie.
txtechiebb30
6 posts
 
10-13-03: 4yanx wrote:
Wish there was something similar for LP's, assuming of course that you'd have to manaully type in the title and artist for it to retrieve the data.

Well, 4yanx...it looks like CD Trustee Professional is what you're looking for! ;)

Wes
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
My (all classical) collection is sorted chronologically by the birth date of the composer, then in Penguin guide order more-or-less within each composer. Helps me find something when I'm in the mood for Baroque, or Romantic or whatever. Did I mention I majored in history?

Dual composer albums are sorted by... umm... color? Maybe it's time to look into that software idea. Excel should do for starters, I could export into some DB later if I wish.
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
The CDTrustee softwareis the best I've ever seen for CD's. You can pop the CD in and it will find title, songs, etc. etc off the internet and fill the fields with the data. Just excellent. Wish there was something similar for LP's, assuming of course that you'd have to manaully type in the title and artist for it to retrieve the data.
cpdunn99's avatar
cpdunn99
639 posts
 
There is software for cataloguing classical albums. This is particularly useful because many albums include compositions by a number of composers. In all instances, I put all such compilations in a separate group, much like the Penguin guide does by putting them at the end of the book. Speaking of which, I use the same order as in the Penguin guide (by composer, then by type of composition).
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Becides sorting them by genre as the first step you may find on one genre lots of records and on the other genre just a few.
The trivial way is to sort on genre->artist/band and there might not be neccessary to sort out further since you'll know where to look for a particular artist already. Solo albums try to match against the bands they used to play or match bands against musicians participating on such particular solo album thus making artists and bands to be combined in "family" structure i.e. David Byrne goes after Talking Heads and Brian Eno stays somewhere between Roxy Music and Talking heads; also can be found among David Byrne album.
A good stand for records is also a-plus since you even further can be oriented among your shelves. Often in Ikea the stand with 12"by12" cells sold inexpencively and it's a good way to start sorting your collection.
the_smokester
174 posts
 
My method:

First sort by Genre (classical, jazz, rock, etc.)

File classical albums by composer and then album title. The other genres are filed by performer and then album title.

I use an Excel spreadsheet to catalogue my collection. I can find anything by doing a search of it.

Others I know with huge collections sort by genre and then by album label and number.

Last month there was a thread on album tracking software:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ymisc&1063749002&openfrom&1&4#1

Maybe you can get some ideas there.
gajgmusic
175 posts
 
I might drop a note to albert porter, he has a very large collection. I believe there are some threads on the net about this. Good luck and great haul
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