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Does Anyone Catalog their Vinyl Collection?

empirelvr said:
I'll admit to a touch of the O-C, but my impetus was insurance purposes. I realized I spent a lot of time and $$$ acquiring my collection so it behooved me to keep a good record of it should, God forbid, a disaster happen to it.

Not that I'd expect an insurance company to really pay out true market value for each disc in event of such a disaster, but the more of a well kept record I have of my...records (lol) the better it might be for me legally.
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It's quite reasonable. If you're O-C, you might want to have a chat with your insurance agent, as well. There are (as I understand it), lots of ways to insure your collection, particularly if it is rare, valuable, hard to replace, or etc.

One way is 'stated value' where you just say what it's worth, pay the additional premium, and if you suffer a loss, you get a check for that amount.

Another is by having a policy that is replacement cost or replacement value. I'm not real clear on these anymore; I used to know. Maybe someone could help me out here.

But the basic idea is that if you suffer a loss under one scenario, the insurance company gives you the depreciated value of the lost items in the form of cash. In the other, they give you the money it would take to replace them, like for like. In some cases, they even have specialists that go out and find the items, buy them, and send them to you, instead of cutting you a check.

But frankly, you bring up a good point. Insurance is important, and many homeowners policies have limitations on them for electronics, jewelry, guns, and other categories that a lot of enthusiasts or collectors would zoom right by easily. In other words, you lose your listening room and find out you get a check for a couple thousand, when you spent that much on your freaking speaker wires (not me, but some of you propeller-heads).

And with the recent example of severe storm damage in the Northeast US, you might want to be sure you have flood insurance. Most homeowners does not cover floods, period. You get a flood and have no flood insurance, it is going to suck to be you, big time. Also, most homeowners insurance doesn't have a provision for backed up sewer lines UNLESS you ask for it. It's cheap and they'll sell it to you, but not if you don't ask, because they do not like to sell it. You could find that you have flood insurance that doesn't cover the drains that backed up after or during the flood, and homeowners insurance that also doesn't cover the drains.

Ask your agent. Important stuff, especially if things like this keep you up at night.

And i'm teasing about all the O-C words I used. Propeller-heads. Hehehe.
 
Wigwam Jones said:
But frankly, you bring up a good point. Insurance is important, and many homeowners policies have limitations on them for electronics, jewelry, guns, and other categories that a lot of enthusiasts or collectors would zoom right by easily.
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This is why I have a spreadsheet with every piece of gear I have with serial numbers, invoices (where possible) and pictures not only in my possession but also with my insurance agent.

My agent is a good guy, this was something we discussed when drawing my policy up. In theory I should be protected. I hope to never find out if I truly am. :yes:

You also bring up excellent points elsewhere. People should heed them. A little homework beforehand will prevent a lot of trouble later on.:thmbsp:
 
I just use Excel, but have it uploaded to Google docs. I then can access it everywhere, even my phone when out digging.
I have also hyper-linked album covers to title names, fun pictures of the artist to artist names. I have linked the track listing to the catalog number.
I was able to start it when I had fewer then 100 albums, so now every time I buy new albums, its wash then and add them to the spreadsheet.
The first sheet are albums I am looking for, and the second sheet is what I have
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Al6kAP6C8pxYdFZfZEREMnBTbFc0OGJfNXpCZy1yU3c#gid=0
 
Didn't even think about the insurance part of the equation. Good point. I accumulated my music and video collections over the course of 35 years. The value adds up fast when you have thousands of pieces.
 
Yeah, I kinda do. 50's vocal jazz/pop on these five shelves, 50's non-vocal jazz on these three shelves, everything else on this shelf. ;)
 
empirelvr said:
This is why I have a spreadsheet with every piece of gear I have with serial numbers, invoices (where possible) and pictures not only in my possession but also with my insurance agent.

My agent is a good guy, this was something we discussed when drawing my policy up. In theory I should be protected. I hope to never find out if I truly am. :yes:

You also bring up excellent points elsewhere. People should heed them. A little homework beforehand will prevent a lot of trouble later on.:thmbsp:
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I think you nailed the most important part - your insurance agent is aware of it. This is key. I see lots of comments from people saying "Oh, I a list of my stuff," or "I have serial numbers," or "I kept the receipts from everything," and so on. That's nice and all, but you may find that you're still not insured for the total amount of the loss if you DO NOT talk to your insurance agent about it. Assume nothing, or you may end up getting burned (no pun intended).

Check this link out:
http://www.recordcollectorsguild.or...ns&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=18&page=1
 
I also use Catraxx to catalog my LPs; so far about 1500 are in my database. Catraxx looks up entries in Discogs and Amazon, so with pop and jazz there is minimal manual entry: you just type in the title or catalog number and it finds it, downloads cover art, release date, and track listings (very important) and Bob's your uncle.

Classical stuff is less well documented. This winter I plan to add the classical library, not a small task.

Call me OCD, but once they are cataloged in such a program, you can search it for individual tracks, and I know of no other way to do that.
 
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I just use a spead sheet from Microsoft Word. I list LPs by artist, alphebetically, in one column, used or new in another, condition another, washed in another and how many plays in another. This way I have an idea when its time to wash again. Works good for me.

I only have the LPs that I keep in the cave on the list. I have another 4400 in milk crates that havent been cataloged yet. Not sure if Ill get around to doin those, maybe sometime. Good winter project.
 
+1 on Catraxx! I also export my list to a document and carry that on my iPhone. I used to get about 10 duplicates a year, now none. So, the lost money from buying duplicates paid for the program.

That application also handles 'loaning" a record, dvd or CD. So that is a plus for me.
 
peterfranks said:
Hey- does anyone catalog their vinyl collection or is that too OCD? If so then what are some of the ways of doing it? What information do you record? I assume it is just easier to load into an Excel spread sheet so the info can be sorted.

Curious what others do -

thanks!
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Up until the recent past, I had all my LP's in alphabetical order, but I kept the classical separate from everything else. However, in the few times I have moved, the alphabetical order thing flew out the window. Now I just keep the classical separate from everything else....although finding a specific non-classical LP is much harder now!!
 
I am very happy with discogs. Only about 1% of the releases in my collection were not already in the database, so the process was pretty painless (YMMV). Submitting a release to the database is tedious, though (if you do it correctly).

Fun fact: You can add additional columns to your collection database. These custom fields are not visible to other users. I added fields for the date of most recent cleaning, tracks that I would like to digitize, etc. https://www.discogs.com/settings/collection
 
I really like Discogs but I have a sizable classical collection and they don't have much classical in there. So I found I was doing a tremendous amount of work to get a single record in. But for popular music, I think it's exceptional.

I'm still working on cataloging my classical music. I'm trying different things. But at the heart of it is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet from which I print index cards for the physical card file.

Regarding insurance: I'm working on a little project of taking video of my records, ten at a time, and splicing them together. It's much faster than any other method of documenting them. Then I'll give the DVD to my insurance agent as a proof of actual ownership of the specific records.
 
bsabel said:
Then I'll give the DVD to my insurance agent as a proof of actual ownership of the specific records.
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What I'm trying to say is that proving you own them does not mean they are covered, or that they'll be replaced, in the event of a loss. THAT is what you need to discuss with your insurance agent.

For example, I have a cap on the replacement value they will cover for electronics. Most people do. Do you know what yours is? Do you own more than that amount of electronics? If you suffer a loss will it all be covered, some of it, none of it? Will you be reimbursed at current value, minus depreciation? Will it be replaced like for like? Do you have stated value or specific riders covering your collection or your gear? That's what I'm talking about.

I've talked to people AFTER a loss who bitch and moan about their rip-off insurance which "didn't cover them" when they suffered a major loss. Most of the time, the 'rip off' was that they were covered, but not to the extent they thought they were, and the policy was enforced to the letter. If you don't check with your agent and find out WHAT exactly is covered and how they would replace it, photos are not really all that useful.
 
I don't have any desire to catalog my collection for the most part. I keep classical(by composer) and all others separate, and in alphabetical order. It would be nice to have a database for the classical lps that have multiple composers. It's tough to file a record with Beethoven and Sibelius on it alphabetically.:D

The price of thrift and garage sale lps has gone up to about $2 around here for the most part, and it would be nice to have a database when out looking for music. I'm all over an lp I want for $2. I'm OK with a duplicate of an lp I really like, or an upgrade in quality, but a few $2 duplicates that I don't need adds up to some money that I can spend on an album that I really want.
 
+1 on discogs.com very simple to use less typing. You can grade them as well. They have smartphone apps so you know what you have when you are out digging. Its nice for when you find a better copy of something you already have. Plus its free can't beat free.
 
Wigs is right, that's why the DVD is going to the agent now not after a fire. Also, one would assume that a fire that could destroy thousands of records would have no trouble with a little DVD!
 
I use Monster Delicious Library to catalog all my media. It's a full featured data base with a graphic interface and works really well. It has 2 requirements OSX and $40.

re: insurance - my State Farm agent told me that just having an inventory will not get me additional coverage for audio, tools, guns, cameras, stamps, what have you. My homeowners policy will cap each of those catagories at $5k w/o getting a rider for each of them. YMMV :)
 
I use discogs as well. I do most of my music importing and buying there so it only made sense. It's a shame they aren't up to date on classical. They have near everything that I'm interested in and I listen to some pretty obscure stuff.

It helps to start early if you can. I've only got about 30 records at this point. A lot easier adding them in as I get them rather than having stacks of them later on.
 
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Yes. Why? No more trying to remember what I have and what I don't and buying duplicates!
I use CollectorzMusic. In the Notes screen I also put...uh, notes regarding condition and what has been cleaned and with what and how many times and the results therein.
 
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