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Who else is busy cataloging their record collections during this enforced idleness?

BilboBaggins

BilboBaggins

Addicted Member
I started cataloging my collection last Sunday. I'm taking my time and trying to do it right. It can be very time consuming. and at the same time, rewarding. By rewarding, I mean that after each session, I have a few more records for the "For Sale" pile, and I have an instant estimate of its value via the minimum, average, and maximum prices they have sold for. I like that! I realize that is not what I would get, but it is what I could expect if I was going to sell them individually.

I am running into versions that don't exist, and entering them can be frustrating sometimes. On some, no problems, but on one, it just wouldn't let me get past the draft.

Who else is taking advantage of this time to create a cataloged music collection? What are you discovering?
 
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No cataloging, but am organizing. I only have maybe 400 LP.'s so it's not a huge project, but I tend to pull out a record, play it, and stick it back at the end of a shelf. So they just end up there in random order. Trying to organize artists together, genre together, etc. A very humble project for a very un-ambitious guy....
 
I wish I had started doing that when I was organizing my collection at 400. Now it is going to take me months. Not that I don't have them. I have done 185 since last Sunday.
 
No going to bother. I have all of my recordings filed alphabetically so I can easily find anything that I'm looking for, but I also like the random combinations of genres that happen when you have everything organized this way. I'm happy not having any kind of catalog that I can page through as I kind of like the way that I can walk among the boxes of LPs and the rows of CDs and randomly come across titles that I had pretty much forgotten that I own. For me this is a big part of the beauty of having such a large music collection; that I can discover things in it...
 
I'm in the 'essential' group but we've slowed down to the point where we're probably going to split up shifts next week.
Cataloging my vinyl is definitely on the to-do list. Seems that I don't have as good a memory as I thought and bought a few dups recently.
I will use discogs since I can access the collection while I'm browsing at a record store. I did my CD collection not long ago but it will be more difficult with records as the grading actually matters and a good 2/3rds of my collection is pre UPC so I'll have to manually input those. Luckily I've only got 300 or thereabouts in the collection which shouldn't take too long.
 
Mine is spread out since it out grew the Ikea 2X4 Record storage unit. I added a 2X2, and a Stereo Cabinet for the Classical. Then I have one more cabinet in the living room. And finally I have milk crates full. I've run out of space. Cataloging my music allows me to focus on what I want to get rather than what I can find. It also helps me to identify music I don't want to keep.
 
Aaron Hayman said:
No going to bother. I have all of my recordings filed alphabetically so I can easily find anything that I'm looking for, but I also like the random combinations of genres that happen when you have everything organized this way. I'm happy not having any kind of catalog that I can page through as I kind of like the way that I can walk among the boxes of LPs and the rows of CDs and randomly come across titles that I had pretty much forgotten that I own. For me this is a big part of the beauty of having such a large music collection; that I can discover things in it...
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Not necessarily for organization purposes, but utilizing Discogs to catalog for insurance purposes is a smart thing to do. I'm currently getting ready to start on the D's, A/B/C's without Beatles has brought me up to $3000 in median value. I only own records I listen to, so I've given away more records than I possess.
 
I have way to many records to catalog, but I am trying to get some things in order.

I have lots of dups, some maybe up to 10 copies of a title. I have started to gather one artist/band at a time from locations around the house, compiling them all together to go through. The goal right now is to make a bit more room in my main library and separating what I can sell fist and what I should keep for now. It's a lot easier to look at the differences in a same title when you lay out a bunch of them out together. I'm not trying to ID each one, but just look at clues that might indicate an earlier pressing, country of origin, condition and so forth.

I'm also looking at maybe not have so much of an artist, sometimes I buy a record just because of the artist, not that I even know the record or a song on it. Like Elton John was pretty hard to do, he takes up a lot of space with as many records he put out. Each record might have one or two grate hits at least spanning the 70s and 80s. So some artist are being thinned down and more inline with my memories of listening to them. Like Billy Joel, I only need his first few albums when I was in HS and not really later stuff.

I'll most likely get back into posting records in BT soon, lot sets by artist, bulk surprise boxes at blow out prices LOL.
 
4-2-7 said:
I have way to many records to catalog, but I am trying to get some things in order.

I have lots of dups, some maybe up to 10 copies of a title. I have started to gather one artist/band at a time from locations around the house, compiling them all together to go through. The goal right now is to make a bit more room in my main library and separating what I can sell fist and what I should keep for now. It's a lot easier to look at the differences in a same title when you lay out a bunch of them out together. I'm not trying to ID each one, but just look at clues that might indicate an earlier pressing, country of origin, condition and so forth.

I'm also looking at maybe not have so much of an artist, sometimes I buy a record just because of the artist, not that I even know the record or a song on it. Like Elton John was pretty hard to do, he takes up a lot of space with as many records he put out. Each record might have one or two grate hits at least spanning the 70s and 80s. So some artist are being thinned down and more inline with my memories of listening to them. Like Billy Joel, I only need his first few albums when I was in HS and not really later stuff.

I'll most likely get back into posting records in BT soon, lot sets by artist, bulk surprise boxes at blow out prices LOL.
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I did that two weeks ago with my 10 cc collection. I went from 6 down to 2. Last Sunday, I started cataloging them. I’m finding some nice gems in the reggae and blues sections.
 
BilboBaggins said:
I did that two weeks ago with my 10 cc collection. I went from 6 down to 2. Last Sunday, I started cataloging them. I’m finding some nice gems in the reggae and blues sections.
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You know I always enjoy going to the record store weekly and sometimes two times a week as you never know what you'll find.

The thing is really my collection is by far better than any record store. Hell I dig up stuff I forgot I have, it's just like the store you'll never know what you'll find. Most people around here like to shop my house more than a record store because I'll have multiples of used records and the store probably doesn't even have one. So not only can they get a high demand used record, but look through a few different copies of it. Oh and then go play it on my system:p
 
BilboBaggins said:
Who else is taking advantage of this time to create a cataloged music collection?
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I'm doing that in Discogs. Takes just a minute to enter the deadwax info into the search box which narrows the search and I grade the record while it plays so I can enter notes, etc.

Got 374 entered now. Median value jumped a bunch since I first started entering records there.

I've also started a stack to clean. Eventually, they'll all be entered, graded and cleaned. :thumbsup:
 
dcmfan said:
I'm doing that in Discogs. Takes just a minute to enter the deadwax info into the search box which narrows the search and I grade the record while it plays so I can enter notes, etc.

Got 374 entered now. Median value jumped a bunch since I first started entering records there.

I've also started a stack to clean. Eventually, they'll all be entered, graded and cleaned. :thumbsup:
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That is funny! I am also play grading my records, and I also started a stack of records to clean as well. I guess a few got past my rigid entry rules. Unfortunately, I am also building up about 5 or 6 LP covers with no records in them. The one that bugs me the most is the Zipper Sticky Fingers cover I have with no LP. You are about double of what I have done.

What I find takes time is when I find one that isn't on discogs. It was actually while reading an email from discogs that I realized that there must be a lot of activity on that site right now.
 
Started going through mine a few weeks ago also. Trying to get some of the boxes emptied and sorted seeing what I actually listen to put out.
Boxing up the leftovers for eventual sale.
Got to alphabetizing and genre sorting stages. Some of the genre's are close to the finish. ABC's to M's. Filling boxes with the unwanted or duplicates.
Then only to now find out I will need some more shelves to do the job right.
In the process of the search for the ready made shelves or design one from scratch.
 
I finally sorted and organized all my LPs (~2000) last year, and then got all the Jazz LPs (~700) entered in Discogs in the fall/winter. CDs (~1500) were already mostly organized. My next goal would be to get the Jazz CDs also in Discogs, and then decide what's next (classical/opera/misc./etc.), but motivation is low, even if available time is relatively high right now.

I can't say enough about how useful Discogs is.
 
My collection has always been alphabetized (library style) and cataloged. Before computers I had a flat file database on 3"x5" file cards. Currently I use a database I wrote for MS Access which I bought when it was first released. It has been updated so it is current. Since everything I own is already in the database only new acquisitions need to be entered. It's not very much work adding something new.

I reduced my LP collection from ~3500 to ~1000. OTOH: My CD numbers are now growing faster than LP numbers.
 
My record collection is cataloged on Discogs .. but I've fallen behind .. need to post some new additions. Probably start dong that this week.

I've never cataloged my CD collection .. some special editions & collectables but nothing else. I keep putting it on the back burner.
 
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So far I am only cataloging my vinyl. I have lots of CDs, and I will likely catalog them at some point, but not for the immediate future. I have 225 records entered. I'm also curious as to what the final count will be!
 
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