Cataloguing a collection

[McIntus]

Looks like this topic hasn't come up in a year or so, and a review of the responses from then makes me think there might be some new ideas available.

Here's the situation. I have been a casual collector of 78's for the past forty years. Remember when we could pick them up by the crate for a nickel each? In the past few years, my interest has increased again, and I recently bought a collection of about 500 records mostly dating from 1908 to 1923 from a dealer in Florida. (I then had to get them back to upstate New York in the back of an open truck and unload them in my secret storeroom before my wife could see them.) Anyway, my collection is still relatively small, a couple of thousand records, but I'm afraid to buy any more because I can't remember what I have.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a program I could use to record enough information to create a basic list of titles, artists, labels, etc. so I can check and see if I already have "Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Harry McClintock on the Victor label? Does anyone have an Excel-based template they like? Has anyone written something in Access for this application? I'm getting quite frustrated, and I'd like to get started cataloguing what I have before it really gets out of hand.

Thanks for your help.

[penman]

I like Filemaker for creating databases that are searchable by many variables. It's relatively easy to create custom templates for individual records (data and otherwise )with lots of information. You can also attach documents or photos to each record. The search functions are almost infinite. You do have to buy this one, around $200, but it can be used for lots of things. Originally designed for mac's there are PC versions also.