I'm looking for a household/library inventory software (free if one is out there) which will help organize a household collection of physical books, CDs, DVDs and other collectibles and would appreciate any suggestions. Mostly interested in cataloging, descriptive features and ability to catalog diverse physical assets of greatest importance as opposed to tracking lends. Connectivity to web resource library databases desirable but not critical. Thanks for any insights or shared experiences.
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Cataloging application for books and collectibles
- Thread starter macmesser
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Best ones I've found (movies, music, books, games, comics) below. Unfortunately due to low demand the Mac desktop version wasn't cost effective so most are done in the cloud now.
www.collectorz.com
Collection database software for movies, books, music, comics and games
Catalog your collection of CDs and vinyl records, DVDs and Blu-rays, books, comic books or video games. Use the Connect web-based software, install the CLZ mobile app on your iPhone, iPad or Android device, or use the downloadable Collector software on your Windows computer.
www.collectorz.com
Thanks. I wanted Mac app as well as iOS.Best ones I've found (movies, music, books, games, comics) below. Unfortunately due to low demand the Mac desktop version wasn't cost effective so most are done in the cloud now.
Collection database software for movies, books, music, comics and games
Catalog your collection of CDs and vinyl records, DVDs and Blu-rays, books, comic books or video games. Use the Connect web-based software, install the CLZ mobile app on your iPhone, iPad or Android device, or use the downloadable Collector software on your Windows computer.
It does work on the Mac, just via a web browser. Works on IOS as well.
Have you thought about using Keynote?
I have a similar need to catalog small samples I collect. I just need a few photos and some descriptions and a way to search. Keynote does all this and it provides some interesting ways to automatically link fields. Keynote slides can be made very large to contain lots of data.
Pages, in page layout mode, goes even further. I’ve created several posters on the order of 4 foot by 6 foot in Pages.
I’ve made a few prototypes like this but haven’t settled on a format. A nice thing about this route is that I can append limitless comments or photos as situations change.
I have a similar need to catalog small samples I collect. I just need a few photos and some descriptions and a way to search. Keynote does all this and it provides some interesting ways to automatically link fields. Keynote slides can be made very large to contain lots of data.
Pages, in page layout mode, goes even further. I’ve created several posters on the order of 4 foot by 6 foot in Pages.
I’ve made a few prototypes like this but haven’t settled on a format. A nice thing about this route is that I can append limitless comments or photos as situations change.
Interesting. I’ve been using Google Sheets with a very simple form for accessing individual records, but I’m intrigued with the idea of using Keynote. How do you perform searches (if you do)?
The CLZ series of apps/web apps include support for the IOS app CLZ Barry. You open up the app and scan the barcodes on the specific items and they are scanned as prospects for entry into your database. You can change the movie cover if you wish, and then have it automatically entered with most entries filled - Cast, Crew, edition, etc.
Probably the main weak point of this approach. To my knowledge you only can perform a generic command-F type search. It doesn’t label specific fields to let you search them that way. If you need more than a hundred or so entries this could probably get cumbersome.
For myself I’m cataloging analytical samples. Each would have a number (which I can scribe on the sample) and a description and photographs and micrographs and probably links to reports or folders of results. I would search on something like
sample #1234
which would be specific. I would also want to search the descriptions for names of minerals which could appear anywhere. They are not unique to one sample.
I’ve worked with FileMaker Pro in the past, which was very nice. However, I get tied up in the various fields after a while. For me personally, I’ve found that really simple works best. YMMV.