Cataloging and storing your LP's---who does it and how?

DaveyF · Jan 16, 2011

For the past few days I have been attempting to put my 5000+ LP collection into some sort of order..
what a PITA

After a while, I noticed that I wasn't really storing some of the LP's correctly, so decided to re-clean and restore some of the many albums. I have never really had a very good way of cataloging the titles and now would like to get some ideas as to how you guys are doing this...

Also, how are you storing your collection? In what racks and are they open to the air or ?
Recently, I had the surprise of seeing a fellow collector who has appx 25K Lp's; wherein when we started to look at some of his prized pieces, we were shocked to see mold growing on the inner and outer sleeves and labels among other nasties

. Which is why I have started to go through my collection again to make sure the storage is up to par. With this in mind,we probably should all be doing this about every other year

mep · Jan 16, 2011

If your friend has mold growing, there are obviously some other issues going on with humidty control. If your room where your LPs are stored is climate controlled, mold shouldn't be an issue. Sounds like a basement with moisture to me.

Jay_S · Jan 16, 2011

I don't think I will ever create a database by manually entering in all of the information. It takes too long to populate each record in the database (pun intended). I've tried this for small groups of LPs and the process is very tedious. For obvious reasons, we can't simply scan bar codes. I would be interested in software that automates the process of creating a database. Is there something that would allow entry of information by pointing and clicking each label's catalog number?

Bruce B · Jan 16, 2011

there's an iPhone app that scans barcodes

jazdoc · Jan 16, 2011

Check out Collectorz @ www.collectorz.com

DaveyF · Jan 16, 2011

Bruce, that app is great....BUT not for scanning LP's

It can scan barcodes and tell you prices, etc..of items with barcodes
attached...almost all my LP's are from pre-barcode times

Mep, my friend stores his collection indoors in record cabinets in a climate controlled room

That is why this was such a surprise to both of us...

mep · Jan 17, 2011

DaveyF said:
Bruce, that app is great....BUT not for scanning LP's
It can scan barcodes and tell you prices, etc..of items with barcodes
attached...almost all my LP's are from pre-barcode times
Mep, my friend stores his collection indoors in record cabinets in a climate controlled room
That is why this was such a surprise to both of us...

Does your friend live near an ocean?

DaveyF · Jan 17, 2011

mep,
That's a good point. He lives about six miles inland from the Pacific. Not sure if that's really that near, but

Norman Varney · Jan 17, 2011

Sounds like a de-humidefier is needed, then a record cleaning machine, rice paper sleeves, 2 mil album cover jackets, stored vertically upright (in plastic bins w/lid and gel pack for each 100 LPs' or so for basement flood protection and/or to haul for evacuation).

I have my 5,000 LPs cataloged by music type, then alphabetically and chronologically by composer/band.

mep · Jan 17, 2011

I'm lucky to have my LPs semi-alphabetized. And by that I mean the "As" will be somewhere in the "As" and so on.

Phelonious Ponk · Jan 17, 2011

I haven't had LPs, or CDs to categorize for awhile. All my music is ripped to hard drive. But one of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite movies is in "High Fidelity," when John Cuzack's nerdy co-worker stops by his apartment to find him in the middle of a sea of stacks of LPs. "Looks like your reorganizing your album collection," he says. "Yeah," Cuzak answers. "Chronologically? Categorically? Not alphabetically." "No" Cuzak says. "Autobiographically."

I love that. It reveals more of that character and his two primary obsessions in that short exchange than most contemporary movies get to in two hours.

Tim

vinylphilemag · Jan 17, 2011

Mr records are pretty much stored by genre, then alphabetically, with boxed sets separately still. I use 3 "genres": rock/pop/jazz; classical; and OSTs. Oh, and a separate section for my 100 or so 12" singles.

For storage, I use a Nagaoka 102 inner sleeve (or their equivalent) inside every inner sleeve, and more recently I've started using outer sleeves (but haven't found one I'm perfectly happy with yet).

My records are stored in my basement music room on two 40" x 40" shelves but they're running out of room so I need to buy another shelf soon.

As for keeping track of them, I add every new record to my online home inventory. I haven't yet summoned up the courage to catalogue the older stuff yet!

DaveyF · Jan 24, 2011

Rich, That's very interesting. For storage I use the MFSL inner sleeves and the Japanese sealable outer sleeves. I like the Japanese sleeves the best as they seem to keep most of the nasties out better than the non-sealable sleeves. BTW, I also store the original inner sleeves on the outside of the cover between the cover and the Japanese sleeve. After several more hours today, i still am trying to figure out a good system to keep track

vinylphilemag · Jan 24, 2011

DaveyF said:
Rich, That's very interesting. For storage I use the MFSL inner sleeves and the Japanese sealable outer sleeves. I like the Japanese sleeves the best as they seem to keep most of the nasties out better than the non-sealable sleeves.

I use the MFSL inner sleeves whenever I have to (or want to) replace the original inner, but I always use the Nagaoka #102 sleeves inside those, rotated 90 degrees. I think we use the same Japanese resealable outer sleeves, but they're not quite what I'm looking for, which is something identical to what Cisco uses. They're much the same as the Japanese resealable sleeves, but the flap is about twice the size and the plastic thicker with the Cisco sleeves compared to the others.

As for keeping track, my wife says that I have OCD, which would explein why I've *always* kept my records in alphabetical order!

DaveyF · Jan 25, 2011

Rich, are you using an anti-static sleeve ( the Nagaoka) inside an anti-static sleeve ( The MFSL)....I don't understand the point?

Can you elaborate...

BTW, I do agree with you that sometimes the flap on the Japanese sleeves can be a little shy, however, they seem to work well for most LP's.

vinylphilemag · Jan 25, 2011

DaveyF said:
Rich, are you using an anti-static sleeve ( the Nagaoka) inside an anti-static sleeve ( The MFSL)....I don't understand the point? Can you elaborate...

Yep, that's exactly what I do: I place the record in the Nagaoka sleeve, which I then place in the MFSL (or other) sleeve, rotated anticlockwise by 90 degrees. I then put the whole ensemble in the outer sleeve, rotate again by 90 degrees. Looking from the front, this results in the outer cardboard sleeve's opening facing right, the MFSL sleeve's opening facing up, and the Nagaoka sleeve's opening facing left. If I use a plastic outer sleeve, its opening faces up.

I started doing this to make sure that my records had an antistatic sleeve next to them (when I use the original inner); it also has the added bonus off adding an extra layer of anti-dust protection because the openings are rotated at 90 degrees to each other. I guess I'm just really anal about protecting my records and keeping them pristine! I have no idea if there's any benefit to going as far as I do, but I've done it for the past 20 years or so, and it makes me feel good.

BTW, I do agree with you that sometimes the flap on the Japanese sleeves can be a little shy, however, they seem to work well for most LP's.

Oh yeah, they work--just not as well as the Cisco ones. If I could find a supply of the latter, I'd be really happy!

DaveyF · Jan 25, 2011

Ok, Thanks Rich...BUT don't you think that the extra width of the additional anti-static inner sleeve will/could put extra pressure on the cover seems? The covers were not designed for that much additional material inside of them and IMHO you may well find that over time this will lead to seam splits of the cover.( NOT a good thing).
Why not simply store the original inner sleeve on the outside of the cover, between it and the new clear cover. This way there is no need to 'bulk-up' the cover with these anti-static inner sleeves and the sealing outer sleeve will provide the dust protection. At least this is what all my 'collector' friends and i do. Just a thought

vinylphilemag · Jan 25, 2011

DaveyF said:
Ok, Thanks Rich...BUT don't you think that the extra width of the additional anti-static inner sleeve will/could put extra pressure on the cover seems? The covers were not designed for that much additional material inside of them and IMHO you may well find that over time this will lead to seam splits of the cover.( NOT a good thing).

I've not had any seam-plitting problems since I started doing this 20+ years ago. The Nagaoka sleeves are *really* thin, about the same as the "front" of an MFSL sleeve (the bit with the MFSL logo on it). I've only started using outer plastic sleeves relatively recently.

Fast/Forward · Jan 10, 2012

vinylphilemag said:
Mr records are pretty much stored by genre, then alphabetically, with boxed sets separately still. I use 3 "genres": rock/pop/jazz; classical; and OSTs. Oh, and a separate section for my 100 or so 12" singles.

For storage, I use a Nagaoka 102 inner sleeve (or their equivalent) inside every inner sleeve, and more recently I've started using outer sleeves (but haven't found one I'm perfectly happy with yet).

My records are stored in my basement music room on two 40" x 40" shelves but they're running out of room so I need to buy another shelf soon.

As for keeping track of them, I add every new record to my online home inventory. I haven't yet summoned up the courage to catalogue the older stuff yet!

Very odd, a lot of this sounds familiar. Recordings are alphabetically sorted by genre; rock/pop/country/RnB/Soul, jazz is separate like the soundtracks/musicals and a separate section for 12" and 7". Other formats CDs and reel tapes are done the same way. The LPs are stored on custom shelving constructed from MDF cherry finish laminated material in one room with a second smaller climate controlled room containing a large collection of prerecorded reel tapes and more vinyl.

I use Nagoka inner sleeves and generic outer plastic sleeves as well. Custom inner sleeves or lyric inserts are placed within it's own non Nagoka plastic inner for protection. Hey Rich! How many plastic sleeves does it take in total for Pink Floyd's "Pulse" box set?

My collection of 17,910 audio recordings is documented on a custom database derived from Filemaker Pro. I still have to enter the about a total of about 100 reels but the speed and accessibility of data seem much better than what I've seen in databases on the net. All of this data, and I'm talking detailed stuff like tracks, composers, musicians was entered by hand into a computer for over 16 years.

Les

Phelonious Ponk · Jan 11, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvOnDlql5g

Tim

Cataloging and storing your LP's---who does it and how?

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