At the moment my collection is catalogued in my head but the more items I get (somewhere north of 50,000) and the older I get I find it harder to remember if I have every colour variation etc... of a particular item.

Ideally I want to be able to catalogue items, categorise them, have basic info like country of origin and year and a picture. Have notes of how many I have or condition etc...

What software do the collectors out there use which is scalable, simple to use and not going to disappear.

Thanks,
Matt

Hi Matt,

take a look at discogs.com.

Ok, it‘ s not software, but it‘s for free and you can take a look at your collection wherever you have an internet connection.

Matt, old-good one is Microsoft Access for creating databases of different type
The other one is Microsoft Excel.
Otherwise - just build a huge table in Microsoft Word.

Quote
ironbelly

Otherwise - just build a huge table in Microsoft Word.

For 50,000+ items? Better not ....

Maybe the best would be to google after "Collections Management Software" (free or Open Source) and to try a Demo-version - e.g. [www.CollectionSpace.org] .

A big advantage of discogs is, that (almost) every record is in their database.
It‘s very easy/fast to add a record to your collection, especially if there’s a barcode on the cover.
I use the discogs app and the camera of my mobile phone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-10-20 23:11 by dubclub.

Quote
dubclub

A big advantage of discogs is, that (almost) every record is in their database.

Matt Lee runs a Rolling-Stones-Museum - [iorr.org] - not just a Record-Collection ....

Oh...

Quote
dubclub
A big advantage of discogs is, that (almost) every record is in their database.
It‘s very easy/fast to add a record to your collection, especially if there’s a barcode on the cover.
I use the discogs app and the camera of my mobile phone.

The probllem with Discogs is it's just records... I am not saying I don't collect records but they are probably 1% by volume of my collection if that. I collect the best I can in every format, so I have a Street Fighting Man, a White Label Decca Promo Album, one of the original IBC acetates etc... but mostly I go after original lyrics, hand written stuff, tour items, stage clothing, promo items, etc... that's where the vast majority of my items are... so I need to be able to log by type of item etc... too.

Cheers,
Matt

Check out Collectorz.com


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

Quote
Deltics
Check out Collectorz.com

Hi Deltics,
It looks great but still very Vinyl and CD focussed. I have written to them to ask if it will accommodate other items but I need to have lots of other categories like, tour items, posters, etc...

Just use Excel Matt, it has the flexibility to allow you to categorize and sort on any field. It's quite easy to do advance tasks, such as sorting based on color, pivot tables, etc. Think of it as a cabinet, with each file in each drawer translating into a file folder, but with the ability to cross reference. I'll even set it up for you if you want. No big deal.

Quote
roller99
Just use Excel Matt, it has the flexibility to allow you to categorize and sort on any field. It's quite easy to do advance tasks, such as sorting based on color, pivot tables, etc. Think of it as a cabinet, with each file in each drawer translating into a file folder, but with the ability to cross reference. I'll even set it up for you if you want. No big deal.

Hi Roller99,
Thank you! I have always done big lists and stuff in excel and I love the simplicity of being able to see all the data. My one reservation with Excel is pictures... to be really awesome it would be great to have pictures so I can remember what each item looks like exactly, is there an easy way to do this? I massively appreciate your expertise.
Cheers,
Matt

Aren't their any museums who have software for this amount of collections. They should know how to archive.

Quote
mattleeuk
At the moment my collection is catalogued in my head but the more items I get (somewhere north of 50,000) and the older I get I find it harder to remember if I have every colour variation etc... of a particular item.

Ideally I want to be able to catalogue items, categorise them, have basic info like country of origin and year and a picture. Have notes of how many I have or condition etc...

What software do the collectors out there use which is scalable, simple to use and not going to disappear.

Thanks,
Matt

Ever thought of trying to contact Bill Wyman..........he's famous for his Stones archive too..........maybe he could help/advise you..........

Quote
mattleeuk
My one reservation with Excel is pictures

Matt, if you store the pictures in a folder, you can put in a hyperlink for each item in the excel sheet directing you the picture you want to see. You won’t see the pictures as you scroll through the list, but there would be a connection between item and picture. A bit tedious to set up for that many items, though...

Matt, if you need pictures, you need to use Microsoft Access. It is specifically designed for database management. There you can add an attachment as a item to the table. Here is an example for home inventory database (standard pre-set provided by the program)

You can build your database from scratch adding columns and description of your choice.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-10-21 13:40 by ironbelly.

Google sheets. If your computer dies, it's all online for you. Plus you can edit etc from any device/location.

While everything ironbelly says is true regarding Microsoft Access' capability, the sad truth is Access is being phased out and has been for a couple years already. The growth of cloud-based technology and the advancement in BI visualizations have made it an endangered species. The wisest move is having back-ups. Cloud-based storage is a brilliant idea and convenient so long as everything operates without a glitch, nothing is lost, or hacked. External hard drives are also essential. Finally, I recommend physical inventory logs. Very old school, but if all else fails you have them at your fingertips. For my own projects, I save files a variety of ways. It's really the only secure solution.

Hi Matt, just read some of the suggestions.
I would advice you to follow the hints of Roller99 and erikjjf. It appears oldfasioned, but it's well worked out software over the past decades. Don't experiment, because there is nothing more frustrating than messing up a large database.
Also having "backups" on the Internet is still highly risky, whatever they say.
5 and even higher Terabyte harddisks for backups aren't expensive anymore these days. Backup tapes can be very practical, but are risky in a sense that whenever a crash occurs, the taperecorder can get off track and you're f**ked. I know from experience, setting up a global network. Make sure your computer is also fed via a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply). And .... whenever you do an update on your (future) database, make sure you redo a backup soon afterward.
Whatever, for sure you have to do a lot of work, but it will be worth every second you put into it.
Good luck!

I did some planning for the same purpose some months ago. First of all, software is not recommended, as it is old school, needs maintenance, upgrades, backup and so on. Secondly stuff like Access, Excel and so on are linear, limited, and they do not scale.

I would choose a cloud solution, at unlimited scale. In the background, there should be a rock solid database of course, and in the front end, a versatile UI supporting destop, mobile, reporting, images, quantities, structure and many other attributes.

As the Stones tour every year, I never get time to sort out my own collection, and a supporting solution for that. However, I know that I will choose a system, cloud based, which is also scalable to a very popular trade - collecting and trading stamps, coins and bank notes. I do collect such myself too, so I see their qualities.

These systems have support for large multi-level indexes, structure, variations, inventory, cost/value/price, discount, images and lots more. Just some examples below, these may not work for a Stones collection, but they show the concept of keeping track of large numbers of items in a collection, either for the purpose of simply owning, trading, or both. Once you collect at some level, you will also trade.

Some of these sites are using self made systems, but several do use standard cloud based solutions available on the market. They are useful both for trading, i.e. Internet Shops, but also for keeping track of a large complex collection only to be kept private.

There are many, just a few examples:

Littleton Coin Company (US) - Dedicated solution

Hipstamp - Hip ecommerce = Shopify

Buskerud Mynt (Norwegian) - Powered by 24Nettbutikk

Bjornulf



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2019-10-21 15:13 by bv.

Quote
mattleeuk

At the moment my collection is catalogued in my head but the more items I get (somewhere north of 50,000) and the older I get I find it harder to remember if I have every colour variation etc... of a particular item.

Maybe you could ask the University of Freiburg: [www.zpkm.Uni-Freiburg.de] - or Ulli Schroeder from the [StonesFanMuseum.com] if they cataloguing their Stones-Collections and how ....

Quote
Irix

Quote
mattleeuk

At the moment my collection is catalogued in my head but the more items I get (somewhere north of 50,000) and the older I get I find it harder to remember if I have every colour variation etc... of a particular item.

Maybe you could ask the University of Freiburg: [www.zpkm.Uni-Freiburg.de] - or Ulli Schroeder from the [StonesFanMuseum.com] if they cataloguing their Stones-Collections and how ....

They don’t do that! These collections are small compared to Matt’s!

Quote
georgie48
Hi Matt, just read some of the suggestions.
I would advice you to follow the hints of Roller99 and erikjjf. It appears oldfasioned, but it's well worked out software over the past decades. Don't experiment, because there is nothing more frustrating than messing up a large database.
Also having "backups" on the Internet is still highly risky, whatever they say.
5 and even higher Terabyte harddisks for backups aren't expensive anymore these days. Backup tapes can be very practical, but are risky in a sense that whenever a crash occurs, the taperecorder can get off track and you're f**ked. I know from experience, setting up a global network. Make sure your computer is also fed via a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply). And .... whenever you do an update on your (future) database, make sure you redo a backup soon afterward.
Whatever, for sure you have to do a lot of work, but it will be worth every second you put into it.
Good luck!

If one is worried about backing up data, one could use Microsoft Excel for Cloud. Your work is saved every few seconds. Or you can use Dropbox, and work on the file live. It gets shared with as many computers as you own, so it's always there, and can never be corrupted, especially with the ability to roll back different revisions. I highly recommend it.

Easy....hire Karis!! Make it her problem buddy ;-)

Cheers
Richard - In Another Land

Quote
peoplewitheyes
Google sheets. If your computer dies, it's all online for you. Plus you can edit etc from any device/location.

I moved my stuff from excel to google sheets...I agree it's the way to go but for 50000 items, damn, where do you store it all?!

RE online services.

Can remember back in the day when Netscape calendar was introduced.

Looked fantastic and Netscape seemed immortal.

You can imagine the joy when after years of happy use I received notice that the service was about to be discontinued …

Nowadays its impossible to even think of a world without Google.

Yesterday it was impossible to think of a world without Blackberry ...

C

Quote
liddas
RE online services.

Can remember back in the day when Netscape calendar was introduced.

Looked fantastic and Netscape seemed immortal.

You can imagine the joy when after years of happy use I received notice that the service was about to be discontinued …

Nowadays its impossible to even think of a world without Google.

Yesterday it was impossible to think of a world without Blackberry ...

C

You can always download it back to an excel spreadsheet at any time. Now, if Microsoft goes at the same time, you could perhaps print it out. If they eliminate paper though, then I think we could have a problem.

Hey Matt -

I'm in the process of doing the same thing with my shirts. I would definitely recommend some sort of cloud based system at the very least as a backup. If it's going to be photo based you could easily write the metadata into each photo and then it would be easy to sort or search by the metadata. I guess a good starting point would be to figure out how you want to organize it and then go from there.

-Max

Hi Matt

Have a look at Collectorz.com. It is subscription based but they have various products for different types of collections e.g music,movies,books and comics etc.

Provides a software database and synced cloud based option with apps that enable you to have your collection on the move. You can also export data into Excel etc.

The biggest issue is of course data entry but the basics can be outsourced as long as you can find someone who has time and is motivated enough by money to sit in a chair for a few hours a day!

Cheers
Andrew