I use Collectorz's Music Collector software for my collection of about 2800
recordings (CD, vinyl, and digital files), and find it extremely useful.
It's not perfect--it pulls info from sources (Amazon, for example, or data
uploaded to the Collectorz database by other users) that are not always 100%
accurate, so I usually have to do some editing. But it does allow easy
searching of artists, conductors, orchestras, labels, genres, etc. It
allows for recordings with multiple artists, composers, orchestras, etc.
And you can specify where the recording is stored.
You can catalog recordings in several ways: 1) Place a CD in your
computer's CD drive, and let the program scan it; 2) Use a barcode scanner
on the back of the CD case; 3) Type in the UPC or title, and let the program
search for matches; 4) Point the program to digital files on your computer
or backup device, and let it scan those; or 5) Enter info manually. With
#1-4, covers are downloaded automatically from various sources; with #5,
after adding the recording, you use the program to search for a cover, which
is then downloaded and added to the database. (This last method can also be
used with methods 1-4 to get a different cover than the one automatically
downloaded.)
I've been impressed by the constant improvements in the program since I
purchased it several years ago. My only complaint is that there is yet no
simple search-and-replace that allows you to replace (for example) "G-Dur"
with "G major".
Stephen Peithman, Producer/Host, “Connections”
Capital Public Radio | capradio.org | 7055 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, CA
95826
Listener supported Public Radio | Licensed to Sacramento State
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Marsha Maguire
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2014 9:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Sound recordings cataloging software
Hi, Peter,
As discussed earlier, there are some free and inexpensive applications out
there that should allow you to capture existing MARC or other descriptive
metadata and load it into a database. A good place to start looking for such
software is the American Library Association's Automating Libraries: A
Selected Annotated Bibliography (ALA Library Fact Sheet 21, 2014), available
at http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet21. One product
mentioned there (although it doesn't seem to work with MARC data) is Music
Collector at Collectorz.com:
http://www.collectorz.com/music/ I have no idea how complete the Music
Collector database is (from which you can download records into your home
database), but according to one review, Amazon is also searched. There is an
optional barcode reader add-on.
A similar product is Readerware Music Database, which lets you scan in the
UPC barcode (or enter other info like Title, etc.). It then "collects full
information from a number of different sources including reviews, cover art,
full disk and track listings" for your home database:
http://www.readerware.com/index.php/products/details/music_details
Both these products offer free trials, and both are very inexpensive.
Another option is CollectiveAccess, which, although it's intended primarily
for archival and museum collections, can import MARC and other data (how
simple this process is I'm not sure): http://collectiveaccess.org/. You
could download MARC records and export them in various formats with the
wonderful MarcEdit, which is free: http://marcedit.reeset.net/ Presumably,
you could then load them into CollectiveAccess.
As far as I know, All Music Guide metadata isn't free, but if that is
inaccurate, I'd love to be corrected.
I hope you find software that works for you, Peter, and if you discover
something fabulous, please let us know!
Marsha Maguire (retired LC cataloger)
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