ALA has a list 
<https://www.ala.org/alcts/sites/ala.org.alcts/files/content/resources/preserv/audio_metadata.pdf>. 
I'd guess that implementation for web access would probably favor XML.  
There are a number of databases and front ends, Collective Access for 
example, that would probably work, but that's not my specialty.

Good luck  --greg schmitz


On 2/4/22 17:48, Robert Young Walser wrote:
> The files are in dBase format with the file extension .dbf and .dbt . They can still be opened with, for example, OpenOffice, so the data is still accessible. I don’t have MS Access but since the goal is a web interface that doesn’t seem like a fit. I’m surprised that in this conversation there hasn’t been any mention yet of standards. Is there a discographic equivalent Encoded Archival Description (EAD) which enables ArchivesHub.ac.uk <http://archiveshub.ac.uk/> to search across databases at multiple institutions?
>
>> On 4Feb, 2022, at 8:00 PM, Maurice Mengel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Bob,
>> Is your data is stored in a file written by Lotus Approach? File might be
>> in dBASE Format, Google tells me. You might be able to open it from within
>> MS access. Did u try that already? What is the file extension?
>> Best
>> M
>>
>> On Sat 5. Feb 2022 at 02:44, GS <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> Bob,
>>>
>>> It might be worth the effort to track down an archivist who works with
>>> digital collections and is aware of current practice.  There are a
>>> number of approaches that can be taken with regard to "obsolete"
>>> database software.  The Wikipedia entry for database preservation gives
>>> a quick overview of some of the options
>>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_preservation>.
>>>
>>> --greg schmitz
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2/4/22 14:58, Robert Young Walser wrote:
>>>> Hello ARSCLIST,
>>>>
>>>> For many years I maintained a detailed discography of maritime songs
>>> (sea shanties etc) focussed mostly on LPS but including EPs, 78s, some
>>> cassettes and CDs from the USA and Europe. Physical items are catalogued at
>>> the track level with artist/composer information and some controlled
>>> vocabulary. I made a relational database with one file containing item
>>> about a given LP or CD and another file with all the track information in a
>>> one to many configuration. A third file contains control titles for items
>>> that carry dissimilar titles but are “the same” song.
>>>> This project was set aside for a number of years and now all the
>>> software I used for data entry and display no longer functions (anyone
>>> remember Lotus Approach?).
>>>> I would like to migrate the data to some form for web access so sea
>>> shanty fans can locate recordings of the songs they love (and those they’ve
>>> never heard). Is there a web standard for discographies? In another life I
>>> worked with Encoded Archival Description and learned about the power of
>>> XML. Is there an XML discographic standard like EAD?
>>>> Pointers or advice welcome - years of data entry are now locked in a
>>> time capsule. I’d love to let it escape!
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> - -  -   -    -     -      -       -        -
>>>> Bob Walser
>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>> - -  -   -    -     -      -       -        -
> - -  -   -    -     -      -       -        -
> Bob Walser
> [log in to unmask]
> - -  -   -    -     -      -       -        -