Organizing your collection

[jennymcc]

My disks are getting out of hand these days. I know there are lots of folks on this list that have VAST collections. I am looking for ideas for organizing my disks. I am sure a lot of you have tips for keeping things straight in a minimum amount of space.

What does everyone prefer? Binders? Boxes? Which are the best and where do you get them?

Thanks for any ideas!

Jenny

[Agent 13]

Jenny,

I've spent a lot of money on DVD boxes, but since my collection is so big and we don't live in a mansion...

This is what I do...

I bought 45 small milk crates (7.5" x 9") from K Mart at $.99 each when they were on clearance, though I think they sell for $2 regularly. A 7' tall 4' wide bookshelf is lined with these crates, with the discs in paper sleeves, alphabatized, vertical, stacking the crates when possible.

The crate's grating makes it easy to see which title is in front of each crate. (To make additions easier, I keep "stuffing" at the back of each crate and remove some when room is needed. I stuff a plastic bag at the back or else use unused DVD boxes to keep things from slanting.)

Another shelf houses larger DVD sets in labeled spindles.

This is a very inexpensive way of housing your discs, and it works great for us. I've put a lot of money into my collection and house them VERY carefully so that they'll last for a long time.

I do not trust DVD cases/binders where the discs rub against plastic mesh/foam/etc., so paper sleeves, spindles or DVD cases are the best route for preserving your collection.

My shelf looks similar to this traders' collection (minus the jewel cases with paper sleeves instead):

[padre]

I recently started using these 720 cd/dvd cases to hold my library of discs:

http://www.meritline.com/720-cd-dvd-...llet-case.html

I have an Excel spreadsheet that identifies what show is stored in what case/sleeve #

The cases go on sale every so often, and the last time I paid $48 per case. I own 7 of these for my TV shows, and another one for my movies.

Kevin

[loren]

i use the library card catalog method

i cut down some heavy boxes and taperd them very well

to fit one row of dvds wide and about 6 wide x 5 high x 20 inches long

i use 4x6 index cards as title seperators

all discs are in paper sleeves

home depot or menards has very nice metal wire shelf units 18 x 48 and 5 shelves high-- quite strong

one shelf unit organizes 5000 discs very nicely, and the full boxes are easy to slide in and out to grab a set

i can find a single disc in seconds

since the titles are all by a-b-c order, and disc number inside of the sets

its also easy to add new titles to the system

when boxes get a bit too full, i addd a new box about every 7th one and re shuffle the discs, so there is more room, until they fill up again the next time due to expansion of the stash

it sure beats 274 stacks all over the floor --table--trash can--sink--etc

[sloan]

Another vote for the 720 dvd case from meritline. Got mine for $50.00 shipped. Great case, they have them in various sizes 320, 550, 720 and 1,000 I believe. Keeps all your disc's in one place. Well worth the money
spent.

Tom

[gilligan fanatic]

Originally Posted by padre

I recently started using these 720 cd/dvd cases to hold my library of discs:

http://www.meritline.com/720-cd-dvd-...llet-case.html

I have an Excel spreadsheet that identifies what show is stored in what case/sleeve #

The cases go on sale every so often, and the last time I paid $48 per case. I own 7 of these for my TV shows, and another one for my movies.

Kevin

that is gigantic. I am going to have to get one of those soon-lol.

[scottdvd]

I have 2 identical big book cases, with adjustable shelves that are next to each other. All my discs are in paper sleeves and are place on their edge like a book would go, in ABC order. They go from one bookcase across to the next one and then back to the first one and start on the next shelf. This way the top half of both book cases fill up first, this makes it easy so I do not have to bend down every time I go after a set. Each book case holds about 6000 discs. I thought it would be better to go big and have room then to get something small and it fill up fast.

[jennymcc]

You guys are wonderful! And so well organized! Thanks for all the great recommendations!

[hounds64]

I use a 6ft. media tower and paper sleeves. Stand discs up vertically. Alphabetize. The first disc of each set is always put a colored sleeve, the rest are white...seems to work well so far, but may have to find him a twin brother soon!

[JOEY1727]

i use a 8 ft tall book shelf for mine..and the dvds that i mostly trade alot of i keep on a 8 foot shelf by my computer..i always use a rubber band to keep my sets together..if the sets is real large i will use dvd spinnels to keep the set on with the top on it..keeps dust off..lol...one more thing that is very important,,,always make an extra copy of your set and put them up in another spot..sets do get messed up..

[RedWhine56]

Jenny, I'm SO GLAD you posed this question! I've been wondering the same thing lately. My collection has grown considerably in the past 18 months. I'm pretty good at organizing my collection in an Access database. (This is also helpful, since I use the DB to print out the enclosures for trades!) I can look up ANY episode of ANY show & tell you the disc number(s) it's on in about 20 seconds. However, it may take me ~10 minutes to FIND that disc...!!!! I started out using the normal ol' book type disc carriers at Walmart. But after you've filled a couple of those....so I moved up to spindles. But those can be a pain, if you're wanting to get a disc from the bottom. Then, I found Kool Krates (http://www.rakstak.com/) at Staples. Those were cool for a while until I started running out of closet space for them. Right now, I have books & spindles & Kool Krates & although all are correctly labeled, it's still a jumbled mass and kind of a pain to find a specific disc. I like them out of sight and yet easy to access. It appears I may have to invest in the Meritline thingie...

[savageamusement]

Me personally, I went to Ebay and a few other sites and found CD ROM/CD binder pages.
Each page holds 8
They are vinyl with felt inside.

I picked up 1000 binder pages for 129.99
that included shipping.
1000 pages x 8 = 8000 discs that can be stored.

Binders are fairly inexpensive. I lucked out at the time, it was back to school season so i found a ton of binders for next to nothing.
But you cna call your local highschool, and library they toss out tons.
As well as campus colleges-
Another idea is Sams Club or warehouses, they have 5 3 inche binders for 9.99

a 3 inch binder holds about 75 pages- so you can see that organizes quite a bit.

You dont have to get as fussy as me, and divide them into catagories- but each time a binder is full, you can either write on the side, although most have a plastic slip for inserting paper so you can jet out a printing of whats in there.
Or you can use a lable maker.
Either way, the binders hold about 400 discs-
I have just about ten thousand diss and 2 bookshelves was more then enough.
Putting them vertical keeps them from weight being pressed on the disc-
and as well, i can keep entire collections in a binder- so when I need a set- I just have one binder to grab.
The fact its felt inside nad not paper does less damage on the discs-
and the fact its clear plastic, i can see through what everything is as i flip easily.

Great for moving, or traveling- you can pop open the binder and take out pages if you need as well.
You can alphabatize them, or catagorize them
You can simply fill it till tis full, put a number on the side of the binder and write it down.

All in all- it has probalby cost me 200 total for ten thousand discs.

You can find binder pages at just about every store, but I recomend buying in bulk.
Find another trader and divide the pages up-
Or call schools in your area- lots of computer labs get binders in of dsics, and once the software is obsolete, they toss the binder and pages out to the trash.

Hope this helps.

[geekfemme]

I really like the idea of binders, that Savage mentioned up above, and am sure that's the way I'm going to go.

Sadly, now though, 70% of my collection at the moment is VHS, 20% is CD, and 10% is DVD. That means boxes and boxes of VHS are spilling out from under my bed (which used to have nice girly stuff like extra jewlery, shoes, and pretty things, but no more..), my closets, and upper storage. Transferring is just going too slow (because I spend so much time browsing online or dinking with my page instead of transferring), so I long for the day when I can fit all my future DVDs into binders in one closet.
At least they're orgainzed on the computer.....

Anyone else with a VHS storage prob? There's not a whole lot you can do with 'em. Oh, the torture.

[Lamont]

Toss them all in a huge pile in the middle of the living room and dig through them like a lunatic looking for stuff

ha ha

[savageamusement]

I also have a large vhs collection I am slowly sifting through to dvd or using as spare fuel for our furnace (kidding)

Due to extreme heat and cold, I knew our garage and attic was out of the question, so the other idea I had was using my stairs-

if you have uncarpeted stairs and know a little about handyman type stuff, you can remove the lip of your stair, and put it on a hinge.
The first step gives you 8 inches space, the second 16 inches etc.

I was able to use till step four, and it houses baout 250 tapes that way.
Or if there is a way to access the stairs from the side, of course- crawlspace like idea- using shelves or even bookshelves on wheels to pull in and out.

Otherwise, a friend of mine helped me put two rails down on the concrete basement floor- and put 12 bookcases on them, on wheels.

It was a simple concept, cost him about 40 dollars in parts, you can put the wheels on, that slide in the track of the rail if the bookcase is empty easy enough.
We fit 12 bookcases, sideways, and simply push the ones I needs over.
There is enough space to slip in between any 2.
But each bookcase holds 900 tapes-
most bookcases are 14 inches deep, by 30 inches wide. just under 3 feet.
So for 3 feet less of space from the wall- We fit 10 bookcases along one avearge size wall.
Room enough for 9000 tapes.

You can pick up heavy duty rails at most hardware like stores-
flip the bookcase over, and put casters on them, and flip back, slipping them into the rail
Then, repeat

Fill the bookcases- and even full, they slide easily - and I am only 5'2

You can buy bookcases at resale shops, or call around to apartments and new homes and find out where they rented their furniture fore demo homes from.
When places build demo homes, they often rent items, instead of buying- to save money.
Once used, the shop sells them at a remarkable lower price.
CORT furniture in the chicagoland area for example.

You can pick up bookcases there for 10.00 assembled, and file cabinets for 5.00