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How do members catalogue their collections?
I've reached a stage in my life where I feel the neeed to get to grips with my various collections and ascertain exactly what I have.
I would like an easy to use off-the-shelf cataloguing software that is suitable for Windows. As I have collected all manner of things it is important that these various collections can be recorded and listed separately, as well as together, and that the templates and reports can accommodate some tailoring. I would expect to see standard lines such as artist, date of production, medium, dimensions, condition, purchase price, estimate of current market price and the basis for that estimate, current storage location.
The system needs to be easy to use as I have well over 5,000 items to catalogue (this will be a looooooooooong project). Thankfully, the vast majority are paper items, ranging from postcards to large movie posters, but there are also paintings and sculptures, glass and ceramics, silver and jewellery and toys.
Although I have no immediate plans to sell anything - and am not exactly IT-gifted - it would be great if the software allowed data to be exported for use in things such as eBay listing tools or accounting tools.
Cost-wise, I'm open. I've seen things for as little as $50 and as much as $5,000. I'd like to be towards the lower end of that range (i.e. $1k or less) unless there is a system that is so great and idiot-proof that it is worth spending thousands. I have to bear in mind that even $5,000 is not such a large amount compared to what the collections have cost.
Some of the names I've seen when Googling are Artsystems Pro (upper end of the price range and probably designed for art dealers and artists), Prima Soft PC Software and Collector Pro. The latter seemed a real possibility but it was difficult to visualise the screens from the rather sparse info on the site.
Any help would be greatly appreciated - especially from those who have been using such software for a while.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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I am in your boat with those numbers (more :( ) and the varied types of items. I have "Warhol" syndrome - everything is "mostly" as I bought it - unwrapped to close to it. I do keep "some" organized in a primitive way in my PC.
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Permalink Reply by goodcat on
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Jeepers you guys
Now I really feel like a newbie compared to your numbers ha haa
Think I'd be looking into hiring a secretary if I had those numbers (no joke).
impressive
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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on
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When I first started collecting seriously about 1971 or 72 I kept a journal of what I bought and the amount paid. I kept this up pretty good though early 80s then work got busy i was not buying as much and got a bit sloppy about it. When I started on eBay I started keeping better records but sometimes hit and miss. I still more of less use a blue cloth bookkeeping record book to keep track of things. I have tried word processing them to some success but always seems to go back to pen and paper. I do find word processing easier to make lists of what I have and what I still need. I have several hundred autographs never really counted them all but probably have close to 275 actors and actresses from The Andy Griffith Show alone plus duplicates. I do find putting my autographs into categories helps and with duplicates I use bold italics with the name so I know it is listed elsewhere. Like my friend Eric here I collect (or did) lots of things other than autographs so it can be a challenge keeping up.
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Permalink Reply by sling on
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i am in this b oat too although smaller numbers. I am just looking at a book "collector's Handbook" sent to me by Heritage and I believe they offer a free online equivalent.
but am still learning
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Permalink Reply by Adam Halloran on
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I just use Flickr. I take pictures of everything and write descriptions, where and when it was obtained etc. I then break everything up into collections (which for me is basically Beatles and Beach Boys) so it works for me.
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Well. I haven taken perhaps 150 Bowie exemplars, scaled them all to the same/placement/angle, and then placed them chronologically in a dedicated file at then I hit I "slideshow" for the whole folder - I watch the progression with time as o go to sleep. It runs quite a while - you can control the speed of the slideshow. This invaluable for learning boundaries and possibilities inside a known framework. This and my "qualities" thread are the best things I have to offer here. Sometimes I watch this slideshow in b/w so ther ink colors don't interfere.
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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on
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Thanks for all your responses.So far no one seems to have paid for a system.
Anybody else got any input (i.e. feedback on a commercially-marketed system they have used)?
I used to use an unwieldy set of Excel spreadsheets for my inventory but the big drawback was the lack of images. If you have large numbers of items that have no title (e.g. many types of postcard) it gets tricky to distinguish one item from another.
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