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How to Archive a CD Collection

Archiving CD collections doesn't need to be the exclusive work of deejays, music librarians and collectors. If you've got an extensive CD library and want to organize your collection for personal and insurance purposes, an archive lets you do that. With a comprehensive list, you can get reimbursed from your insurance company for theft or fire or keep better track of what you hold if you collect lots of artists. The most challenging part of this project is putting the initial archive together; depending on the size of your CD collection, this may take time.

Instructions

- 1
  Organize your CDs in alphabetical order by artist before you begin. This will make the archive process much easier.
- 2
  Open a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel or Google Docs. Click "File," then "New" to create a new spreadsheet.
- 3
  List one category in each column to begin your archive. Music Download HOW TOs suggests making the first column "artist," the second column "album," the third column "year," the fourth "favorite song" and the fifth column "label." Add additional categories like "genre" or "quality" to provides notes about the style of music of quality of your CD (noting any skips or scratches).
- 4
  Enter information from your first CD. The booklet that came with your CD should help you with the year and record label columns. Input every CD in this manner to create an archive of your CDs.
- 5
  Save the file by going to "File," then "Save." Give it a name you'll remember like "CDArchive_2010" so you'll know it's an archive of all your CDs purchased through 2010.

Record Collecting