GCW Games & More & Wacky Windows Companion

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Text File | 1994-04-26 | 11.2 KB | 262 lines

RECORD / CD / TAPE COLLECTIONS The RECORD/CD/TAPE formats are designed both for people who have a few records in their home and for the professional music librarian working at a radio station. Three formats are supplied: one for pop, rock and country music; one for classical music; and one for jazz. Each is described in its own documentation file. This documentation is for the POP catalog. Please note that although we call this the POP catalog, it can be used to catalog a wide variety of music, including: rock, country, blues, rap, oldies, pop, etc. Think of this as the generic format that can handle just about anything. And if there is information you want to catalog that is not included in this format, use the features of the Catalog Maintenance screen to change the format. This catalog format allows you to catalog a record, tape or CD library. You may then locate a song, or groups of songs, by any one of up to 21 characteristics. For example, you can get a list of all your Christmas songs. Or all the songs with the word LOVE in the title, that were recored in the 1960s by the Beatles or the Beach Boys. Another nice feature of this format is that it can be used with LPs, compact disks, singles, EPs, cassettes, videos, laser disks or edison cylinders. You can catalog all your recordings in one place without regard to what type of media. Individual songs can be cataloged, allowing you to list the individual, unique characteristics of each song. You may then list each song by a specific artist (or composer), all the songs on a CD or tape, or sort them into any other order you wish. Or, if you want, you can just catalog CD/LPs/cassettes and not the individual selections. You can even store picture jackets separately and use this format to catalog the jackets. ORGANIZE! provides three different formats for cataloging CDs, records and tapes. One for cataloging pop, rock and country music. One designed for classical music and another designed for the requirements of jazz enthusiasts. What's the difference between these format? All will catalog basic information such as the title, artist's name and label. However, each is designed to handle the information a collector of that type of music is interested in. For example, the pop version includes fields such as chart history, that are typically not of interest to classical or jazz collectors. The classical version includes fields for cataloging the conductor, orchestra and soloists. The jazz version is designed to keep track of the individual performers on each composition. Of course, you can use any of these as a starting point and modify it to meet your specific requirements. Which version should you use? My collection includes all types of music plus novelty, comedy and spoken-word recordings. My primary interest is in the title, artist, year released, type of music and value (for insurance purposes). I use the pop version for all my music, since it easily handles the type of information I want to catalog. If you have different types of music in your collection, should you set up a separate catalog for each? I prefer not to. I combine all my music together in a single catalog using the pop format. That way, I can search for a title and find all versions of it (classical, jazz, rock, etc...). If you're not sure which format is the right one for you, take a quick look at all three. If you want to catalog different information for different types of music (such as tracking the performers on jazz compositions), you may want to keep separate catalogs. Or you could design a new catalog that combines all the features you need. The names for each format are: Pop, rock & country version: POP Classical music version: CLASSICS Jazz version: JAZZ The following lists the fields provided by each version. POP CLASSICAL JAZZ Catalog Number Composer Title Title Title Artists Artist Alternate Title LP Title Year Released Catalog Number Catalog Number CD/LP Title Note Note Value Value Value Writer Orchestra Vocals Producer Conductor Percussion Other Other Other Type Type Bass Highest Chart Date Wind Year End Chart Recorded Keyboard Label Time Brass Mfgr. Catalog # Label String Pressing/Delta # Mfgr. Catalog # Other Time Lyrics Label Intro Choir Mfgr. Catalog # Outro Choir Director Type Rotation Soloist(s) Date Date Last Played Soloist(s) Writer Location Soloist(s) Miscellaneous The predesinged format can be used in two basic ways. It has been designed so that each song/composition on a CD/LP can be a separate entry. The F3 "Repeat Last Entry" key makes typing each song/composition easier. Just type the information for the first selection on a CD/LP, push F5 to save it, then push F3 to repeat that information. All you need to do is type the new title and save the next selection. Using the software this way provides a lot of flexibility. It allows you to combine CDs, LPs, EPs, 45s and other formats in a single data file. It also makes cataloging various artist CDs/LPs simple, since each selection is a separate entry. Cassette singles and 45s can be cataloged with the same format as LP/CDs. Just leave the LP/CD TITLE line blank. This way you only need to search one catalog when you want to find a specific song or artist. With all your music combined in one catalog, you can find what you need without having to search several separate catalogs. Some people just want to catalog the CD/LP title without cataloging each selection. This can be done with these formats and is the second most common way the software is used. The following describes what each of the lines might be used for in the POP version. You are not limited to using these lines; you can enter anything on any line and the software will still be able to conduct correct searches and sorts. POP VERSION Catalog Number - This is the catalog number you use for determining where each CD/record is stored. This is not intended to be the manufacturer's catalog number. It is a number you make up that tells you where to find a specific disk. Although you can have one, you do not need a separate number for each song. All of the songs from an LP, for example, can have the same catalog number. Catalog numbers can also be used to identify the media. For example, the catalog number for a CD could start with the letters "CD". The catalog number for an LP should start with "LP," and catalog numbers for 45s can start with the letters "FF". Then, when you conduct a search, you can limit the search to a specific media by putting the letters for the media on the CATALOG NUMBER line as part of the search criteria. Always use the same number of digits in each catalog number. This is necessary if you want to list catalog numbers in alpha- numeric order. A typical catalog number might be LP00010 for LP #10 or CD01099 for CD #1099. Title - Enter the name of the song. If you are just cataloging LP/CD titles, use this line for the title of the LP/CD. The software is designed so that each song is a separate entry. You start by entering all of the information about the first song on the LP/CD and saving it in the catalog. You can then use a copy key to copy everything you've typed. Then you just need to change the name of the song (and the artist, if this is a various artist LP/CD) and save the next entry. Using this method you can catalog information that is specific to each song such as the timing, type of music, chart history, writer, or whatever else you want. If you want a listing of the songs on the LP/CD, just search for the LP/CD title. Artist - The name of the artist who recorded the song. Year Released - The year the song was released (i.e. 1985). This line has five characters, making it long enough to enter both a month and a year, if that's what you need. If you are going to enter a month and a year, I recommend entering the year first and then the month (yy/mm). This will allow the software to first sort dates into order by year and then, within each year, sort them by month. Always use two digits when entering the month. In other words, February should be entered as "02" and not as "2". LP/CD Title - Enter the name of the LP, CD, cassette or music video. (Everything we are talking about in this section applies to LPs, CDs, tapes, EPs, etc...) Value - Enter the current value of the CD/record. If you are entering the songs from an LP/CD, enter the value only on the first song on the LP/CD. If you entered the value for every song on the LP/CD, when the values where totaled you'd get a very big, and unrealistic number. Always use the same number of digits when entering values. If the value of items in your collection ranges from $1 to $1000, then the $1 items should have their values entered as 0001, which uses the same number of digits as 1000. If you need to include cents in some entries (such as in $1.50) but not in others, you do not need to type ".00". Digits to the right of the decimal point, while significant in determining the value of an item, do not affect how a computer sorts values. Writer - Enter the name(s) of the people who wrote this song. Producer - Enter the name(s) of the producer(s). Other - This line is provided for whatever information you feel is useful. You may enter the publisher, BMI or ASCAP, or the name of the arranger. You can rename this line and use it to track the condition of a record or information about the graphics printed on a CD. Type - Use this line to classify songs by type. Highest Chart - The highest position achieved if the record was on a chart. Year End Chart - If the record made the year-end-chart, enter its position here. Label - The name of the company that released the record. Mfgr. Catalog # - The catalog number used by the manufacturer (record label) to identify this record/song. Pressing # - This line can be used for a delta number, pressing number, or any other identifying marks scratched in the plastic or on the label. Time - The playing time of the record. Intro - The length of the instrumental introduction to the song. Outro - The length of the instrumental portion at the end of the song. Rotation - This line can be used by broadcasters to indicate how often a song should be played -- once an hour; once a week; or maybe once every 10 years. Last Played - Enter the date on which the song was last played on-the-air. Location - Use this line to show any special locations. For example, there may be records the production staff keeps in the "B" studio for their use. Or there may be personal records available for airplay or production use (put the initials of the owner here).