Organize Your DVD Collection with Free Online Catalog

Organizing your DVD Collection is easy and -- thanks to the magic of the internet -- free.  We'll take a look at how to quickly build an online catalog of your movies and get the most out of an online database.

Selecting Your Online DVD Database

There are several factors to consider when selecting a site to use.  First, it should have a solid database of DVD and Blu-ray titles.  There's no reason we should have to enter the details for our movies -- a good DVD catalog site is going to do that for us.  Secondly, we're going to look for a site that is easy to use and preferably is free.  Finally, if you have a very large collection, it will be especially important to use a site with an optimized bar code scanner.

If you do have a larger collection (say greater than 100 movies), you will a bar code scanner will make life much easier.  I recommend the Cuecat which can be found on Ebay for about $15 (Find Cheap Cuecats).  They might be funny-looking, but they'll do the trick and you can't beat the price.  A scanner isn't required, so if you have a smaller collection or are ready to get started right away, don't let that hold you back.

Now, we'll need to create an account at our chosen DVD database.  We'll be using DVDCorral.com (a Free online DVD Database) as it is easy to use and has a powerful feature set.  It also happens to have an optimized scanning tool that will let us scan about 100 movies every 5 minutes.  To get started, register for an account so you can start building your collection.

Scanning Your Movies

After you create your account, click "Add Movies" to start building your collection.  You will notice you can now scan your movies, enter the UPC codes manually, or search for them.  Obviously it will be faster to scan them in, but entering the UPC codes (from the back of the DVD cover) will work fine too.  Notice as soon as you enter a movie it will auto-prepare for the next movie.  If you're using a Cuecat, you can just scan your movies without stopping to reset the mouse or accept the submission.  NOTE: if you are using a Cuecat, be careful to hold the nose flat against the movie case.  Slide slowly from left to right and it should read the UPC pretty easily.

Congratulations!  You have now entered your collection.  Now click the "View" tab at the top of the screen and let's take a look at what we've produced.  You will notice that DVDCorral has imported all the details about each movie and the front cover artwork as well!  If you'd like more detail on any particular movie, just click on the movie or the title.  Clicking "Thumbnails" will show you the cover art, while clicking on "Details" will show some of the details for each movie.  Click "Details" and notice the titles at the top of each column.  If you click "title", then "genre" it will sort your movies by genre and then alphabetically by title.

Sharing DVDs with Friends

Now you can share your personal DVD database with friends.  Notice the link in the upper right of the screen.  Copy and paste that link and you can send friends your collection via e-mail or post the link on your facebook or myspace page.  When someone borrows a DVD (hopefully a friend who will one day return it), just click "Modify".  You can now make note that you have lent the movie to a particular friend and track who has all of your lent movies.  To see what they'll see, checkout My DVD Collection.

Perfect!  Now your DVD titles are up on the web.  You can even point friends to your collection so they'll know which movies you already have and which ones they should buy for your birthday!