I use Libib.com to curate my movie collection - it's free and it's awesome!

I thoroughly enjoy having a physical media movie collection.  It grew from a few movies that I recorded off of broadcast television onto VHS tapes back in the 1980s, then updating my collection to DVDs, BluRays, etc., since then. Interestingly, I don't consider myself to be a movie collector.  Instead, I think of myself as a movie watcher who has a library of titles who enjoys watching, and watching movies again. 

I'll tell you why I prefer physical media in a future posting, but in this one I'll tell you about how I curate and keep track of my movie library.  

How I house my movie library:

There are currently about 900 titles in my collection.  This number is constantly in flux, because I routinely add new titles and cull out titles that I no longer watch.  My library includes about 100 children's movies about 800 for grown-ups. I house these two groups of movies in separate locations.  

I keep the children's movies in the TV stand (see below).  This arrangement puts the younger crew's movies in easy reach, and makes it so they can easily see their options all at once.

I keep the rest of my library in a set of DIY shelves.  Once this shelving unit was assembled and filled, this was the first time in many years that my movie collection was together in one location instead of being housed in multiple locations.  I love it!!  This way I can there and stare at my entire collection - like a teenager standing in front of an open refrigerator, looking for their next snack 😁!

Note: I will post step-by-step instructions and a materials list about how to build these DIY shelves in a future posting.  

How I keep track of the contents of my movie library:

I know that some people have physical media collections that are MUCH larger than mine, but for me this isn't a competition.  Anyway, I shelve ALL of my discs alphabetically, regardless of format.  This makes it easy to find a title, as well as making it easy to re-shelve discs after watching them.

As for keeping track of what's in my collection, I used to rely on WORD documents to curate my collection, but in 2019 I switched to an online digital library management database called Libib (https://www.libib.com).  Libib offers a free-access version that includes all the features that I need.  It's also intuitive to use, and I like that!

Here are some of the particularly useful features of Libib:

1. It has a built-in feature that lets me easily add titles.
2. Even the free version allows me to have multiple libraries (movies, games, books, music, etc.) if I want them.
3. I can edit a movie title and description, as well as many other things within each entry.  I can also write my own reviews.
4. I can add my own tags that the database then uses to filter titles during a search. I use the list of movie genres found on Rottentomatoes.com.  Note: Tags need to be added manually.
5. It lets me add a rating for each movie.  This could be a personal rating system or something else.  I chose to use Rottentomatoes.com freshness scores, adjusted to Libib's 5-star rating scale.
6. Libib lets me view movies as a list, by movie cover art, or a summary that includes cover art and the movie summary. 
7. The entire library can be viewed alphabetically, by rating, in the order they were added to the database, as well as by movie release date or creator (assuming this info is included in the movie description).
8. It also lets me keep track of the number of times I watched a movie, and the date/s that a movie was watched. 

Another real benefit to me of using Libib is that if I'm out and about and I see a movie someplace, I can open Libib on my phone and do a quick search to see if I already have it.

 

BTW, the image below is a screen capture that shows what a Libib entry looks like after I've added a rating and search tags:

So, there you have it.