My collection of tricks is starting to grow, & I need to start recording it.
Do you use on-line software to track your collection?
I've looked at itrackmine.com & collectorz.com.
What software do you use that you like?
As Always,
Thanks,
Ed

I use a intuitive mindmap-like program called Personal Brain. Not cheap, but I am very pleased with it. Also store my recipes in it.

Ciao for now

Erik

Any other ideas?

I've used Ms Access to create a database.
There is a form for each book/video I've got. The data are the title, author, publisher, number of pages, year and so on.
For each, there is a subform where I record the most interesting effects/sleights that particular book video contains, specifying the page or the minute it can be found.

For each effect/sleight there is a check box. That box is checked whenever the effect becomes part of my repertoire. Only these effects can become part of a routine.

I then have a separate form for the routines. The info here is the name I give the routine, how long it lasts and so on. A subform here specifies which effects and in which order they are performed during the routine. The form, then contains various text boxes in various sub pages where I store notes, patter, the description of the effects and so on.

See image as an example (database is in italian)

mlippo

Click here to view attached image.

I'm just using Evernote which is not a serious database app but has the advantage that I can get access to it really easily from home Mac, work PC and iPad. It's really easy to use and I don't have any problem finding what I need.

Dave

Thanks all.
Mlippo, thanks for the relational database management idea.
That's probably the way to go, and since I need only a light duty version I can
probably find a freeware or shareware version.
Ed

Edshern,

you're welcome.

I did not mention it, but it is of course possible to print reports for each book with a list of the good effects in it, print a report for each effect with detailed info about it (also the patter, working conditions, set up, props needed, etc.).

For each routine I can do the same: a report with the list of the effects, in which order, where they come from, patter, notes and what have you.

Each field that shows the name of an effect in the image I attached, can be double-clicked to open another form that has detailed info about that effect (see image attached).

Hope this inspires you to find your own way ...
mlippo

Click here to view attached image.

Hello,

Can I ask for a tutorial on this? mlippo

I wound up creating a spreadsheet.
Any new thoughts on actual software for this?

I have used a spreadsheet for years and it works just fine. I use columns for different things to either search or sort. For example, I have a column for the creator, one for title, one for a rating, one for type (coin, card, etc), one for search words, etc.

It's simple, but it works well.

KJ

I use "connected text", a personal wiki System.
In there I have a couple of projects (eg. about Tarot) which are interlinked as well. It is easy to use and can store
everything from pictures over *.pdfs to full Videos. It also includes a Brainmap.
Especially I like the feature that I can link directly to the wwweb from it.

For my personal Library I use Mendeley for scientific citation styles.

An Excel spreadsheet is an easy way to organize information into a database.

My only issue with my spread sheet is that it doesn't (or, I don't know how) to put pictures in it.

You first need to decide what data you want to save. Do you only need some simple basic info? This will help you decide what software to choose. The system described by mlippo sounds great, but is also very detailed and more complex. Also how do you want to access this info - on computer, tablet, smartphone or all of the above.

Actually, the only reason I want to add pictures to the database is so that my family can figure out what everything is when I die
Not that I'm planning to die, it's just that I've been told it's unavoidable.

I personally do not feel this is needed. A DB just seems I don't know. Perhaps a field should be "will never perform it , but I can't bring myself to throw it out or sell it". Magic hobbyists do love to geek out like any other collectors hobby.

At least the software I mentioned is quite useful for not only storing a collection data but actually to work on specific topics.
For people who are in the story telling magic thing it would be quite usefull since you can connect a Story to pictures, Books and whatever.

MS Acces does the job for me

MS Acces does the job for me. Database is still under development.

Click here to view attached image.

You could put a column in the spreadsheet with file names of the corresponding images and then dump the actual images in a sub-folder where you keep the spreadsheet.