Hi

The program I recently discovered which I think is brilliant doesn't have a user-built database; but I still think it's excellent.
It's also got a very good import feature.

It's called Numento. It's fully customisable and you can catalogue absolutely anything with it!

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll give them both a try.
Maybe as a project for my declining years I'll see if one or both can be wrapped in some tools to sync up with a user-contributed central database.  Should keep me busy for a while ...

Ahhh, now that looks very promising.

CATraxx and Numento both look like competent programs, but with a large book collection having to enter all the data by hand is soul-destroying.  Even if the database is not complete being able to do a high proportion by ISBN or even scanner is very helpful.

Thank you.

I record my CD's with Windows Media Player, and let the player get the tags for tracks.

I then move the files to my proper music folder, and add the tracks to my main mp3 player foobar2000. Where i edit the tags to my specifications, add images etc. The program layout is very customizable, mine looks like that:

TBH, when I first asked this question I was more interested in the books than the CDs.  I have enough books that the thought of keying in the data and scanning the covers is daunting.  I'm currently experimenting with the trial version of the collectorz book app and although the backing database is thin on detail it does contain enough info to build a usable list complete with (front) cover art.  I will probably buy it - I may even invest in a cheap scanner.

For music I use EAC to rip to FLAC and foobar2000/mastagger to tag.  Playback is via logitect squeezebox into my hifi system.  I find public sites adequate for pop music but classical requires far more effort to tag if you want to really use an online library - a basic set of tags would be something like <composer, title, movement, orchestra/ensembe, conductor/leader, soloist(s), opus, genre, type> with the ability to drill into the libraray along almost all of the tags (except movement).  You also need a lot of short playlists as sequence is important for things like symphony or opera, and the playlist may span multiple CDs.  Random choice of track is rarely desirable although random choice of playlist would be acceptable.  The basic point, however, is that my (classical) music library is somewhat divorced from the concept of the CD so a basic listing app not aimed at playback might be useful, especially as it can also include vinyl etc.  Whether or not I get the CD collectorz app probably depends on whether I lose the will to live while trying to get my books organized.

Pantheon, going a bit off topic here but do you think Numento is better than Game Collector? For the time being I use Game collector to keep track of my games collection and also put it on my iPhone to go. Just wondering ...

Quoting Taro:

Quote:
Pantheon, going a bit off topic here but do you think Numento is better than Game Collector? For the time being I use Game collector to keep track of my games collection and also put it on my iPhone to go. Just wondering ...

I only ever used Game Collector to track my board games (with a bit of adapting), but, personally, I think Numento is brilliant because you can change every single field to match your personal criteria, in addition to adding more fields.

I was about to buy MediaMan (I really liked the bookshelf look of it), but I thought I'd do a quick search for another program. I found Numento and only used it for about an hour before buying it.
It's got a really good, and very sensitive, search function (searches all fields), as well as three-tier sorting - which for my book collection is great as I can sort by Author, Series, volume etc.

I honestly think that it's the best 25 euro I've every spent.

I know I'm a little late, but try this:  BookCAT 

Almost 100% customizable, and very detail oriented.  Plus, GREAT support when you need it.  By far the best of it's kind.