Johannes Gebauer wrote:
My orchestra needs to create a database for its small, but growing music
library. Can someone give me some hints on how to do this, preferable on
a Mac? I want something which is easy to maintain and where I can see
how many string parts we have, perhaps also who borrows which part, etc.
Johannes
I can't recommend a program for Mac, but it can be done with
either a spreadsheet or a database. Either program should
give you the ability to look at the data in different ways.
Just be sure to spend some time to decide just what sort of
information you will likely want to know in the future.
Some suggested fields (or columns in a spreadsheet):
Title
Composer
Arranger
Publisher
Instrumentation [this could be the field where you actually
include the numbers of parts you have]
Style / Historical Period [you could use a code to
indicate period or pops and Christmas if you have any]
Date last programmed
Notes
I can't think of a practical way other than a sheet of paper
(how analog!) to keep track easily of who borrows which part.
There are ways which would be more difficult to set up and
maintain, involving relational databases, one for the
library (each piece with a numeric code) and one for the
membership (each member with a membership number) and one
for programs (each program with a unique ID of some sort)
and then you could make a note in each person's record of
which parts from which pieces are on loan to that person.
One word of warning -- using relational database to keep
track of the stuff you want can take increasingly more time
for someone to spend at a computer making sure that the data
is current.
An easier way might be to just use a notebook with a sheet
of paper with all the information (except who borrowed which
part) for each piece. Then use a file-card system for
people to borrow parts.
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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