Scan and Organize Your Movies and CDs

What do you get the person who has hundreds of movies, compact discs, and books? It may be too early to start making New Year's resolutions, but maybe you can help your spouse get his/her media library a little organized next year. I don't know if this has happened to you, but I have bought the same movie twice because I wasn't sure I already had it in my collection. A few years ago, a friend of mine got me into the habit or organizing my media library alphabetically. Being the neat freak that she was—she reminded me of Friends' Monica Gellar—she took it a step further by keeping an inventory list of all her CDs. As much as I loved her organization method, I just didn't have her motivation to keep track of my outrageous library.

Fast-forward a few years into the future, and look what I found over at Gearlog. I think this is the perfect solution for media enthusiasts who need an effortless tracking system. Flic Scanner Media Organizer uses a bar code scanner to automatically catalog any items in your entertainment library. You basically scan the bar code on the back of movie packages, CDs, or books you own, and plug the scanner into your computer to download all the information you collected.

Once installed, the Collectorz.com software will automatically collect cover art, title track information, and other details of all the items scanned by the FLIC scanner. That's it! Now you can browse, search, and keep track of who borrowed your movies on your personal media database. I think this sounds like an amazing system that would make any neat freak happy.

On the downside, the scanner and software are very expensive. I'm not sure I want to pay $195 for it. The FLIC package includes a laser bar code scanner, serial and USB cables, and Collectorz software. It works with computers running on Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP, and you'll need an Internet connection to use the software.

How do you keep your library organized? Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative?