Organizing DVDs

Ah, the movies! Who doesn't like sitting back and watching a good flick every now and again? It doesn't matter whether you are settling down to watch a classic romance like Casablanca with your significant other or getting ready to put in the latest action movie for a guy's night, just about everyone has their own favorite DVDs that they just have to have. There's only one problem with DVDs (as with books, CDs, or anything else that you might collect)—after awhile, if you are not careful, the DVDs can quickly take over your entire media room.

Organizing DVDs is as easy to do as organizing any other form of media. All it really takes is a little imagination, forethought, and dedication. Here are a few different ideas that you can use to help manage your unruly DVD collection the next time you find yourself in need.

• Category. Probably one of the classic methods for organizing anything, you can simply place all of your DVDs on a rack, in a cabinet, or some other sort of storage bin and organize them by general category. Some examples of the categories you could use to organize your movies include things like horror, romance, comedy, or even action. There are also a variety of sub-categories that you could separate your movies into. On a different note, you can also separate your DVDs into different sections like how well you enjoyed the movie. Then, of course, you can always use some permutation of this method.
• Alphabetical. Sorting your movies alphabetically is another of the classic methods for organizing your collection. The only question is in what method you are going to alphabetically sort the movies. Are you going to sort them by title or actor? Chronologically and by title? Chronologically, by title, and by actor? Choose whichever method is going to work best for your needs.
• Electronically. In this digital era, it is extremely easy to make copies of your DVDs and store them on the computer. However, if you do decide to use this method, don't share the copies with anyone and only make copies of the movies that come with some kind of permission to do so. (Many newer movies, when you purchase the DVD, also provide digital or downloadable copies.) Another electronic method that you can use is to create a catalog of your movies on the computer and periodically update that catalog.
• Albums. There are albums, similar in nature to photo albums, that you can purchase for CDs. Well, just because they were originally made for CDs doesn't mean that you can't use them for DVDs as well.