DVD Library

[kaujot]

How would you alphabetize the following:

Ghost World
Ghost Dog
Ghost Busters (or is it Ghostbusters?)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good Girl
Good Fellas (or is it Goodfellas?)

Ghostbusters
Ghost Dog
Ghost World

GoodFellas
The Good Girl
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

(though I'm most hesitant about the Leone)

[domino harvey]

You're crazy! Ghostbusters should go after the Ghost-titles because GhostSPACEThenWord comes before GhostA-ZWord

[kaujot]

You're crazy! Ghostbusters should go after the Ghost-titles because GhostSPACEThenWord comes before GhostA-ZWord

Oh duh. I forgot about spaces.

[swo17]

My question stems from the fact that I have seen both Ghostbusters and GoodFellas as one word or two separate words (see, for instance, the IMDb, where each version is listed as an aka). Obviously, each version of the title is subject to different alphabetization rules.

[Matt]

This is why you ignore spaces.

Ghostbusters
Ghost Dog
Ghost World

GoodFellas
The Good Girl
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Exactly as you had them. But that contravenes what most people, including professional indexers, are taught.

[PillowRock]

When I can't do that (The Alan Clarke Collection, The Complete Jean Vigo, The Work of Director Chris Cunningham, The Cary Grant Box Set), they go under the last name of the filmmaker/actor. Because how else would I find them? C for the Vigo set? W for the Cunningham?

I know that the staff at Borders (the one I generally stop at when they e-mail me 40% off coupon) consistently say that their store policy is to alphabetize such things according to the overall title of the "product" (from the store's POV).

So their policy would be to put The Complete Jean Viggo under C. (That is to say: it would be if it were a R1 set that they would carry.)

However, they are notoriously inconsistent at following their own policy. I've seen that Cary Grant Box Set shelved both under C and under G. In fact, there have been times when they had 2 copies in the store, and one of them was in each place. Of course, since they want interested customers to always find it, I can't really blame a store *too* much for putting one in each place when they have multiples in stock.

In that same store I've also seen those Lombard / West / Dietrich "Glamour Collection" sets shelved all over the place ...... C for Carole; L for Lombard; G for Glamour ...... you name it.

Out of curiosity, what do you do with non-separable boxes that are not themed for a particular individual? The Forbidden Hollywood sets, for example?

[Matt]

Forbidden Hollywood just goes under F. I don't like it, but that's what I have to go on. The set that really kills me is the Hollywood's Legends of Horror set from Warner Bros. Because I always forget the Hollywood's part.

This is when its helpful also to have your collection cataloged in something like DVD Aficionado, because it indexes all the individual titles in a set.

As a former big box bookstore employee, I'm surprised that there is a "store" policy on alphabetization. We were told to shelve based on what the barcode sticker says. It usually displays the genre and what is considered the title for shelving purposes. That way the same CD or DVD would be in the same place in every store in the country.

[swo17]

This is why you ignore spaces.

This is actually what I've been doing. I was just hoping for a librarian's approval.

Incidentally, am I the only one insanely bothered that Sherlock Jr. can't be found alphabetically under 'S' since it's on the same DVD as Our Hospitality, which is listed first on the cover?

[fiddlesticks]

My regular-sized cases are chronological within director, so alphabetization only comes into play in box sets. Director-themed box sets are alpha by director's family name; and actor-themed box sets are alpha by featured actor's family name--and these two areas are segregated from one another. That just leaves box sets that are not in either category, numbering exactly five, which I have sorted in this order (key letter in bold):
Classic Comedies
Ealing Studios DVD Collection
Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 2
Artificial Eye Japanese Masters
The Complete Thin Man Collection
I used to break up the box sets where possible, like Matt; however, for space maximization reasons I now keep the boxes together except where I've gotten rid of one or more of the component titles (e.g., I sold The Americazation of Emily and merged the rest of Controversial Classics into my mainstream collection.)

[colinr0380]

OK, how about Eclipse sets? Under E for Eclipse so that you get a nice numbered series going? Under the title of the set, though that means you need to remember William Klein is shelved under 'D' for Delirious Fictions? Under the surname of the filmmaker? Or under the title of a particular film in the set (and then which film do you choose? the earliest chronological film? the most 'important' film?)

[PillowRock]

As a former big box bookstore employee, I'm surprised that there is a "store" policy on alphabetization. We were told to shelve based on what the barcode sticker says. It usually displays the genre and what is considered the title for shelving purposes. That way the same CD or DVD would be in the same place in every store in the country.

To be fair, the policy may well be corporate. On the other hand, it's Borders and I live in Ann Arbor. I know that the post-growth corporate offices left the original Borders store # 1 much more to their own devices than they did the other stores ...... although I've heard that's much less true now than it used to be.

I just find it amusing how inconsistent they are about applying their own policy.

I also often get a good chuckle out their genre assignments. Most of the time, the oddities are things that are not in the Foreign Language section (such as the Raymond Bernard Eclipse set).

[PillowRock]

OK, how about Eclipse sets?

If you're asking Matt, I believe he already said that he splits them up.

If you're asking for other opinions ........ Don't mind me.

[Cinephrenic]

Um ... Why on earth would anyone throw away their DVD cases?

Stupidity I suppose. Why throw them away, just box them up and store them in the attic if it is a problem. You can always sell your DVDs one day. Frankly, they don't sell without the cases.

[Gregory]

Not always stupidity -- many of us don't have attics. I've been renting for the past ten years, due to moving around and living mainly in cities where I can't afford to buy a house. In my current location, a very small storage unit can easily cost upwards of $70-$100 per month. I still keep most of my DVDs in their original cases but have replaced many with cheap thinpaks or, if the disc was already scuffed up (I buy a fair number of titles used), in a CD wallet. Thus I've given away (or even sold at a very low price) hundreds of cases on Craigslist.
While I'm on the topic of throwing things away, I keep noticing people on the forum saying that they're going to throw away this or that title when a better release comes out. I hope this is a figure of speech for giving these things away to a thrift store or a library for a fund-raising sale. There are still a lot of people, for whom picture quality isn't really an issue, who can get use out of DVDs, and even VHS tapes, that we no longer want.

[fdm]

While I'm on the topic of throwing things away, I keep noticing people on the forum saying that they're going to throw away this or that title when a better release comes out. I hope this is a figure of speech for giving these things away to a thrift store or a library for a fund-raising sale. There are still a lot of people, for whom picture quality isn't really an issue, who can get use out of DVDs, and even VHS tapes, that we no longer want.

I tossed "The Rapture" in my shredder. (Think I kept the case though.)

The rest of my dups or whatevers are awaiting new homes at some point in time. These and many books, I am hoping to part with in the next year or so.

[Jonathan S]

There are still a lot of people, for whom picture quality isn't really an issue, who can get use out of DVDs, and even VHS tapes, that we no longer want.

That's absolutely true. I couldn't bear to throw away my off-air VHS tapes and for a long time even shipped boxes of them at cost to various collectors. Now I've found someone who is eager enough to pick them up from the house as I gradually replace or transfer them. Apart from the pleasure someone else may derive from them, it's good to know I'm not polluting the environment with a thousand plastic cassettes!

[Perkins Cobb]

I threw away my Outer Limits pre-recorded VHS cassettes (except for the one I had Joseph Stefano sign, which I remembered just in time) a couple of years ago, and saw most of them for sale on some stuff-fished-out-of-the-trash guy's table in a totally different part of the city a few weeks later. So I guess they ended up finding new homes and feeding some poor guy in spite of my laziness.

On the alphabetization thing, the French and Spanish articles are pretty obvious, but I'm realizing that I don't know the Italian ones. Does Gli Sbandati go under G or S?

[PillowRock]

There are still a lot of people, for whom picture quality isn't really an issue, who can get use out of DVDs, and even VHS tapes, that we no longer want.

That's absolutely true. I couldn't bear to throw away my off-air VHS tapes and for a long time

Well, I did eventually just pitch the big stack of off-air VHS recordings of the entire Babylon 5 TV series (5 seasons, 110 episodes; plus pilot and a few TV movies).

[LQ]

On the alphabetization thing, the French and Spanish articles are pretty obvious, but I'm realizing that I don't know the Italian ones. Does Gli Sbandati go under G or S?

gli is the article you use with masculine words beginning with a vowel, z, or s, so to answer your question, "S".

[Matt]

This is why you ignore spaces.

Ghostbusters
Ghost Dog
Ghost World

GoodFellas
The Good Girl
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Exactly as you had them. But that contravenes what most people, including professional indexers, are taught.

And I completely lied here. I thought my own collection was shelved disregarding spaces, but it is not. In which case you would shelve:

Ghost-a-Go-Go
Ghost Dog
Ghost World
Ghostbusters
Ghosts of Mars

Good/Bad
The Good Girl
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
GoodFellas
Goody, Goody Two Shoes

I made up a few titles for the sake of illustration. But really, it all comes down to whatever you prefer (house style always trumps existing guidelines). Ignoring spaces is just as valid as prioritizing them. In fact, the Chicago Manual of Style dictates a letter-by-letter approach, ignoring spaces. Here is a very informative page on all manner of alphabetization.

[Jeff]

I made up a few titles for the sake of illustration.

Imagine my disappointment. "Ghost-a-Go-Go" is the name of an episode of Gilligan's Island, and Goody, Goody Two Shoes is a 1903 short subject. I'd like to think you have bootlegs of both shelved among the rest of your titles.

Not that anyone asked, but I hate when multiple titles come in a single digipak (i.e. Universal's Preston Sturges set), because I can't alphabetize individual films by title. I'm not crazy about double features for the same reason. I also don't like boxed sets consisting of individual slim digipaks (i.e. Six Moral Tales) because I feel like the sleeveless digipaks are too fragile to shelve on their own.

For the vast majority of box sets of titles that are not part of a series, I yank everything out of the box and shelve by title. This is true of all Warner, Fox, Criterion/Eclipse, etc. that come with either standard or slim keepcases. I kept all of the empty boxes for a long time, but since most of the discs are sellable individually should I ever decide to go that route, I eventually trashed the boxes. I've kept the empty Criterion and Eclipse.

I go with what I think of as traditional alphabetization, using spaces (Ghost World before Ghostbusters) and ignoring all articles, including foreign ones.

[fiddlesticks]

I recently did some remodeling. The four shelves in the picture hold all of the movies, approximately 1000 titles. Single DVDs are alpha by director, chrono within director; box sets (along the tops of the tall bookcases) are alpha by featured actor (bookcase on left) or alpha by director (center and most of right case), followed by a few boxes that defy categorization and are alpha by box title. Blu-Rays, TV shows, and operas/classical music performance are out of the picture to the right, but collectively they'd barely fill one shelf of one of these bookcases. As always, the kevyips stick out for easy retrieval.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I recently did some remodeling. The four shelves in the picture hold all of the movies, approximately 1000 titles. Single DVDs are alpha by director, chrono within director; box sets (along the tops of the tall bookcases) are alpha by director (first two bookcases) or alpha by featured actor (most of third case), followed by a few boxes that defy categorization and are alpha by box title. Blu-Rays, TV shows, and operas/classical music performance are out of the picture to the right, but collectively they'd barely fill one shelf of one of these bookcases. As always, the kevyips stick out for easy retrieval.

The framed Criterion postcards up on the wall like that are a nice touch.

[tojoed]

Here's a dilemma. You own the Criterion Earrings of Madame de.., you also own the Second Sight Madame de. Same film, different titles. Where do you file them (assuming you use alphabetical and not by director)?

[domino harvey]

E and M, respectively. I had the same dilemma with Lorber's My Life to Live and Madman's Vivre se vie-- or at least I did until I sold the Lorber for $$$