Establish an authority file for composers and performers. This is a fancy library science term for a thesaurus or list of preferred versions of terms. Decide whether you are going to refer to a composer as "Beethoven" or "van Beethoven" (or "John Cougar" or "John Cougar Mellencamp")--and be consistent throughout your collection.
Establish an authority file for genres by identifying the ways you want to be able to search. For instance, you may want to be able to find "String Quartets," "Dance Music" or "Broadway" compact discs in your collection. Refer to them the same way each time.
Select the tool for your catalog. A table in Microsoft Word would be sufficient for a small collection, but a larger collection might demand a more complex database program. As long as you can sort or search by your tag names, the system will work.
Decide which ways you want to be able to search your collection. These will establish the tags (descriptions) you assign to each compact disc: "Performer," "Composer," "Genre," "Song Title" and ""Title of CD" are a few suggestions. These will correspond to the column headings in a table, the fields in a database, and the top line on an index card. (Multiple cards will need to be made for each tag.)
Assign a number to each of your CDs and affix an easy-to-see label. These numbers should be added to each entry of your table, database or cards. When you identify a number from a search of your catalog, you will be able to easily find the CD on the shelf if they are kept in order.