I’m trying to figure out what might be the easiest way to compile a database cataloging all of the short fiction I own (i.e., all of the stories contained in anthologies, collections, or magazines I own). You know, because it’s useful to know these things, especially since I hope to sell more anthologies in the future, some of which are likely to be reprint anthologies. Also, it would be useful if I just want to read a particular story too. I’ve purchased new anthologies on a number of occasions to read one particular story, only to later discover I already had it in another book.

What I’d want to be able to do is not only catalogue everything, but also be able to tag entries, so that I could label stories not only by author, publication, and date, but also by sub-genre and whatever else comes to mind.

At the moment, after some discussions with some HaX0R d00dz, I’m contemplating going with the rather simple Excel to sort the data, but if anyone has any other suggestions I’m all ears. Basically, I want it to be easily searchable, I want to be able to have fields for Title, Author, Publication, Date, Length, and Tags, and I’d like it to be somewhat easy to enter vast sums of information into it.

One problem I’ve run into in my initial explorations of Excel is that although I can cut and paste a TOC from the ISFDB or Locus Index, I have to tediously move the author into the author column, etc. I’m not sure there’s any way around that. Is there?