Alphabetically or Chronologically?

[AnarchistFish]

An article to warm the cockles of this librarian's heart! Back in library school, our Classification professor asked us how we organized our personal collections, and there was a similar variety of answers.

Alphabetically by series, chronologically within the series.

I had a longstanding argument with my brother recently about whether "2010 Fifa World Cup" should go under F for Fifa (obviously the correct choice) or at the end with the numbers.

I won.

I do what AnarchistFish does, only titles starting with numbers go at the beginning at the alphabet. For the record, I think you are right but the cataloguers here at work claim the rules favour your brother in our catalogue.

I will fight the cataloguers in court.

Captcha: never give up
tis an omen

 

[orangeapples]

I have them organized by console, then alphabetically by franchise, then chronologically within franchise

For example, in the PS2 I have Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Re: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 2 in that order, even though they were released, KH, KH2, KH:Re:CoM

 

[Veloxe]

Newer console games (360, PS3) are just stacked in vertical piles (until they become structural unstable and then another pile begins). Then they just rotate as I play them. Keeps played games near the top of the pile and lets me see which games haven't been touched in awhile. If I notice certain games are near the bottom for too long I look into trading them for other games I never got around to buying. I like how fluid this system is for newer games and helps remind me when I need to go back and play an older game. Although I really should invest in some shelves I think...

Older console games are all in labelled boxes by console and then organized alphabetically. I'm sure if they were on display I'd try to organize them so similar games were stacked closer together but as it stands I think my system serves its purpose.

 

[Susan Arendt]

I shudder at the thought of not keeping things in their original boxes. Shudder, I tell you.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

My DVD's are organized by standard video store genre. (Comedy, Action/Adventure, Animation, Television, Sch-Fi/Horror etc.)
My Games are organized by platform.

After that I start to break it down into a mutant halfbreed organizational method. It's pretty simple to understand but it always throws people off.

It goes like this.

Alphabetically by the first title in a series.

So for example my PS2 collection has a cross section that looks like this.

Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Front Mission 4
Frequency
Amplitude
God of War

Strictly alphabetical until you get to Amplitude, which is placed where it is because it's the sequel to Frequency.

 

[Wade Knapik]

Alphabetically by series, chronologically within the series.

This is the way to do it. My CDs(Yes. I still buy CDs) and graphic novels are sorted the same way. I can tell what I'm missing at a glance.

 

[LadyRhian]

I don't really have enough games to organize (other than in a rudimentary way), but my DVDs are alphabetical by title, then by series season for the series I watch (CSI, CSI:NY, Criminal Minds, Mission Impossible and so on). For my games, I don't alphabetize, but the games and expansions are by order released. So, Sims2, the University, Nightlife and so on, up to Pets. My Baldur's Gate CDs are in number order in the plastic sleeve they originally came in, followed by Tales of the Sword Coast, and then Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, followed by Throne of Bhaal...

 

[-Samurai-]

Mine are in a "what I play most" order, and chronological order after that, unless the series spans multiple generations. Then they're in their generation group in chronological order.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

What's wrong with just having a big pile on the floor?

 

[F-I-D-O]

I organize by platform, then alphabetically (grouping series). For example, 3D Dot Game Heroes is at the front of my collection of PS3 games, but Resistance 2 is immediately after Resistance: Fall of Man. If a collection gets crazy, I then sort by genre (that's how my steam list is organized).
Books and movies however, are a different matter. I should probably fix them, but I know EXACTLY where the Special edition DVD of Empire Strikes Back and my Lord of the Rings books are.

 

[purf]

Yeah, PC only and thus: Parallel Universe stuff right here. I own about twenty games as "hardware", three of those I actually play, one of those requires the inserted disc. I hide the boxes in whatever order in IKEA's "PS", under the tv-set.

 

[Lev The Red]

i keep all my games in a big cd case, and the cases on a shelf. i organize them both the same way: alphabetically by series, then chronologically by each game's place in the series.

 

[Actino]

I order my collection from my worst game to my favourite game.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is on the far left (worst)
Mass Effect 3 is on the far right (best), followed by Skyrim then Mass Effect 2.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

Right now it's kind of a mess really 'cause i've been playing through games i didn't think i'd ever dust off again, but normally i keep things organized in a backwards fashion (Z-A and 3-1) and that's really only to fuck with people who look through my collection, but after a few years of that it's really become as familiar and easy to understand as the common model.

Franchises are kept together chronologically, but that too goes from right to left.

 

[iamwill2]

Great article, I keep all of my games in their boxes and have them sorted by alphabetical order, but all of my friends just haphazardly leave their games laying around.

 

[Vault101]

hmm..I dont really have a specific order

though I love to "display" things rather than keep then boxed...which makes me wonder what i should so with a while bunch of old gameboy games i have..hmm

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Mine are organized by platform, then by genre, then by age. My PC game shelf is probably the best example of how it's sorted. It hoes from turn based RPGs on one side, to space flight sims on the other, with games sorted down esentialy to the subgenre level. It's hard to describe exactly, but if you know what each game on the shelf is, there's a certain logic to why each game is sitting where it is.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

By platform, alphabetically, on which shelves fit the cases. I found a special box that was designed for storing N64 titles, so that saves me some space. It's quite simple, really. I didn't start knowing that I was collecting until the PS1, which was too late to save the boxes for the cartridges. But every disc game I have is in it's original case, with booklets, leaflets, and all. How people can place discs into other cases or throw cases out totally baffles me. Why one would ever do such a thing I'll never understand.

 

[xdom125x]

For current gen games I separate them by platform, then they are alphabetically ordered by series then put in chronological order (by release dates within the series) on shelves. Everything else is in a box in a closet.

For movies it is basically just straight alphabetical order with only 1 exception (I put the Harry Potter movies into chronological order since they would all be next to each other anyway).

For comic books I try to keep them in chronological order, since most of them are in the same universe.


Oh, and nice article.

 

[Hulyen]

My DVD's are organized by standard video store genre. (Comedy, Action/Adventure, Animation, Television, Sch-Fi/Horror etc.)
My Games are organized by platform.

After that I start to break it down into a mutant halfbreed organizational method. It's pretty simple to understand but it always throws people off.

It goes like this.

Alphabetically by the first title in a series.

So for example my PS2 collection has a cross section that looks like this.

Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Front Mission 4
Frequency
Amplitude
God of War

Strictly alphabetical until you get to Amplitude, which is placed where it is because it's the sequel to Frequency.

Very much this for me as well. Amplitude is the one that throws people off for me as well, heh.