Recollector User’s Guide

Setting up a Collection - Overview

The first time you run Recollector, your initial step will be to create your first collection database. This is done from Recollector’s Control Window, which will be shown when you start the program for the first time:

Note: If you are running the evaluation version (Demo Mode) of the product, an additional button will be shown on the dialog, which will allow you to register the product, converting it from Demo Mode to a fully registered, unrestricted version.

In order to perform the setup for your first collection database, click the Create New Collection button. You will then be given a choice of creating a new, empty, collection (based on a template chosen from a set of collection-type templates provided by the program) or creating a collection, including data, from an external data source (either an Excel spreadsheet or a tab-delimited text file).

Creating a collection is actually a fairly quick and simple process, regardless of whether you are creating a collection from a template or from an external data file. During the collection creation process, you will be telling Recollector the following things:

· A name for your collection (for example, “My Coin Collection”).

· The fields (discrete pieces of information) that you want to include for each data record.

· The name and location of the file on the computer where your collection will be stored. (Your collection will be saved as a single file on the hard disk of your computer.)

· Optionally, the location of the directory where digital images (as well as audio or video clips) of your collection items are stored.

If you created an empty collection from a template, you can then enter data into the collection in one of two ways:

• Type in the data through data-entry screens that Recollector provides.
• Import data that is stored either in an Excel spreadsheet or in a tab-delimited text file.

Note: Recollector allows you to catalog multiple collections. In the Recollector Control Window (shown above), the Manage Collections / Select Current Collection button lets you manage the list of collection databases that you have created, and lets you select which is the “current” collection database. The current collection is the one that will be shown if you click the Show Collection button. After you have exited from Recollector, the next time that you start the program the most recently selected “current” collection will be automatically opened and displayed.

Read the section Defining a new collection for a full description of the process of creating a new, empty, collection from a template.

Read the section Creating a Collection from an Excel Spreadsheet or a Text File for a full description of the process of creating a collection, including data, from an external data file (Excel spreadsheet or tab-delimited text file).

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