How to create a searchable database of anything – easily and for free

I have a fairly massive collection of vinyl albums to keep track of. I need to be able to add new items, search items, view items, and even  — on rare occasions — delete items.

There are plenty of dedicated apps for that purpose — the cataloging of vinyl albums — but I like to use desktop tools I already have installed. One such tool is LibreOffice, the open-source office suite. This free tool includes a powerful database feature that allows you to create databases and GUIs for interacting with your databases.

Also: 5 stand-out LibreOffice features that make it my go-to office suite

I’ll show you how to create a database with LibreOffice Base, which is free and included with the LibreOffice office suite.

Are you ready for this?

Let’s go.

Creating your first database

What you’ll need: To create a database, you’ll need LibreOffice installed on your platform of choice (Linux, MacOS, or Windows) and an idea of how you want to design your database. I’ll demonstrate this process by creating a database to store information about an album collection.

Also: 6 ways LibreOffice is better than Google Docs for serious writing work

Now comes the fun part.

Also: LibreOffice removes personal data from documents. Why that matters

Creating your first table

We’ve created our database; now we have to create a table. To do that, we’re going to call upon the wizard.

1. Open the wizard

From the main Base window (that is now opened to the new database we’ve created), click Use Wizard to Create Table.

2. Select the fields for the table

In the resulting pop-up, we must create the fields for our table. Depending on what you’re planning to use the database for, you’ll want to click either Business or Personal for the category. Since I’m creating a database for my vinyl collection, I’ll select Personal. 

3. Add your fields

There’s an easy way to do this. Click the “Sample tables” drop-down and check through the list to see if there’s an option that matches your needs. For my database, I’ll select CD-Collection, which will populate the Available Fields pane with field options. Once you’ve done that, select one of the fields and then click the > arrow to add it. You can also click >> to add all the fields simultaneously. I don’t need all the fields, so I’ll add Notes, Artist, Format, AlbumTitle, RecordLabel, and ReleaseYear. Once you’ve taken care of that, click Next.

Remember that if you go the custom route (instead of selecting from the list of samples), you’ll have to create the fields manually. This is why I suggest using one of the samples first.

Also: How to set the next style in LibreOffice and why you should

4. Types and formats

In the next window, you’ll find the types and formats are already set (because we’re using a sample table). This is a good chance to see how fields are created. Keep the defaults and click Next.

5. Create the primary key

The primary key is a unique identifier for each record in a database that allows information to be linked from one table to another. By default, the wizard is set to automatically create a primary key. Stick with that, and click Next.

6. Create the table

Click Next and then click Finish to complete the process and create the table. 

After finishing the wizard, the database will open, ready for entry. You’ll see it’s laid out with the fields you’ve added. You can click on the top left cell and start creating entries. 

And that’s it! You now have a database that can hold as many entries as you need. Make sure you save the database as you enter data, and then you can search, filter, and sort the information.

Next time, I will show you how to easily build a GUI to make data entry even easier.

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