Do you have a large collection that you have lost track of? Do you buy an item and then realize you already have it? Does your organizational system consist of boxes and boxes of items, some labeled, and some not? With Microsoft Excel©, a software program that often comes with your computer, and some thought, you can rein those collectibles in and have them on your computer, right at your fingertips.

Microsoft Excel© is a spreadsheet program organized around columns and rows. You decide what you want it to do. The general ideas in this guide also work for OpenOffice© and CorelOffice© and other spreadsheet programs (you can download free ones off the web) as well. I am in the process of organizing my 900 series Barbie clothes on Excel, and will use my spreadsheet to illustrate how it can be done. Most computer programs can do a lot more than I want to know how to do with them, so feel free to make your spreadsheet as elaborate or simple as you want. There are help screens on Excel to take you step-by-step through anything you want to do. Some people are selling mapped spreadsheet programs that do this for $30 and more (ebay is illustrating this by advertising some listings next to this guide)!

Step 1: Sit down with a pen and paper and think about your collection, and what would be helpful to have written down. For my Barbie Clothes, there are anywhere from 1-10 components to an outfit; each outfit has a name and number. It is helpful for me to know what condition each component is in so I can trade up, and sell ones that are duplicates. I like to track when I bought an item, and how much I paid for it. It would be nice to note the sellers I bought from so I can watch their stores. I want to see at a glance what I am missing, and have a visual indication that an outfit is complete. If I sell an item, I like to note when I sold it and for how much. I will keep the illustration simple for this Guide- outfits and components; yes or no. The pictures are very small, constrained by size limitations; it would help to open a window with your spreadsheet program, so you have a lifesized illustration to use.

Step 2: Determine how you will organize the grid. Column A in my grid is a text-only column, and it will list the names of the outfits and their numbers. I need to tell the program that column A will not be used for math or formulas, and how many characters to allow for the column. I will estimate it at 20 characters, and change it later if I need to. I like to be able to see the outfit and what I need to complete it without scrolling to the right in the row. Figure 1. Column A formatted. To get it to look this way I right-clicked on the A at the top of the column, clicked FORMAT CELLS, and clicked TEXT. Then I right clicked COLUMN WIDTH, entered 20 and clicked OK. Now I can enter the column title (I shortened the title so it can be seen completely in 20 characters) in Column A Row 1, skip a row, and then enter the outfit name and number by clicking in the row and typing the information beginning in row 4. (fig1)

There are finite types of outfit components, but not every outfit has every one. Each Column from B- will list a different component, and the rows below will be set up to accept 3 different conditions- it is part of the outfit (Y) and (*) I have it, it is part of the outfit and I do not have it (Y) only, or the outfit does not have that component (N). To make it stand out more, I will use red and green colors for indicatators: green means I have it, red I don't. Black N means the outfit doesn't have one. When I have the whole outfit, the whole line, including the title, will be green. It will be blue if I have some components, but not others, and It will be red if I have none of them.

I added the ability to indicate that an outfit comes with more than one of a type of item by putting in YY in red under blouses in row 6 and marking them red. Because the two blouses are different colors, and I want to know which one I have if I only have one, I am using a lowercase w for the white one and a lowercase b for the blue one.

This spreadsheet has only begun. There are many more fields to create. I can have pages that pop up, attached to a cell to add to the description of the item (SUCH AS when you click on the outfit name, I can have a pop-up description appear, and/or a link to a photo. I can make the data look pretty by clicking format on the tool bar and then style. In fig2 I changed the background color so the letter colors stand out more. It can be as simple or complicated as I choose.

You can do this, and it will most likely cost only the time you put into it! If you make a mistake, it is fixable. Best of all, when you organize your collection, you will have it under control, and one added benefit- if you keep a copy safely stashed in a safety deposit box, safe, or a location separate from where you keep the collection, it can be your record for insurance purposes. Have fun collecting- that is what it is all about!

1962 Fashion Queen Barbie in #963 Resort Set- missing her little charm bracelet; otherwise complete.