Slim line jewel cases
Slim line jewel cases have become a fairly common sight in computer stores. They are the same size as standard jewel cases but half
as thick. They offer pretty much the same protection to the disk and take up half the space. Good for mailing in padded envelopes.
As with standard jewel cases, they are available for the mini (8cm) disks as well.
Though they take a normal insert in the front, the back side, which varies from transparent to fully opaque and comes in a
variety of colors, offers no provision for an insert and the spine requires a special insert
that must be awkwardly folded. The tiny writing or printing which would then be visible in the spine would be very difficult to read
from the side if a bunch of slimline cases are put on a shelf. So if you are looking for a particular CD/DVD you might have to pull
out each case individually.
Clam shells
Clam shells are round with a straight left side which accommodates a hinge.
They are usually made of hard plastic and vary from transparent to opaque and are available in a variety of colors with some
variation in shape, such as the "fish" design. These are also availble for
mini disks.
They don't accept inserts so labelling would consist of writing on them with a black marker or gluing some sort of label. Those with
a transparent front would, of course, allow the disk's own labelling to show through. These are seldom seen in computer stores and
seem to be a niche item.
CD boxes
These are hard plastic boxes with pages inside to hold individual disks, either 1 or two on each side, depending on the size of the
box. They have clear plasic on the outside to accomadate a printed insert. CD boxes can hold 12, 24 or 48 disks.
The 24 disk boxes can fit in a "media" shelf, the
48 disk box will fit in a regular bookshelf.
The 12 disk boxes are very economical, selling for less than $1 each! These
are ideal for sending out small collections of disks, or reducing the shelf space occupied by numerous disks in Jewel cases. A
number of related individually labelled disks can be put in one box with a sheet of paper oriented sidewise and cut or folded with
a description of the group either printed or written down the middle so that it shows on the spine when inserted in the plastic.
CD wallets
A product seemingly aimed at users of portable CD audio players, CD wallets
have many other uses as well. The 28 disk wallets fit in a media shelf, the 56 disk and 96 disk wallets will fit in a
standard bookcase, safely storing nearly 100 disks in the space occupied by a standard dictionary.
Those who have a lot of DVDs or audio CDs not kept in regular commericial packaging will find it handy to keep one or more of these
near the player, and owners of DVD recorders will find them especially useful for storing recordings of their favorite TV shows.
Those with really large collections of media or data can use these to store several thousand disks in a standrd sized bookshelf!
Other options
There are many other storage options available such as briefcase carriers,
desk towers , album pages for standard and special binders, etc.
Of course, with most storage options it is desirable to label the disk itself. Next we will look at the labelling options currently
available.
