Best Ways to Organize a Classical Record LP Collection ?

I sort of agree with elee - 

I have my music divided into four groups, Orchestral, Vocal, Chamber, and solo (or two) piano music. In each group I sub-divide as needed for what ever is appropriate to me, for example  usually by composer/performer/label, but for solo piano I have two seperate sub groups, one for performers (i.e. I love Moravec so I have all of his music filed under his name) but more often filed by composer and I have them filed in the order of my personal performance preference.

To me it makes sense for you, having such a large collection to sort through, would be just to file them by composer. Then as you become more familiar with the actual recordings themselves where/how you want to file them should become evident.

What fun you should have.......:-)

I have a collection of about 3,000 classical LPs.  They are generally ordered chronologically by when composed.  Hence, medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, etc. Bach before Haydn before Mozart before Beethoven, etc. Vocal and opera recordings are segregated from instrumental but are also arranged chronologically.

 Recordings by the same composer are ordered: symphonies and other large orchestral works; concerti; chamber works; solo instruments.  It's far from perfect, but I can usually find what I'm looking for very quickly.

What I’ve done is to first sort into the following categories, and then within each category by composer, or by the composer of either the major work or the work that is of greatest interest to me in the case of recordings having works by multiple composers. One reason I chose this methodology is simply that in my case it happens to work out nicely with respect to the available shelving. The categories are:

-- Analog mastered recordings on labels which usually provide exceptionally good sound quality (e.g., Astrée, Harmonia Mundi, Chesky, Wilson Audio, Pierre Verany, some EMI, RCA Japan, etc.).

There are a number of past threads here providing discussions of the best sounding classical labels. Search posts by member Rushton in particular.

-- Digitally mastered recordings on labels which usually provide very good to excellent sound quality (e.g., Telarc).

-- Recordings on labels which usually provide good but not exceptional sound quality (e.g., Philips, London, Argo).

-- Historical recordings from the mono era (e.g., Toscanini)

-- Most others.

-- Recordings that are in questionable condition, or worse.

Enjoy! Regards,
-- Al

I have far more "Classical" (the term originally identified a time period and composition form or style, approximately the mid-18th century through almost mid-19th, including Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. You can see TV clips from the 1950s, in which what is now called Classical was then referred to as "serious"---as opposed to Pop---or "longhair"---a pre-Beatles term!---music) CDs than LPs, both organized the same: Alphabetically by composer, then alpha by composition title (The Rite of Spring, for instance) or form (concerto, sonata, symphony, etc.), then alpha by conductor (no offense to orchestra members implicate!). Collections are at the end, also alpha by either the performer (if appropriate) or period (Baroque, say). After the music, I have the overtly audiophile label recordings (Reference, Sheffield, Wilson) and audiophile re-issue label pressings (Chesky, Classic Records), alpha then numeric. 

Great info ! Very helpful.
So far I am reading that members are organizing. Not in any order.

By Label first, then Alphabetic (Composer or Performer)....
By Composer first, then Performer, with the label later ?
By an Organizational Category first, then Composer (Alpha)  
The chronological by date method sounds very interesting.

So is it true ? 

Filing By Label and release catalog number - You are an LP collector
File by Composer / Performer - You are more of a music lover.

This is the situation I am dealing with. A partial view of what I (and my wife) sees. 

https://goo.gl/photos/RcrVBfh656gh5XKt9

The records are temporarily in the front part of our house including the room where you enter. :^(   I am being asked (pressured) to move them. The numerous treasures I am finding is really slowing me down as I stand there and admire these records, losing focus. I tend to go onto the internet to read about them. This really slows down the process. I hate filing. I love listening. To see my existing main room is to see records (2k?) and cds, many all over the place, (not including files on the Western drive). I just know where everything is. This is no longer the case.  
  
I had some but not a lot of mono recordings before. I may now need to acquire a mono cartridge sometime in the future as I have come across a number of mono recordings i.e. Budapest String Quartet.