I am very new to MySQL and the whole RDBMS mindset. I was wondering if I could find some help in trying to figure out a large-scale project I would like to implement for personal curiosity.

I have several thousand CDs and would like to design a PHP driven entry form to store the data into a MySQL database. I have already begun a table in Excel that I will eventually inport into the MySQL tables. Blah blah blah.

Here is the problem: I would like to store every bit of information I can about the CDs (group name, song titles, catalog number, release year...in the case of classical CDs, composers birthdate/deathdate, nationality, orchestra, etc.). Do I need a table for every piece of unique information? Like NationalityID | Nationality OR GenreID | Genre ? It seems to me like I will have lots of small tables. Also, how would these be connected?

I know this is a lot to ask. Maybe if someone can just begin the conceptualization I can grasp onto that and run with it.

Thanks in advance!

in one table use an id number to identify each item, you can use group, song title, length, genre etc.

in another table you could have info on the distributor ie Geffen, if you wanted that.

another table could cross reference group bios etc.

A good book with a basic idea of this (used for a video store as opposed to a music store) and some other concrete examples is:

Relational Database Design Clearly Explained
by Jan L. Harrington (through Barnes and Noble in US or Chapters/Indigo in Canada)