homemade solutions for multimedia challenges
I have way too much experience with solving the problem of CDs separated from their manuals--here are some solutions --
For my personal use, I glue or tape a heavy paper envelope onto the inside cover of the manual (if the cd is one I will rarely remove, and I will rarely use the manual, this works very well). I also like the CD to be within a paper sleeve before it goes into a pocket, so I make the pocket large enough to accommodate this. This takes 2 minutes.
However, it you use the cd a lot, there will be wear and tear on the pocket, so you might make it from reinforced paper from something like a fed-ex mailer. If bulk is not an issue and you don't like the pocket idea use a two-part velcro thingy between the plastic or card board case of the CD and the cover of the manual. A one-minute solution. Or keep both items together in a zip lock bag. If you have a family, or work in a group with students floating in and out, then threats and prayers about keeping these items together are needed to augment any technology you might come up with.
One technology that works if you have the wall space is to use the kind of metal clip board that tradesmen sometimes carry that has a box integral to it for their forms and pens. Keep the CDs and odd little papers that come with them in the box, along with the manual and have under the clipboard multiple photocopies of the most relevant part of the manual and whatever log you need for notes for who did what and when. Hang the clip board (s) on the wall when not in use. This works really well in a research lab where the CDs are needed by different personnel to recalibrate equipment frequently.
Some people keep all their CDs in a binder that contains permanent plastic pages with pockets for CDs or three-hole punched plastic pages with CD pockets. However, I feel these things are horrible--It is a big hunk of a binder and being three or four CDs deep it hangs off the edge of the shelf. Next to it sits the manuals that are small and slippery and pretty soon they have slid away. There is no real room for the paper instructions or the cd "liner notes", unless you appropriate the adjacent pocket and label it. and fold them up. Also, these pockets tend to be pretty tight so they rip easily and they don't repair well. And, I just don't like CDs rubbing tightly against plastic and there is no room for the paper sleeve.
I learned from a music teacher a system for when you need to keep notes, instructions, and CD together. Use a razor blade to remove the used pages from a partially used bound notebook. This makes space for the CDs, use velcro dots to hold in the CD case or make pocket, and finally tape or glue the relevant part of the manual to the notebook. If you need to refer to the manual while you write in the notebook, you can laminate the pages, punch a hole in the corner and tie them to the notebook.
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