Three RP-LC column characterization protocols [Tanaka et al. (1989), Snyder et al. (PQRI, 2002), and NIST SRM 870 (2000)] were evaluated using both Euclidian distance and Principal Components Analysis to evaluate effectiveness at identifying equivalent columns. These databases utilize specific chromatographic properties such as hydrophobicity, hydrogen bonding, shape/steric selectivity, and ion exchange capacity of stationary phases. The chromatographic parameters of each test were shown to be uncorrelated. Despite this, the three protocols were equally successful in identifying similar and/or dissimilar stationary phases. The veracity of the results has been supported by some real life pharmaceutical separations. The use of Principal Component Analysis to identify similar/dissimilar phases appears to have some limitations in terms of loss of information. In contrast, the use of Euclidian distances is a much more convenient and reliable approach. The use of auto scaled data is favoured over the use of weighted factors as the former data transformation is less affected by the addition or removal of columns from the database. The use of these free databases and their corresponding software tools shown to be valid for identifying similar columns with equivalent chromatographic selectivity and retention as a backup column. In addition, dissimilar columns with complimentary chromatographic selectivity can be identified for method development screening strategies.807143-52