LR is good when photos is your only media. In regards to finding out where images are stored, I have a process where I methodically place the location of the image into the searchable meta-data of the file. That is, when I burn a DVD, I add "DVD###" as a keyword. Anal? Yes.
Now, at corporate, we use cumulus, and that program will work with adobe DNGs, AND it will recognize and use the embedded LR meta data for searches. Cumulus has a web based portal that allows our clients/employees to search the files based on keywords and then download the RAW or convert it to another format. So, for instance, I perform a shoot in Penn State Hosp, and over lunch edit on my labtop, add meta data in LR, then upload to cumulus. Then our designers in North Carolina or Europe can search for and download the same DNGs, (the latest version has plugins that hook directly in Bridge) and import them in to PS for their own work. All of my edits preserved.
Of course, cumulus is very good DAM software and will work with all the other media types we can throw at it. Using DNGs is the key to making that work, and I simply can't pass LR up for the time it saves me in processing my work.