Adhesive labels CD/DVDs. OK?

[ChrisGreaves]

I suspect that posing this question indicates I have doubts about the matter. Nonetheless ...
In the Good Old Days^(TM) reels of tape and mountable drives had both external and internal labels.
The internal labels could be read by the computer, so a program could check that the operators had mounted the correct volume.
The external label was a physical medium, often enough a business-card size card slotted into a holder on the outside of the case, but sometimes heavily-taped to the casing, or in the case of tapes, to the outer surface of the spool. What this did to the balance of the spool i do not know.

Here I am with my Macrium bootable rescue disk (hooray!) and i have used a black marker pen to write "Macrium bootable" and today's date on the shiny upper-surface.

What if I were instead to use a Stick-It note, and remove that note prior to inserting the CD?
I'm sure I shouldn't fix anything permanent in nature to the surface, but what about when the CD/DVD is sitting in the jewel case, year after year?

[HansV]

I wouldn't use an adhesive label on a disk that is intended for long-term storage. The glue may deteriorate over time, either causing chemical damage to the disk, or causing the label to be unstuck in places.
(And you'd have to be very careful to center the label - which should be circular, not semi-circular - precisely, otherwise you might compromise stability)

I wouldn't use a post-it note either - some of the glue will stick to the disk.
A marker pen intended for CDs and DVDs is the best way to "label" a disk.

[John Gray]

What if I were instead to use a Stick-It note, and remove that note prior to inserting the CD?
I'm sure I shouldn't fix anything permanent in nature to the surface, but what about when the CD/DVD is sitting in the jewel case, year after year?

Why not just include an appropriately-sized and -labelled piece of plain paper in the jewel case?
This would still apply if you had moved over to the thinner and less-space-occupying clear plastic CD/DVD envelopes.