{"id":4091,"date":"2017-01-30T08:49:22","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T13:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/?p=4091"},"modified":"2017-01-30T08:49:22","modified_gmt":"2017-01-30T13:49:22","slug":"the-heyday-of-the-card-catalog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/2017\/01\/30\/the-heyday-of-the-card-catalog\/","title":{"rendered":"The Heyday of the Card Catalog"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The card catalog\u00a0was a library stalwart\u00a0for almost 200 years. The earliest use of a card system for inventory control is credited\u00a0to France where rare confiscated books were distributed to various repositories around Paris for safe keeping. Upon distribution, a card was created with basic bibliographic information to be held at the “Paris Bureau de Bibliographie”. The early application of cards sometimes involved the use of discarded playing cards and other non-standard formats and sizes. Other libraries resisted the use of cards and relied upon a\u00a0traditional ledger book for tracking and recording acquistions. However, the growth of library collections made the book format impractical and unwieldy for recording\u00a0entries and maintaining updates, leaving libraries to either manage\u00a0a haphazard list of annotated holdings or resort to transcribing a new updated ledger.\u00a0Ezra Abbot (1819\u20131884), assistant librarian of Harvard College, planned and implemented an alphabetic card catalog with a catalog based on to topics or subjects, creating a more efficient and effective method for inventory control and searching publications.<\/p>\n

The modern ubiquitous catalog card made its appearance in Britain and the United States around 1876, with Melvil Dewey, and his Library Bureau business, establishing card-size standards, recommended cabinetry, and instructions on the appropriate application of a card catalog system. Dewey, along with Thomas Edison, developed a preferred\u00a0“library hand” to be used in libraries and taught in library schools.\u00a0The chief advantage of the card catalog over the book catalog was how easy it was to add\u00a0new acquisitions to the file without making any older part of the catalog obsolete. That, in turn, made it easy to include added entries and offering users searching by title, author, or subject. The library catalog in turn\u00a0influenced the business sector providing an easy to maintain system for tracking\u00a0parts, products,\u00a0and transactions. While most\u00a0manufacturers targeted libraries, many\u00a0redeployed similar cabinetry and filing systems for use in businesses.<\/p>\n

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Some manufactures offered a modular expandable product targeted toward the\u00a0growing library collections as well as developing a long-term relationship between the company and the library.<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

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The Globe Co. \u00a0offered additional services “Competent catalogers will be furnished if desired to catalogue your library with the decimal classification…”<\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n

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A one-stop company: “The Library Bureau sells a system, not merely cards, cases and filing boxes. It not only supplies the needed material but assumes responsibility for its proper and effective working, which its twenty years experience makes it competent to do.”<\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n

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\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
“Globe” card catalogue for public or private libraries. [Cincinnati] : Card Index Department, The Globe Company, [1897].<\/span><\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:27163300<\/a><\/dd>\n
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Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

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\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
The card catalogue cabinet should grow as the books on the shelves increase. [New York?] : [publisher not identified], [between 1890 and 1899?].<\/span><\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:27163272<\/a><\/dd>\n
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Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

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\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
The Brooks card index system. Boston : Geo. H. Richter & Co., manufacturers of modern devices and furniture for public and private offices, banks and libraries, [between 1890 and 1899?].<\/span><\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:27163215<\/a><\/dd>\n
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Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

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\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
Library Bureau, issuing body. Correspondence. New York : Prepared and printed by The Whitman Co., [1899].<\/span><\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:27163341<\/a><\/dd>\n
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Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The card catalog\u00a0was a library stalwart\u00a0for almost 200 years. The earliest use of a card system for inventory control is credited\u00a0to France where rare confiscated books were distributed to various repositories around Paris for safe keeping. Upon distribution, a card was created with basic bibliographic information to be held at the “Paris Bureau de Bibliographie”. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4091"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4263,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4091\/revisions\/4263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}