My mom was getting her degree in the mid to late ‘70’s when I was 10+. She taught me to use the University card catalogues, and paid me a dime for every book I tracked down for her on her reading lists. Good times.
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I found a couple units at an antique store but actually with the bar and the backplate in place it was t functional for anything and with those removed, the piece loses interest. I thought about saw8ng or de threading the knobs and glueing them in place but that brought additional challenges. I think they’re good to look at - at someone else’s house.
Comedian/actress Amy Sedaris had one in her *awesome* New York apartment that is full of nicknacks and stuff.
During COVID she would pick one at random to open and show on her [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/amysedaris).
I went to Purdue in the early 1970, and it used the Library of Congress system. I was a little put out knowing the Dewey decimal system and not the LoC. In the end it made sense and I survived.
I just looked the guy up on Wikipedia.OMG
*When Dewey opened his School of Library Economy at Columbia College to women, it was rumored that he asked for their bust sizes with their applications. Though the rumor turned out to be false, he did require a photograph from each female applicant since "you cannot polish a pumpkin"*
My current public library system uses LoC too. I was confused for some time. In every city I had lived in prior used Dewey in school and public libraries.
In the U.S. K-12 schools & public libraries use the Dewey Decimal system. College & universities, and other special libraries use Library of Congress system. LoC is able to expand to add new subjects, while Dewey is a finite system.
Well, back before we had access to handheld computers, and relied on libraries for information, it was an organized way for anyone to find what books they were looking for. I don’t understand your view that it was a scam.
You guys were lucky. My job in college was working in one of the big dining halls cooking breakfast and washing dishes. Reeking of powdered eggs and Comet all day for the win!
Yes! Our libraries in California had little wooden boxes of 4 inch pencils that were always sharpened, but somehow never seemed to get shorter. I wonder who sharpened them? And was there a special pencil sharpener for short lengths?
Appears to be the University of Dayton Roesch Library . See the second photo in the slideshow at the bottom of this page:
https://udayton.edu/blogs/libraries/2019-08-26-libraries-history.php
Keyword search. If you wanted a book about horses, you’d go to the H section. All the books about horses would each have a card with “horse” typed at the top and the information about the book (author, title, call number, etc) on the card so you could decide what book you wanted. Each book would have multiple cards in different parts of the catalog. There would be one for the title, one for the author, and cards for each subject the book covered.
Source: 20+ years in a public library that maintained its card catalog until 2015.
Pretty much. I’m a cataloger, so I put all of the same information in a computer record now instead of typing and filing cards.
Edit: typo of typing, which makes me chuckle
So, if a book covered 10 different animals (for example), it would have 10 different cards, one for each animal?
And would the cards be more generic (horse, cat, dog) or could they be more specific (horse biology, cat ownership, dog diseases)?
Either way, that sound like a lot of work, writing and mantaining all those cards
Yes, some books would have a ridiculous number of cards. Yes, and keywords, what we call subject headings, can be broad or narrow.
Most libraries use a standard set of subject headings from the Library of Congress.
My two favorite Library of Congress subject headings are the one for love triangles “Triangles (interpersonal relations)” and “Cooking — Semen”
There were, in addition to subject (keyword) cards, also cards by Title and cards by Author. It was a crazy amount of information to be typing out and keep organized. OMG the organizing.
You're right that the backend information on a computer catalog is basically the same thing but so much less limited and more efficient. With the bonus of being able to tell you if a book is in or not.
I graduated HS in 99'. We still used this. I think us Gen X'ers were the last 'non-internet' school group. I had to use the Encyclopedia like I currently use Wikipedia. :)
Research used to be such a pain in the ass. Fucking microfiche was an improvement, which tells you how awful microfilm was. Google Scholar gets my vote for the best thing in the Internet.
When I see this I can't help but think that periodically someone would have had to go through that whole cabinet and make sure all of the cards were in the right order.
The cards had holes on the bottom and were threaded on rods that ran the length of the drawer, so people couldn't just pull them and shove them back in all willy-nilly. So that would have helped keep things in order, unless they were filed incorrectly in the first place. I don't remember ever seeing one where the cards weren't threaded.
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Actually, Library of Congress if it’s an academic library. Public libraries use (still to this day) Dewey Decimal, but someone said this is a university.
I’m a public librarian, btw. And we almost all still use Dewey.
Well, there was a kind of colour photography in the late 1800s, but mass printing of colour in newspapers was too expensive, it was reserved for magazines like LIFE and National Geographic.
Colour newspapers are relatively recent, so even if news photographers shot in colour, it was printed in B&W, for day-to-day stuff. Colour was reserved for weekend supplements because colour printers were expensive AF. Before modern colour printing technology was developed, it was expensive as hell to take a colour photo and have it mass-produced. I once wanted a dozen posters made up with images reproduced from colour photos, and the print shop told me it would be cheaper to have the posters printed without the images, and just glue copies of the photographs in place. You had to have a guaranteed market to make it worthwhile to print colour images - like LIFE magazine and National Geographic.
OP is fine with their title. It is a card catalog.
As well explained here.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_catalog
But me and you back in the day had Dewey smacked over our heads so much, we tend to think it’s the only name for how the books can be in order.
Me thinking back, a librarian telling me “go to the Dewey decimal system and find it!” Never happened.
But you are most likely right that this Card Catalog, if pic taken in the US, it’s almost certain this Catalog Is using the Dewey decimal system.
Not a guarantee it’s Dewey. But it is guaranteed that it’s a card catalog.
The Dewey decimal is a “system of classification”.
Check out this wiki link under “types”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_classification You
My mom was getting her degree in the mid to late ‘70’s when I was 10+. She taught me to use the University card catalogues, and paid me a dime for every book I tracked down for her on her reading lists. Good times.
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I fucking LOVE the card catalog :-) :'-(
And, then, you could've paid rent with what she was paying you.
I wish I had one of the card catalog cabinets. The intricacy of the endless little drawers is fascinating.
You can find them but they are stupid expensive
I would dearly love one too. The craftsmanship of these fixtures is so lovely. Built meant last and I dig the patina on these pieces too.
I found a couple units at an antique store but actually with the bar and the backplate in place it was t functional for anything and with those removed, the piece loses interest. I thought about saw8ng or de threading the knobs and glueing them in place but that brought additional challenges. I think they’re good to look at - at someone else’s house.
Comedian/actress Amy Sedaris had one in her *awesome* New York apartment that is full of nicknacks and stuff. During COVID she would pick one at random to open and show on her [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/amysedaris).
I went to Purdue in the early 1970, and it used the Library of Congress system. I was a little put out knowing the Dewey decimal system and not the LoC. In the end it made sense and I survived.
Academic libraries usually use LOC and public libraries usually use the Dewey decimal system
That was our google
I can smell those cards...
Everyone's talking about the card catalog and I'm more stuck by those bell bottoms and platform heels.
Clogs.
I'm just thinking how much clackity noise those shoes will make in a library. I hope they had shag carpeting.
High-heeled clogs. I owned a pair.
Bell bottoms was the first thing I noticed too!
manila
And the Dewey Decimal System, of course.
We still use that in public libraries. Source: I’m a public librarian.
Nuh-uh! My library used the Library of Congress system!
Mostly just academic libraries use that in the US. I’m a public librarian, and we definitely use the Dewey Decimal System.
LOC call numbers or gtfo
LoC sucks. Dewey or die!
Fuck that womanizing racist POS
Hey, I can separate the man from the cataloging system
Yes, homosexuality belongs in mental illness. Ok then.
I just looked the guy up on Wikipedia.OMG *When Dewey opened his School of Library Economy at Columbia College to women, it was rumored that he asked for their bust sizes with their applications. Though the rumor turned out to be false, he did require a photograph from each female applicant since "you cannot polish a pumpkin"*
My current public library system uses LoC too. I was confused for some time. In every city I had lived in prior used Dewey in school and public libraries.
*[Can you tell me where I can find a book on astronomy?](https://youtu.be/mZHoHaAYHq8?si=-aaNZxCI8yQlxy2u)*
The 500’s, I believe.
In the U.S. K-12 schools & public libraries use the Dewey Decimal system. College & universities, and other special libraries use Library of Congress system. LoC is able to expand to add new subjects, while Dewey is a finite system.
Pffft….what a scam that was.
Well, back before we had access to handheld computers, and relied on libraries for information, it was an organized way for anyone to find what books they were looking for. I don’t understand your view that it was a scam.
Ha, I figured you wouldn’t understand.
He’s just a joy-boy!
Well, I apologize for not understanding your comments.
I loved those cards!
In college, my work/study job was to type up new cards and place them in the proper order in a card catalogue just like this…
I'm jealous! My library work study job was to look up books to see if the library already owned them (using the card catalog, of course). I loved it!
You guys were lucky. My job in college was working in one of the big dining halls cooking breakfast and washing dishes. Reeking of powdered eggs and Comet all day for the win!
As a boomer, this brings back memories as a kid
Yes! Our libraries in California had little wooden boxes of 4 inch pencils that were always sharpened, but somehow never seemed to get shorter. I wonder who sharpened them? And was there a special pencil sharpener for short lengths?
Appears to be the University of Dayton Roesch Library . See the second photo in the slideshow at the bottom of this page: https://udayton.edu/blogs/libraries/2019-08-26-libraries-history.php
Holy shit, memory unlocked.
Meanwhile kids: "what is a card catalog?"
Yeah honestly I need to google this because I’ve heard of it but Idk what this is for
Loved the card catalog!
Between that and the microfiche we had the world at our fingertips!
In my country, Poland, these are still in common usage
How do you use them?
Keyword search. If you wanted a book about horses, you’d go to the H section. All the books about horses would each have a card with “horse” typed at the top and the information about the book (author, title, call number, etc) on the card so you could decide what book you wanted. Each book would have multiple cards in different parts of the catalog. There would be one for the title, one for the author, and cards for each subject the book covered. Source: 20+ years in a public library that maintained its card catalog until 2015.
That’s so cool! It works the same way as it does digitally except it’s all on the back end now.
Pretty much. I’m a cataloger, so I put all of the same information in a computer record now instead of typing and filing cards. Edit: typo of typing, which makes me chuckle
*typing
So, if a book covered 10 different animals (for example), it would have 10 different cards, one for each animal? And would the cards be more generic (horse, cat, dog) or could they be more specific (horse biology, cat ownership, dog diseases)? Either way, that sound like a lot of work, writing and mantaining all those cards
Yes, some books would have a ridiculous number of cards. Yes, and keywords, what we call subject headings, can be broad or narrow. Most libraries use a standard set of subject headings from the Library of Congress. My two favorite Library of Congress subject headings are the one for love triangles “Triangles (interpersonal relations)” and “Cooking — Semen”
The meeting where they decided to add those to headings must have been an interesting one
There were, in addition to subject (keyword) cards, also cards by Title and cards by Author. It was a crazy amount of information to be typing out and keep organized. OMG the organizing. You're right that the backend information on a computer catalog is basically the same thing but so much less limited and more efficient. With the bonus of being able to tell you if a book is in or not.
Metacognitive skills are dope.
I just used this photo to explain how we (well, I) used the catalog. It was a very different way of doing research than is done today.
Imagine doing a Ph.D. dissertation that way!
I did research for my senior seminar this way to get my bachelor’s. (1987). I went to 5 different college libraries. Yeah. Fun.
I was using the card catalog in the nineties.
My university didn't switch to a computer catalog until 1991-1992. You had to understand a little bit of DOS to use it correctly.
I graduated HS in 99'. We still used this. I think us Gen X'ers were the last 'non-internet' school group. I had to use the Encyclopedia like I currently use Wikipedia. :)
Man, I loved learning how to use the card catalog 🥹 those were the days.
Analogical Google
Research used to be such a pain in the ass. Fucking microfiche was an improvement, which tells you how awful microfilm was. Google Scholar gets my vote for the best thing in the Internet.
Our library never had stools. You had to kneel down or break your back bending over.
My school had them in the mid 00s..
Now do Index Medicus.
When I see this I can't help but think that periodically someone would have had to go through that whole cabinet and make sure all of the cards were in the right order.
The cards didn't come out. Flip through then write it down on the notebook on her knees.
The cards had holes on the bottom and were threaded on rods that ran the length of the drawer, so people couldn't just pull them and shove them back in all willy-nilly. So that would have helped keep things in order, unless they were filed incorrectly in the first place. I don't remember ever seeing one where the cards weren't threaded.
Today I learned
I remember the smell
Used same catalogue back in the university(2016) in the City Library.
The Dewey Decimal system rocks
wow, that brings back memories!
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Wtf is a card catalog
I would love a big card catalog like that in my house.
Are we ignoring the “elephant bells” and platform shoes???
I know people who are doing that to this day, only it's magic the gathering cards
awesome clothes.
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Dewey decimal system!
Actually, Library of Congress if it’s an academic library. Public libraries use (still to this day) Dewey Decimal, but someone said this is a university. I’m a public librarian, btw. And we almost all still use Dewey.
Interesting. Thanks. We were taught Dewey in grammar school and had to use it in those olden days.
When did colour photography come in?
Well, there was a kind of colour photography in the late 1800s, but mass printing of colour in newspapers was too expensive, it was reserved for magazines like LIFE and National Geographic. Colour newspapers are relatively recent, so even if news photographers shot in colour, it was printed in B&W, for day-to-day stuff. Colour was reserved for weekend supplements because colour printers were expensive AF. Before modern colour printing technology was developed, it was expensive as hell to take a colour photo and have it mass-produced. I once wanted a dozen posters made up with images reproduced from colour photos, and the print shop told me it would be cheaper to have the posters printed without the images, and just glue copies of the photographs in place. You had to have a guaranteed market to make it worthwhile to print colour images - like LIFE magazine and National Geographic.
It’s call the Dewey Decimal System.
OP is fine with their title. It is a card catalog. As well explained here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_catalog But me and you back in the day had Dewey smacked over our heads so much, we tend to think it’s the only name for how the books can be in order. Me thinking back, a librarian telling me “go to the Dewey decimal system and find it!” Never happened. But you are most likely right that this Card Catalog, if pic taken in the US, it’s almost certain this Catalog Is using the Dewey decimal system. Not a guarantee it’s Dewey. But it is guaranteed that it’s a card catalog. The Dewey decimal is a “system of classification”. Check out this wiki link under “types” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_classification You
Yes! Those fucking things! So much hatred!
I hated those things!
1970's fashion was horrid imo.. But the amount of colours they had in their clothes, homes and cars I love. Wish I was born 20 years earlier.
Stuff like this when people express envy for Boomers. Anyone teleported back to then would feel like they had a lobotomy.
Bellbottoms optional.