5 ms·

I remember card catalogs. Modern electronic search is far superior. If searching the card catalog at the public library is "truly democratic," so is searching a

I remember card catalogs. Modern electronic search is far superior. If searching the card catalog at the public library is "truly democratic," so is searching an electronic index at the public library. You can even perform full-text searches for words that the card-preparer might not have noted -- a huge advantage when researching niche topics that don't get their own books. https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/searchAdvanced https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/searchAdvanced https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Advanced https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Advanced https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?a=page;page=advanced https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?a=page;page=advanced

mistersquid 9y ago
Like you, I look askance at the author's assertion that the card catalog is "truly democratic". Lindgren writes > A national card catalogue system was the original “search > engine” — one that needed no electricity, no service > providers or broadband or smartphones, and that was truly > democratic. failing to explain that in order to access that card catalog, patrons would have had to travel from their homes all the way to Washington DC. For someone living in rural Wyoming, Ohio, or even Southeast Virginia, the offline card catalog was hardly "more democratic" than a computer in a public library. EDIT: Readability.
- acdha 9y ago
  > failing to explain that in order to access that card catalog, patrons would have had to travel from their homes all the way to Washington DC. This is not strictly true: the Library of Congress sold copies which were widely used by libraries around the country in the pre-electronic era: https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0112/cds.html https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0112/cds.html > By the 1960s, CDS had become the Library's largest division, with a staff of some 600 people who shipped more than 78 million cataloging cards each year. This operation occupied floor space larger than a football field "including the end zones," said Ms. Mendenhall. "It was a monster that gave way to the miracle of MARC."
Aloha 9y ago
The Card Catalog in my opinion had one benefit - Discoverability. In the libraries I grew up using, often the books had library bindings with no dust jacket. There was very little discoverability when you wanted to find something to read.. to explore. The card catalog filled that, and was all in one place, so I could sit there and thumb thru the cards and maybe find a couple-three books to go thumb thru to find something that looked interesting. Yes, for research and for targeted searched of knowledge the electronic search is far superior - but for the discovery of things you don't know anything about yet, its a poor substitute.
- rahimnathwani 9y ago
  How is a card catalogue better than Amazon or Goodreads, for discoverability?
  - amelius 9y ago
    Well, at least you can be sure that it doesn't put you in an information bubble.
    - rahimnathwani 9y ago
      You can't be sure that your local library is free of regional or national bias. Sure, you might have a wider bubble by browsing cards randomly, than browsing recommendations on Amazon. But you could equally well browse Amazon somewhat randomly (e.g. by repeatedly clicking the least attractive book from the recommendation section).
- boomboomsubban 9y ago
  >but for the discovery of things you don't know anything about yet, its a poor substitute. You're describing getting a random selection from a section, something computers are excellent at. Or you're talking about browsing things as a list, something else computers excel at. The biggest difference on doing this on a computer is a loss of a sort of grime based review system. Something that could be seen as a benefit or detriment in different circumstances.

mistersquid 9y ago

Like you, I look askance at the author's assertion that the card catalog is "truly democratic". Lindgren writes > A national card catalogue system was the original “search > engine” — one that needed no electricity, no service > providers or broadband or smartphones, and that was truly > democratic. failing to explain that in order to access that card catalog, patrons would have had to travel from their homes all the way to Washington DC. For someone living in rural Wyoming, Ohio, or even Southeast Virginia, the offline card catalog was hardly "more democratic" than a computer in a public library. EDIT: Readability.

acdha 9y ago
> failing to explain that in order to access that card catalog, patrons would have had to travel from their homes all the way to Washington DC. This is not strictly true: the Library of Congress sold copies which were widely used by libraries around the country in the pre-electronic era: https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0112/cds.html https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0112/cds.html > By the 1960s, CDS had become the Library's largest division, with a staff of some 600 people who shipped more than 78 million cataloging cards each year. This operation occupied floor space larger than a football field "including the end zones," said Ms. Mendenhall. "It was a monster that gave way to the miracle of MARC."

Aloha 9y ago

The Card Catalog in my opinion had one benefit - Discoverability. In the libraries I grew up using, often the books had library bindings with no dust jacket. There was very little discoverability when you wanted to find something to read.. to explore. The card catalog filled that, and was all in one place, so I could sit there and thumb thru the cards and maybe find a couple-three books to go thumb thru to find something that looked interesting. Yes, for research and for targeted searched of knowledge the electronic search is far superior - but for the discovery of things you don't know anything about yet, its a poor substitute.

rahimnathwani 9y ago
How is a card catalogue better than Amazon or Goodreads, for discoverability?
- amelius 9y ago
  Well, at least you can be sure that it doesn't put you in an information bubble.
  - rahimnathwani 9y ago
    You can't be sure that your local library is free of regional or national bias. Sure, you might have a wider bubble by browsing cards randomly, than browsing recommendations on Amazon. But you could equally well browse Amazon somewhat randomly (e.g. by repeatedly clicking the least attractive book from the recommendation section).
boomboomsubban 9y ago
>but for the discovery of things you don't know anything about yet, its a poor substitute. You're describing getting a random selection from a section, something computers are excellent at. Or you're talking about browsing things as a list, something else computers excel at. The biggest difference on doing this on a computer is a loss of a sort of grime based review system. Something that could be seen as a benefit or detriment in different circumstances.