Who Invented The Card Catalogue?

Piom tho U. of M. Daily. A few weeks since a gentleman visiting the University library made the remark that while a student in the University of Rochester, and an assistantinitslibrary.heinventedthe card catalogue, and that from that ns'titution its use spread elsewhere. From the intimation given me of the date of this occurrence, I am I quite satisfied that such catalogue was in earlier use in the library here, and send you, therefore, an account of its introduction. I was placed in charge of the library in September 1864, and began at once to plan for a card catalogue without knowing that there was one in use in this country, or of the same kind any where else. The size and shape of the cards wcre my own conception, and the chest of drawers to contain them was planned by me in connection with the mechanic who was construct it. The execution was, as nearly as I can remember, begun in 1886. The same piece of furniture still stands in the library reading room. As to any aid to my inventive powers it will suffice to say that I lived more than five years in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, and was familiar with the two Royal libraries there, which, about 1859, contained, as its cuscodion told me, between 900,000 and 1,000,000 volumes. In it was a large room, I think about 7 o t" y 35 f eet, known as the catalogue room - das catalog-zimmer. It contained nothing but the catalogue, which was kept first in books about the si.e of the merchants' large account books. These covered as many tables, extending across the room, as could be gotten into it and leave sufficient passageway between and around them, These tables were the height of a man's breast, slanted both ways, and so each had two rows of the books. In these books was entered a nominal catalogue of all books published before the year 1825. Under each side of each table were two rows of shelves, each ing a row of paper boxes, each box large enough to takein 8 vo pamphlets. In these boxes were what rudely answered to a card catalogue; that is they contained slips of paper the height of the boxes and the width only of their narrow vvay. These, with the books described, cornpleted the nominal catalogue, and the subjective was wanting, except as contained in volumes writtenoutandoccupyingshelves around the walls of the room. This part was useless except to those who spent their time chiefly in the library. My catalogues, both the nominal and the subjective were simple dictionaries, the former giving fhe names of authors alphabetically arranged, the latter governed by the chief words indicating the subjects treated. I carried it so far as to include the subjects of the articles in the periodical sets of the library, a measure afterwards rendered unnecessary by the publication of Poole's Index, which in turn has been supplemented by the cooperative plan. In some libraries there has been a backward movement, so far as the utility of the subjective catalogue is concerned; I refer to the attempt to divide this into several parts. No such división can exhaust the subjects treated in a library, and no two persons, whether they be those who make, or those who consult a catalogue, will conceive the división alike. Vith this plan one must often make several attempts to find the matter soughr, and „tlien perhaps fail. A simple dictionary of the subjects, unless purely technical departments, as those of law and medicine, be placed by themseves is best. It costs no more to look out a word in a one-volumed containing 500,000 than one of 1,000,000 words. One recent invention in the arrangement of books in libraries 0 ' 'i!, uipplant all others. 1 rei inial system. This o ., a man could enter a iibia'v mi the world and know whert to find tb at which he sought. An!iew Ten Brook. s seem to be tak ing ! 1 aeres!, in the 4ooth anniversary o-J the djsci.very. nouns of Mars are only froin ten miles in diameter. The sirai'í r of tiietwois thebrighter.