card catalog
Noun: 1. A physical catalog, typically in a library, consisting of drawers containing individual cards, each representing a single item (like a book or journal) and arranged in a specific order (usually alphabetical). Each card contains bibliographic information about the item. 2. The collection of these cards as a whole, forming the complete catalog of a library's holdings.
The term "card catalog" refers specifically to the traditional, physical system of organizing library materials. It is used to describe the furniture (the cabinet of drawers) as well as the cataloging system itself. * Example: Before computers, researchers spent hours searching through the card catalog to find books. * Example: The library's old card catalog was a piece of furniture with many small drawers.
- Historical Context: The phrase is often used when discussing historical research methods or the evolution of library science, contrasting it with modern digital catalogs (OPACs - Online Public Access Catalogs).
- Example: In her memoir, the historian described the tactile experience of flipping through the card catalog, a ritual lost to the digital age.
- Card catalogue: The British English spelling variant.
- Catalog / Catalogue (noun): The general term for a complete list of items, which can be in book, digital, or card form.
- Filing cabinet: A generic piece of office furniture for storing documents; not specific to library cards.
- OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog): The digital successor to the card catalog.
- Library catalog (when referring to the physical card system)
- Card index
- Digital catalog
- Online catalog
- Database
- To be relegated to the card catalog: Used figuratively to suggest something is old-fashioned, obsolete, or only of historical interest.
- Example: That theory has been disproven; it's been relegated to the card catalog of scientific ideas.
- an alphabetical listing of items (e.g., books in a library) with a separate card for each item
- a library catalog in which each publication is described on a separate file card