Prehistoric Googling

[Fabius]

Prehistoric Googling. Been there, done that.

[oldguy]

It doesn't seem that long ago!

[Greg G.]

Those old card catalogs are collector's items now.  I had an opportunity to buy one from a place that was going out of business, but turned it down for lack of space.

[jsowers]

Card Catalogs always brought a lot at the surplus auctions in the school system where I worked. One school had an industrious janitor who turned theirs into a table to hold the computers that replaced it. They just sold the drawer part.

Actually, to be totally accurate, the card catalogs in our media centers weren't replaced by Google as much as specialized software. I ran and installed that server software in the schools and kept it running and updated for about 15 years. Sure, the students also used Google when the internet became available, but this software searched the collection database of each school twenty different ways--subject, author, title, keyword, etc. Eventually it searched the entire school system, telling if each book was checked out or not, and they could even do it from home, including online eBooks. It's called Destiny, by Follett Software. Quite expensive, but very reliable and with great tech support.

[Mr. Bones]

It's nice to see I'm not the only oldie here who remembers seeking out the greatest hits from Melvil Dewey and the Decimal System!

Best regards!