Page:The library a magazine of bibliography and library literature, Volume 6.djvu/61

 Mechanical Methods of Displaying Catalogues and Indexes. 49 and the contents of any congested pages easily re-distributed over the fresh space. The second " Page " catalogue with mov- able entries is a modification of the Rudolph Continuous Indexer, to which I will draw your attention later on. It is perfectly elastic and movable in every respect, full provision being made for the congestion difficulty, so that its expansion in any direction is practically limitless. In this respect it resembles the " Card " and " Sheaf " catalogues to be described in another part of this paper. It is the invention of Mr. A. J. Rudolph, of the San Francisco Public Library, who has also applied the same idea to cabinets of drawers. My admiration of the principle of this catalogue-holder is very great, but my opinion is that the con- struction of the book is not adapted for much use at the hands of ordinary readers. The binding arrangement does not seem sufficiently secure, and the cardboard slips bearing entries are almost certain to fall out in course of time. There is a general lack of security in all the catalogue holders with movable leaves which I have just shown, and this must be regarded as a serious defect ; at least among British librarians, who have to deal with more readers than are to be found anywhere abroad, among whom are a large number of persons not yet educated to regard public property with suitable respect. I need not describe any more of the binders in which provision is made for leaves being moved, as I shall discuss the whole question on fresh lines when dealing with the " Sheaf " systems. It is only necessary to add, before passing on, that most of the patented " Page" binders, so far as I know them, are useless for library purposes. I should not like to enter upon an inquiry on the origin of the " Card " catalogue. One thing appears certain ; its origin is not American, as seems to be generally supposed. One of our own members brought forward evidence at Paris last year, proving that cards for indexing purposes had been used by the French in i775, 2 while the library now called the Bibliotheque National used them even earlier. It is also recorded in our own transactions that cards were used for cataloguing purposes at Trinity College, Dublin, and elsewhere in Ireland, early in the present century. i{ My own opinion, which is at present only based on suspicion, is that cards have been in use for indexing since the days of Dick Whittington. The idea of an index on cards or slips, giving - Prosser (Richard B.) : " The Origin of the Card-Catalogue," 1892, 4 pp. " London Conference," 1877, p. 156.