FYI | How the Humble Index Card Foresaw the Internet

[Pralhad Jadhav]

How the Humble Index Card Foresaw the Internet

A 3 x 5 history of the cards that helped catalog all of human knowledge in a way anybody could use.

Index cards are mostly obsolete nowadays. We use them to create flash cards, write recipes, and occasionally fold them up into cool paper airplanes. But their original purpose was nothing less than organizing and classifying every known animal, plant, and mineral in the world. Later, they formed the backbone of the library system, allowing us to index vast sums of information and inadvertently creating many of the underlying ideas that allowed the Internet to flourish.

The Invention

Organizing more than 12,000 animals, plants, and minerals is painstaking work. Imagine having to do it by hand, let alone typing it all into Microsoft Excel.

Link | http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a19379/a-short-history-of-the-index-card/

 

Regards

 

Pralhad Jadhav

Senior Librarian

Khaitan & Co

 

Upcoming Event | One Day Seminar-cum-workshop on “Quick Response (QR) Code: Applications in Library Information & Science Services” on 12^thMarch, 2016 @ AIKTC New Panvel.