CARD CATALOGUES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 95 
CARD CATALOGUES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS. 
By W. E. Hoyte. 
(Read 4th July 1901.) 
THE use of card catalogues is now so widely spread, and 
their special advantages are so well understood, that it 
seems almost needless to dwell upon them. I need only 
recall to your minds the most important, namely, the 
facility with which they are kept up to date, as additions 
can always be made at the proper point instead of merely 
tacked on at the end. The card catalogue, too, is quicker 
and easier to consult, 7f (and this is a most important 
proviso) the number of guide-cards be adequate. 
With the use of card catalogues for ordinary library 
work I do not now propose to deal—those who wish 
information on the subject will find it discussed at great 
length and fulness in the various journals and transactions 
dealing with library management and organisation. 
I propose in the first instance to show you a simple 
application of it to one of the purposes of a scientific 
society. I have here a tin box 10x5.x8 inches, which 
contains the list for sending out the Jowrnal of Conchology 
to the members of the Conchological Society. Each 
member has a card 125 x7°5 em., the size and form in 
common use for card catalogues; on the face at the top 
is the name and address of the member, with title, etc., as 
it should be written on the envelope. The back of the card 
is ruled, and on it is stamped with an ordinary rubber date 
stamp the day on which each number is despatched. 
When a new member is elected, a card is placed in the 
box in alphabetical order; when a member resigns or dies, 
his card is removed. It is obvious that similar cards 
ean be used for showing the dates when subscriptions are 
paid, or, if offices of secretary and treasurer are combined 
in one personality, the same set of cards may serve for both 
purposes. The cards are perforated near the bottom, so 
