 "Photo: Keri Goff / THE DAILY GAMECOCK")
It’s all in the cards, catalog cards that is.
The librarians at Thomas Cooper are working to hold a series of events to honor the card catalog, its use in the transformation of knowledge and the people who created and used it.
“We want to commemorate it and raise awareness about what it did and all the generations of library staff that made it what it is,” said Jeffrey Makala, the assistant special collections librarian. “Commemorate and celebrate.”
During Welcome Week there was a game night and a boat race featuring cards from the catalog.
The latest event is a competition challenging students to get creative and see what theycan make with catalog cards.
“We are looking for different way to get many different types of people involved in the events,” said Marilee Birchfield, a reference librarian at the Thomas Cooper Library.
The competition has four categories: functional (serves a purpose), fashionable (wearable), foundational (building models) and free form. Students are allowed as many cards at they would like and there are no specified rules for the competition.
Julie Lanier, a second-year business student, said she noticed the cards as she was walking past the circulation desk in the library. She was curious, but didn’t think much of it until she saw a flyer advertising the competition.
“I’m really crafty so I thought I’d give it a shot,” said Lanier.
Lanier has already made two paper holders for her desk and two ID holders. She plans to make ID holders for her friends for Christmas and is working on making an office set with the catalog cards.
She said she is still brainstorming ideas for the competition and hopes to make something more complex than the simple designs she’s made so far.
Birchfield said she is hoping that events such as this will help students remember days before the electronic filing system.
New cards haven’t been added to the university card catalog since April 15, 1991. While the catalog is no longer in use, it is an important piece of university history and the librarians didn’t want to just throw it away. But space is limited.
“We needed the space for more desks for students, but we didn’t want to just get rid of it,” said Birchfield.
The catalog is comprised of 3,168 drawers with about 1,260 cards per drawer. This makesfor 3,991,680 cards that have become obsolete.
The Web site dedicated to the card catalog is featuring a different card every day. With interesting tidbits of information on the cards, such as spy books, signed editions and mysterious splotches and spills, librarians are hoping to pique the students’ interest.
Birchfield said she hopes that all of the events centered on the card catalog will help to honor what was once central to the university library system.
“We want to have a little fun and contribute to the spirit of the university,” Birchfield said.
There are further plans for the cards throughout the school year and the librarians are always open to more suggestions. Any cards that are left are going to be recycled.
“At the very least people can take a card and use it as a bookmark,” Makala said.
Submissions are due Nov. 30 to the reference department. For further information, visit www.sc.edu/library/inthecards.html.
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