card catalog cards:

I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss old-fashioned library card catalogs. Sure, speaking as a graduate student/researcher, data bases and online catalogs make the research process more effective and expansive.  But I do miss thumbing through the old catalog, and seeing just where in the library's collections those cards would lead me....

Although the University of Texas has done away with most of their old card catalog cabinets, there are still remnants of the old card catalog system at the different library branches.  In particular, the old cards can be easily found in boxes of scratch paper left out for library patrons. Stacks upon stacks of old library cards are scattered on the different floors of the Fine Arts Library so that patrons can jot down the call number for which they're looking. Working there, I use the old cards for a myriad of purposes, and am often tickled by which book's card I'm using. But last week, I discovered a stack that were interesting for a much more personal reason....