card catalog

American  

noun

1. a file of cards of uniform size arranged in some definite order and listing the items in the collection of a library or group of libraries, each card typically identifying a single item.

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Etymology

Origin of card catalog

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Example Sentences

Good information remained hard to come by, right up to the invention of the internet—as anyone who remembers card catalogs can tell you.

From The Wall Street Journal

After a day of reviewing cookbooks and recipes from competent, contemporary cooks, I find myself scrolling toward something stranger: accounts that operate like a digital card catalog of retro culinary horror and delight.

From Salon

The area was chock-full of things—not only books but old files, card catalogs, leather map tubes, gramophones and older news-box editions, dusty albums, photographs, and so on—displayed in glass.

From Literature

The jury threw not just the book at him, but the entire library, including the shelves and the card catalog:

From Salon

"We show that there is basically a card catalog available," Heath added.

From Science Daily