B. Microfiche Catalogues

The microfiche catalogue is a newer method of cataloguing books. It is really just the information from a card catalogue, recorded on small sheets of transparent(11) plastic, called microfilm. Each sheet contains miniature pictures of pages of listings of information about the library’s books. One set of microfiche list books by title; another by author; a third by subject. Each listing includes a Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress number, which helps locate the book within the library. Because the pictures on the microfiche are so small, a special machine, called a microfiche reader(12), is required to read them. A single sheet of microfiche may contain information on 4,200 to 8,000 cards. Libraries use them because they can now shelve more books in the space the card catalogues used to take up.

C. On-line Computers

The on-line computer catalogue is the newest system of cataloguing books. It is generally used in large libraries at universities or in national libraries. It allows the user to scan and search the materials kept in several libraries or universities at once by looking at a computer. At the University of New Brunswick, for example, the PHOENIX system allows the user to search eight separate databases(13) from one computer terminal. The eight databases are listed on the next page.

LIBRARY books catalogued at the university since 1977 (pre-1977 on cards)

ENLIST Applied Science and Engineering library

CLIO microfilmed books since 1900

MMI Micmac-Maliseet Institute

WCL Ward Chipman Library - at UNB in St. John

LAW Law Library

CLS Computing Centre documentation

GLEANER Indexed articles from the Daily Gleaner(14) since 1984

11.something you can see through e.g. glass is transparent

12.a special machine which magnifies the tiny pictures on microfilm

13.catalogues, separate library collections

14.Fredericton's daily newspaper