In this episode of The Unquiet Library: 50 Years of Robarts Library, host Jesse Carliner explores Robarts’ pre-digital era through oral history interviews with current and former librarians. Margaret Wall describes processing 340 legacy CD-ROMs (plus cassettes and floppy disks) and determining whether their contents evolved into print or online databases, noting the convenience of today’s searchable platforms compared with swapping annual discs. Former chief librarian Carole Moore recalls card catalogues wired for phone reference, heavy photocopy demand, and the chaos of shared print journals and interlibrary delivery. Sean Meikle details intensely manual circulation work with charge files, typed loan cards, pneumatic tubes, book elevators, and noisy conveyor belts. Susanne Tabur explains serials “Kardex” tracking of roughly 30,000 journal titles and daily mail processing, while Debbie Green recounts research via print indexes, microfilm/microfiche catalogs, and early staff-mediated online, CD-ROM, and DIALOG searches.
00:00 Opener with Margaret Wall
02:07 Episode Introduction
03:14 Carole Moore- Phone reference and the card catalogue; sharing print journals
07:55 Sian Meikle—Library circulation during the analogue era
14:12 Susanne Tabur—Tracking print journal subscriptions with the Kardex
23:31 Debbie Green—The pre-digital research process
28:55 Conclusion
Robarts Library 50th anniversary exhibit: http://uoft.me/robarts50
Learn more about the pre-digital library
What is a card catalogue? Library catalog - Wikipedia
What is the Kardex system for managing serials? https://lis.academy/management-of-library-and-information-centre/library-serials-management-periodicals-journals/#kardex-system
What is a microfiche/microfilm catalogue? https://lis.academy/organising-and-managing-information/microform-catalogues-space-saving-library-solutions/
What is a periodical (journal) index? What is a periodical index? - LibAnswers
What is the DIALOG search system? Milestones:DIALOG Online Search System, 1966 - Engineering and Technology History Wiki
What is a CD-ROM? CD-ROM - Wikipedia
Theme music:
Felipe Sarro, Bach-Siloti - Prelude BWV 855a
Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
Sound credits:
2 08 Br Lib amb 5.wav by ERH -- https://freesound.org/s/51632/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
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