If you do a Google search for "card catalog" it will likely return Pinterest-worthy images of antique furniture for sale — boxy, wooden cabinets with tiny drawers, great for storing knick-knacks, ...

This old-school catalog card shows the Library of Congress' copy of John James' Audubon's seminal The Birds of America. The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures, published by Chronicle ...

Today, people use the antique wooden cabinets to store their knick-knacks. But these card catalogs once held the keys to a world of information. A new Library of Congress book explores their history.