New media and storage and classification of books in libraries.

card catalogs existed long ago as narrow drawers one opened to get location information about specific books in the library. Now that library indexing is done by computer, very few librarians would long for the card catalogue.

When Melvil Dewey created his iconic classification system in 1876, libraries had only really begun to emerge as a fixture in cities. Previous attempts to code location data into library books had been problematic amid the growing amount of information, so the Dewey decimal system was a welcome technological advancement in library science.

Libraries  by using RFID or near-field communications systems, tiny chips inside the spines of books that communicate with smartphone apps, e-reader tablets or special book-finding devices available at the front desk can easily trace the location of a book within the shortest time possible. Not only would it feel more familiar to students raised on digital tech, but imagine scanning rows of stacks with an augmented reality viewfinder, looking through the screen instead of at the shelves, hunting for a book that lights up when you’ve found it.

librarians would also use this form of new media technology to reduce time wasted in looking for books and focus on doing more creative things for their institutions.