What was the first public library to use a computerized catalog?

gdec1

In February 1942, the Montclair Public Library [Montclair, NJ] became the first public library in the United States to have a computerized circulation system. The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) designed for the Library the first‑ever punch card data processing system and equipment to record the loan and return of books. Librarians from all over the world visited Montclair to witness this pioneering venture. http://www.montlib.com/adults/LH.htm Sep 08 06, 7:05 AM

lanfranco

Smartie did ask for information about a catalog. I can't be sure that this information is correct, but the site below claims that Colorado's Pikes Peak Library District (which includes a number of public library branches) was the first to offer an online catalog to users -- in 1977. My guess is that a catalog was available to staffers earlier than that. The first time I ever encountered an online catalogue was in the library of a large research university in 1982, and it predated the systems of many other universities by some years. 1977 would have been very early to make a system available to public library users. Scroll down to "USA": http://www2.db.dk/pe/internat.htm Sep 08 06, 9:13 AM

zbeckabee

Well, they certainly are stingy with their information! I'm including WorldCat for honorable mention: "WorldCat is the world's largest bibliographic database, built and maintained collectively by libraries that participate in the OCLC global cooperative. Created in 1971, WorldCat catalogs the content of more than 50,000 libraries in 90-plus countries." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldCat Sep 08 06, 9:33 AM