That's a blast from the past.  My colleague and remember it called a
linedex.  You carefully  bent the strips to insert them into the rims
that ran down the sides of the linedex .  They fell out easily and yes,
you had to shift them each time you added or deleted a title.  The
strips came with some sort of backing so they could be feed through the
typewriter but even still it was a nightmare to type on them.  After
typing, you'd peel the strips off the backing and add them to the
linedex.

Jill Collins
Boise State University
Albertsons Library / Head of Serials
PO Box 46
Boise, Idaho 83707-0046
208-426-3175
208-426-5424 (fax)
jcollins@boisestate.edu

>>> Tom Evans <evans@CANISIUS.EDU> 4/30/2008 11:54 AM >>>
Is it not a kardex?

Sincerely,
Tom Evans
Serials Librarian
Canisius College Library
2001 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14208
email: evans@canisius.edu
Phone: 716-888-2932
Fax: 716-888-2887

---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:13:30 -0700
>From: Cheryl Boettcher Tarsala <c-tarsala@LINKLINE.COM>
>Subject: [SERIALST] What was this serials technology called?
>To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
>
>This is a somewhat recreational question, but perhaps the list would
>be willing to weigh in on it.
>
>I've been cruising flickr looking for cataloging images for my blog,
>and found this one:
>
>http://www.flickr.com/photos/meliroo/444411917/in/set-72157600043671337/

>
>I realized that it's a mysterious, lost technology that I don't know
>anything about.  What on earth was it called?  I struggle to think of

>keywords to even Google it!
>
>I'm old enough to remember them in use, but never personally worked
>with them. How did all the little cardboard strips fit into the
>typewriter so you could type on them? Do you pull off the top metal
>strip of the holder and drop the strips into each side? And, I
>suppose you have to shift all the strips each time you get a new line

>...?
>
>Any insight into the workings of these things from long-time
>serialists would be appreciated!
>--
>Cheryl Boettcher Tarsala
>Adjunct Assistant Professor
>LEEP Program, Graduate School of Library and Information Science
>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>
>c-tarsala@linkline.com
>ctarsala@uiuc.edu
>
>The views expressed here are my own and not those of UIUC or GSLIS.