Martin Hähnel

The Kardex - A Piece Of Analog Information Organisation Tech

Changelog

  • 2025-06-16 - slightly edited the opening paragraph and fixed the broken CC-By line of the image), also fixed a couple of things in the list of links

Probably because I like notes systems and hold a master's degree in history of science and technology (with a strong Latourian bend), I always had a fascination with the pre-digital tools used for organizing information. Even though I myself am as digital as they get when it comes to organizing my own stuff, I like the specific aesthetic the index card carries and the combination of physicality and industrialization of the technology is very fun to think about and juxtapose with our modern times.

Anyways, a Kardex was a filing system for index cards that revealed a margin of such a card, making it easier to quickly visually scan for the right card without the need to flip through them one by one.

An old steel kardex, with one drawer pulled out, revealing a bunch of index cards. The margins of the cards are visible.

(CC-BY 2.0 , according to Wikipedia, Source: https://flickr.com/photos/93001633@N00/2915039665)

Here are some links: