Alexander Rudolph

Alexander Rudolph (c. 1850-1917) was an Austrian American inventor of catalog machinery.

Alexander Joseph Rudolph was born in Austria circa 1850 and died 16 August 1917. He served in the Austrian army and emigrated to San Francisco, where he was working in the San Francisco Public Library in the mid 1880s. Rudolph may have been an assumed name.

When his supervisor, John Vance Cheney moved to the Newberry Library in Chicago, Rudolph went also. His inventions and business services did not find acceptance. He was dismissed from the Newberry Library in 1909. After failed market speculation and going blind he committed suicide in 1917.

Works

Rudolph invented a variety of technical devices related primarily to cataloging and book processing. His chief invention was the Rudolph Continuous Indexer intended to combine the advantages of book-form display with the easy updating of card catalogs. Chains of large cards bearing multiple entries (catalog records) are cranked past a window. Both entries and cards can be rearranged.

Rudolph established the Rudolph Indexer Company in Chicago and in 1893 to attract business he announced a centralized cataloging service. However, in October 1893 Melvil Dewey suddenly announced a rival service by the Library Bureau and Rudolph was unable to compete.

Publications

• "The progressive machine index." Nation 55 (Aug 18, 1892): 125. [1]
• "Newberry genealogical index." Library Journal 24 (Feb 1899): 53-55. [2]
• "Blue-print process for printing catalogues." Library Journal 24 (March 1899): 102-105. [3]
• "Removing stains from prints." Library Journal 27 (Oct. 1902): 910. [4]

Patents

• US Patent 449,764, April 7, 1891. Window sash. Weight mechanism for sash windows. [5]
• US Patent 473,348, April 19, 1892: Continuous revolving file and index. Chains of cards bearing multiple entries (e.g. catalog records) are cranked past a window. [6]
• US Patent 483,312, Sept 27, 1892. Continuous file or index Similar to his Continuous revolving file and index. [7]
• US Patent 483,313, Sept 27, 1892.Library-catalogue. A rigid holder for displaying removable slips. [8]
• US Patent 499,441, June 13, 1893. Card catalogue and index. Catalog cabinet drawer for cards with moveable tabs. [9]
• US Patent 499,442, June 13, 1893. Book index and file. Design for a guard book: A loose-leaf binder for pages on which entries could be added, removed or re-arranged at will. [10]
• US Patent 499,443, June 13, 1893, Continuous file or index. A variation on his Continuous revolving file and index. [11]
• US Patent 516,119, March 6, 1894. Slip-cutter for index purposes. A guillotine-style paper cutter adapted for making index entries. [12]
• US Patent 528,692, Nov, 6, 1894. Card-catalogue. A thick catalog card with a recessed area into which entry slip could be pasted without protruding. [13]
• US Patent 528,693, Nov, 6, 1894. Binder for books or pamphlets. Form of loose-leaf binder. [14]

Further reading

• Miksa, Francis. "Rudolph, Alexander Joseph." Dictionary of American Library Biography. Ed by Bohdan Wynar. Littleton: Colorado, 1978, pp 449-50.
• Buckland, Michael K. Emanuel Goldberg and his knowledge machine. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006, pp. 149-50.

Papers

See Miksa (1978, p. 450).