ABSTRACT
Skill in the use of the card catalog is particularly important because of the pivotal role it plays in library research. The difficulty is compounded because the cataloging and filing rules may vary from library to library, although a majority of libraries in the United States follow the standards established by the American Library Association. In addition to general filing rules there are some basic filing and cataloging rules affecting author, title, and subject searches. These rules depend to some degree, however, on the kind of card catalog used in German language student's library. Most college and university libraries use the Library of Congress Classification system, one that was devised by the Library of Congress for organizing a large research collection. A basic knowledge of the classification system used by German language student's library also helps them to evaluate informally the strengths and weaknesses of their library's collection in German studies.
