PUNCH CARD

Date

Description

A McBee punch card, or edge-notched card, used as a key card to the data collection project on polio. The cards, commonly 5”x8” index cards, were invented in 1896 to easily organize and access data before computers. Data stored on other index cards was accessed by inserting a long needle into a hole corresponding with a specific label and lifting to that section.

Source

The U. S. National Archives and Records Administration at Atlanta, 5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260 www.archives.gov/atlanta