A Rolodex is a rotating card file device used to store a contact list. In this usage, it has generally come to describe an effect or characteristic of the small-world network[1] of a business's investors,[2] board of directors,[3] or the value of a CEO's contacts,[4] or in organizational structure.[5] Models have been exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution.[6]
History
The Rolodex was invented in 1956 by Danish engineer Hildaur Neilsen, the chief engineer of Arnold Neustadter's company Zephyr American, a stationery manufacturer in New York.[7] Neustadter was often credited with having invented it.[8][9] First marketed in 1958,[10] it was an improvement to an earlier design called the Wheeldex. Zephyr American also invented, manufactured and sold the Autodex, a spring-operated phone directory that automatically opened to the selected letter; Swivodex, an inkwell that did not spill; Punchodex, a paper hole puncher; and Clipodex, an office aid that attached to a stenographer's knee.[11][12] Rolodex also marketed non-rotary (linear) tub-like card-file systems using the same cards (size and notches) as the rotary files.
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References
- Björn Brügemann, P. Gautier, G. Menzio. Rolodex Game in Networks web-facstaff.sas.upenn.edu, 2017, retrieved 2022-08-21^
- Pamsy P. Hui. The rolodex paradox: effects of ties to and via venture capitalists on startup survival and commercial success. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2004-08-01^
- Bang Dang Nguyen. Does the Rolodex Matter? Corporate Elite's Small World and the Effectiveness of Boards of Directors