{{short description|Collection of grey literature}} right|thumb|Vertical Files Boxes in Special Collections at the University of Utah LibraryA '''vertical file''' (sometimes referred to as a '''clippings file''' or '''pamphlet file''') is a collection of material, such as correspondence, news clippings, booklets, maps, pictures, pamphlets, tourism brochures, or other grey literature, created and maintained by businesses, libraries and other organizations. The materials are typically loose, separate pieces filed on edge and organized in folders often with tabs or guides and arranged most often alphabetically by subject. Vertical files are used as ready reference material to supplement other collections on topics not easily covered by conventional material such as books.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gould |first1=Geraldine N. |last2=Wolfe |first2=Ithmer C. |title=How to Organize and Maintain the Library Picture / Pamphlet File |date=1968 |publisher=Oceana Publications, Inc. |location=Dobbs Ferry, New York}}</ref> The name comes from the fact that these collections are often stored in the ''vertical'' style of filing cabinets (as opposed to the ''lateral'').
Prior to the advent of vertical filing, correspondence was often filed in pigeonhole files, spike or spindle files, box files, bellows files, and flat files.<ref>{{cite book |title=Progressive Indexing and Filing |date=1950 |publisher=Remington Rand, Inc. |location=New York |page=39 |edition=5th |url=https://archive.org/details/progressiveindex0000varo |access-date=24 November 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cadwallader |first1=Laura Hanes |last2=Rice |first2=Sarah Ada |title=Principles of Indexing and Filing |date=1932 |publisher=H.M. Rowe Company |location=Baltimore; Chicato |pages=69-73 |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/principlesofinde0000laur/mode/2up |access-date=24 November 2025}}</ref> The first vertical file was made in 1892 and shown in 1893, at the Chicago World's Fair by the Library Bureau.<ref>{{cite book |title=Progressive Indexing and Filing |date=1950 |publisher=Remington Rand, Inc. |location=New York |page=39 |edition=5th |url=https://archive.org/details/progressiveindex0000varo |access-date=24 November 2025}}</ref>
thumb|A wall of vertical files right|thumb|"Utah Pride Festival 1977-2015" Vertical File located within the Special Collections Library at the University of Utah Library Vertical files have been manufactured since at least the early 1900s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roberts |first1=Kate Louise |title=Vertical File |journal=Public Libraries |date=1907 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=316–317 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WUwAQAAIAAJ |accessdate=21 January 2019 |publisher=Library Bureau |language=en}}</ref> however, their use and maintenance have waned in recent years due to the availability of information on the web.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dalrymple |first1=Tam |title="Just-in-Case" Answers: The Twenty-FirstCentury Vertical File |journal=Information Technology and Libraries |date=1 December 2008 |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=25–28 |doi=10.6017/ital.v27i4.3239 |url=https://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/view/3239/2852 |accessdate=21 January 2019 |language=en |issn=2163-5226|doi-access=free }}</ref>
The vertical file is related to the picture file, which is a collection of similar nature except that the contents are primarily images.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * ''Vertical File Index; a subject and title index to selected pamphlet material''. est. 1932. monthly (Sept-July, with annual cumulations). published by H.W. Wilson Co. {{ISSN|0042-4439}}
{{Authority control}} Category:Reference works {{Library-stub}}