The length of LC cataloging cards in number of characters increased 24.5 percent between 1956 and 1981, the number of entries 130.2 percent, the number of fields 96.9 percent, and the number of subject heading subdivisions 156.2 percent. There is a trend toward longer and more complex cataloging copy and a small countertrend toward less than AACR2 cataloging. Most academic libraries, 69.2 percent, are unable to state what their cataloging costs are. Since 1876 the wholesale commodity price index has increased 729 percent, the price of gold (another measure of inflation) 1,590 percent, and the cost of cataloging for large libraries from $0.40 per volume to $17.17 per volume, or 4,292 percent. Since 1896 librarians' annual salaries have increased from $607 to $28,533 or 4,700 percent. Cataloging costs have increased faster than the rate of inflation, but more slowly than the rate of salary increases.