a science fiction story about Library Card getting bent?

[sashy]

I am looking for a sci fi story from 60s [i think]. kind of dystopia., man gets macbeth out of library. his library card gets bent in pocket and when it is put in the system he is found guilty of murder and executed.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Although the details aren't the same, the basic idea (guy gets executed for kidnapping and murder due to a series of errors by computers involving a dispute over books) occurs in "Computers Don't Argue" by Gordon R. Dickson. Detailed description here:

Computers Don't Argue - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Full text at the link below (although it's a little tricky to read; you have to put up with ads and keep hitting te tiny word "next" near the bottom.)

Computers Don't Argue

Computers Don't Argue (Science fiction, reprinted from Analog, 1965) from The Best of Creative Computing Volume 2

www.atariarchives.org

 

[PaulMmn]

There was a TV movie/episode with a similar plot. Guy with the card used it to 'card' open a locked door, which damaged it... That's about all I remember about it!

 

[Danny McG]

There was a TV movie/episode with a similar plot. Guy with the card used it to 'card' open a locked door, which damaged it... That's about all I remember about it!

I seriously tried that once, out of curiosity, however I used an expired card.

It didn't work, it eventually had the card badly damaged.

I presume it maybe worked on 1950s/1960s Yale type locks but not on the modern versions.

 

[JimC]

"I presume it maybe worked on 1950s/1960s Yale type locks"

It did. I used it quite a bit.