Book

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v t e

. book is a set of ,ritten, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of ink, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. . single sheet ,ithin a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page. . set of te/t0filled or illustrated pages produced in electronic format is kno,n as an electronic book, or e0book. Books may also refer to ,orks of literature, or a main division of such a ,ork. 1n library and information science, a book is called a monograph, to distinguish it from serial periodicals such

as maga-ines, 2ournals or ne,spapers. 'he body of all ,ritten ,orks including books is literature. 1n novels and sometimes other types of books (for e/ample, biographies), a book may be divided into several large sections, also called books (Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, and so on). .n avid reader of books is a bibliophile or collo6uially, bookworm. . shop ,here books are bought and sold is a bookshop or bookstore. Books can also be borro,ed from libraries. )oogle has estimated that as of 4737, appro/imately 357,777,777 uni6ue titles had been published.839

Contents

3 #tymology 4 *istory of books o 4.3 .nti6uity 4.3.3 'ablet 4.3.4 !croll 4.3.5 "ode/ o 4.4 %iddle .ges 4.4.3 %anuscripts 4.4.4 .rab printing techni6ues 4.4.5 Wood block printing 4.4.: %ovable type and incunabula o 4.5 %odern ,orld 5 Book manufacture in modern times o 5.3 "urrent processes o 5.4 Finishing : igital printing o :.3 #0book ; 1nformation e/plosion < Book design = !i-es > 'ypes o >.3 By content >.3.3 Fiction >.3.4 Non0fiction >.3.5 (ther types o >.4 By physical format ? $ibraries 37 1dentification and classification o 37.3 "lassification systems 33 @ses 34 Paper and conservation 35 !ee also 3: &eferences 3; #/ternal links

Etymolo y
'he ,ord comes from (ld #nglish AbBcA ,hich (itself) comes from the )ermanic root ACbBk0A, cognate to beech.849 !imilarly, in !lavic languages (for e/ample, &ussian, Bulgarian, %acedonian) ADEFGHA (bukvaIAletterA) is cognate ,ith AbeechA. 1n &ussian and in !erbian and %acedonian, another !lavic languages, the ,ords ADEFGHJKA (bukvarL) and ADEFGHJA (bukvar), respectively, refer specifically to a primary school te/tbook that helps young children master the techni6ues of reading and ,riting. 1t is thus con2ectured that the earliest 1ndo0#uropean ,ritings may have been carved on beech ,ood.859 !imilarly, the $atin ,ord codex, meaning a book in the modern sense (bound and ,ith separate leaves), originally meant Ablock of ,oodA.

History of books
%ain articleM *istory of books

!ntiquity

!umerian language cuneiform script clay tablet, 4:77N4477 B" When ,riting systems ,ere invented+created in ancient civili-ations, nearly everything that could be ,ritten uponIstone, clay, tree bark, metal sheetsI,as used for ,riting.'he study of such inscriptions forms a ma2or part of history. 'he study of inscriptions is kno,n as epigraphy. .lphabetic ,riting emerged in #gypt . 'he .ncient #gyptians ,ould often ,rite on papyrus, a plant gro,n along the Nile &iver. .t first the ,ords ,ere not separated from each other (scriptura continua) and there ,as no punctuation. 'e/ts ,ere ,ritten from right to left, left to right, and even so that alternate lines read in opposite directions. 'he technical term for this type of ,riting is Lboustrophedon,L ,hich means literally Lo/0turningL for the ,ay a farmer drives an o/ to plough his fields.8citation needed9 Tablet . tablet might be defined as a physically robust ,riting medium, suitable for casual transport and ,riting. !ee also stylus. "lay tablets ,ere 2ust ,hat they sound likeM flattened and mostly dry pieces of clay that could be easily carried, and impressed ,ith a ( possible dampened) stylus. 'hey ,ere used as a ,riting medium, especially for ,riting in cuneiform, throughout the Bron-e .ge and ,ell into the 1ron .ge.

Wa/ tablets ,ere ,ooden planks covered in a thick enough coating of ,a/ to record the impressions of a stylus. 'hey ,ere the normal ,riting material in schools, in accounting, and for taking notes. 'hey had the advantage of being reusableM the ,a/ could be melted, and reformed into a blank. 'he custom of binding several ,a/ tablets together (&oman pugillares) is a possible precursor for modern books (i.e. code/).8:9 'he etymology of the ,ord code/ (block of ,ood) also suggests that it may have developed from ,ooden ,a/ tablets.8;9 "croll %ain articleM !croll

#gyptian papyrus sho,ing the god (siris and the ,eighing of the heart. Papyrus, a thick paper0like material made by ,eaving the stems of the papyrus plant, then pounding the ,oven sheet ,ith a hammer0like tool, ,as used for ,riting in .ncient #gypt, perhaps as early as the First ynasty, although the first evidence is from the account books of Oing Nefertiti Oakai of the Fifth ynasty (about 4:77 B").8<9 Papyrus sheets ,ere glued together to form a scroll. 'ree bark such as lime and other materials ,ere also used.8=9 .ccording to *erodotus (*istory ;M;>), the Phoenicians brought ,riting and papyrus to )reece around the 37th or ?th century B". 'he )reek ,ord for papyrus as ,riting material (biblion) and book (biblos) come from the Phoenician port to,n Byblos, through ,hich papyrus ,as e/ported to )reece.8>9 From )reek ,e also derive the ,ord tome ()reekM PQRST), ,hich originally meant a slice or piece and from there began to denote Aa roll of papyrusA. Tomus ,as used by the $atins ,ith e/actly the same meaning as volumen (see also belo, the e/planation by 1sidore of !eville). Whether made from papyrus, parchment, or paper, scrolls ,ere the dominant form of book in the *ellenistic, &oman, "hinese, *ebre,, and %acadonian cultures. 'he more modern code/ book format form took over the &oman ,orld by late anti6uity, but the scroll format persisted much longer in .sia. Code#

. "hinese bamboo book meets the modern definition of "ode/ %ain articleM "ode/ 1n the ;th century, 1sidore of !eville e/plained the then0current relation bet,een code/, book and scroll in his #tymologiae (U1.35)M A. code/ is composed of many booksV a book is of one scroll. 1t is called code/ by ,ay of metaphor from the trunks (codex) of trees or vines, as if it ,ere a ,ooden stock, because it contains in itself a multitude of books, as it ,ere of branches.A %odern usage differs. . code/ (in modern usage) is the first information repository that modern people ,ould recogni-e as a AbookAM leaves of uniform si-e bound in some manner along one edge, and typically held bet,een t,o covers made of some more robust material. 'he first ,ritten mention of the code/ as a form of book is from %artial, in his .pophoreta "$WWW1U at the end of the first century, ,here he praises its compactness. *o,ever, the code/ never gained much popularity in the pagan *ellenistic ,orld, and only ,ithin the "hristian community did it gain ,idespread use. 8?9 'his change happened gradually during the 5rd and :th centuries, and the reasons for adopting the code/ form of the book are severalM the format is more economical, as both sides of the ,riting material can be usedV and it is portable, searchable, and easy to conceal. . book is much easier to read, to find a page that you ,ant, and to flip through. . scroll is more a,k,ard to use. 'he "hristian authors may also have ,anted to distinguish their ,ritings from the pagan and Xudaic te/ts ,ritten on scrolls. 1n addition, some metal books ,ere made, that re6uired smaller pages of metal, instead of an impossibly long, unbending scroll of metal. . book can also be easily stored in more compact places, or side by side in a tight library or shelf space.

Middle ! es
Manuscripts %ain articleM %anuscript

Folio 3: recto of the ;th century Uergilius &omanus contains an author portrait of Uirgil. Note the bookcase (capsa), reading stand and the te/t ,ritten ,ithout ,ord spacing in rustic capitals. 'he fall of the &oman #mpire in the ;th century .. . sa, the decline of the culture of ancient &ome. Papyrus became difficult to obtain due to lack of contact ,ith #gypt, and parchment, ,hich had been used for centuries, became the main ,riting material. %onasteries carried on the $atin ,riting tradition in the Western &oman #mpire. "assiodorus, in the monastery of Uivarium (established around ;:7), stressed the importance of copying te/ts.8379 !t. Benedict of Nursia, in his Rule of Saint Benedict (completed around the middle of the <th century) later also promoted reading.8339 'he Rule of Saint Benedict ("h. W$U111), ,hich set aside certain times for reading, greatly influenced the monastic culture of the %iddle .ges and is one of the reasons ,hy the clergy ,ere the predominant readers of books. 'he tradition and style of the &oman #mpire still dominated, but slo,ly the peculiar medieval book culture emerged. Before the invention and adoption of the printing press, almost all books ,ere copied by hand, ,hich made books e/pensive and comparatively rare. !maller monasteries usually had only a fe, do-en books, medium0si-ed perhaps a fe, hundred. By the ?th century, larger collections held around ;77 volumes and even at the end of the %iddle .ges, the papal library in .vignon and Paris library of the !orbonne held only around 4,777 volumes.8349

Burgundian author and scribe Xean %iYlot, from his Miracles de Notre Dame, 3;th century. 'he scriptorium of the monastery ,as usually located over the chapter house. .rtificial light ,as forbidden for fear it may damage the manuscripts. 'here ,ere five types of scribesM

Calligraphers, ,ho dealt in fine book production Cop ists, ,ho dealt ,ith basic production and correspondence Correctors, ,ho collated and compared a finished book ,ith the manuscript from ,hich it had been produced !lluminators, ,ho painted illustrations Rubricators, ,ho painted in the red letters 'he bookmaking process ,as long and laborious. 'he parchment had to be prepared, then the unbound pages ,ere planned and ruled ,ith a blunt tool or lead, after ,hich the te/t ,as ,ritten by the scribe, ,ho usually left blank areas for illustration and rubrication. Finally, the book ,as bound by the bookbinder.8359

esk ,ith chained books in the %alatestiana $ibrary of "esena, 1taly. ifferent types of ink ,ere kno,n in anti6uity, usually prepared from soot and gum, and later also from gall nuts and iron vitriol. 'his gave ,riting a bro,nish black color, but black or bro,n ,ere not the only colors used. 'here are te/ts ,ritten in red or even gold, and different colors ,ere used for illumination. For very lu/urious manuscripts the ,hole parchment ,as colored purple, and the te/t ,as ,ritten on it ,ith gold or silver (for e/ample, "ode/ .rgenteus).83:9 1rish monks introduced spacing bet,een ,ords in the =th century. 'his facilitated reading, as these monks tended to be less familiar ,ith $atin. *o,ever, the use of spaces bet,een ,ords did not become commonplace before the 34th century. 1t has been argued that the use of spacing bet,een ,ords sho,s the transition from semi0vocali-ed reading into silent reading.83;9 'he first books used parchment or vellum (calfskin) for the pages. 'he book covers ,ere made of ,ood and covered ,ith leather. Because dried parchment tends to assume the form it had before processing, the books ,ere fitted ,ith clasps or straps. uring the later %iddle .ges, ,hen public libraries appeared, up to the 3>th century, books ,ere often chained to a bookshelf or a desk to prevent theft. 'hese chained books are called libri catenati. .t first, books ,ere copied mostly in monasteries, one at a time. With the rise of universities in the 35th century, the %anuscript culture of the time led to an increase in the demand for books, and a ne, system for copying books appeared. 'he books ,ere divided into unbound leaves

(pecia), ,hich ,ere lent out to different copyists, so the speed of book production ,as considerably increased. 'he system ,as maintained by secular stationers guilds, ,hich produced both religious and non0religious material.83<9 Xudaism has kept the art of the scribe alive up to the present. .ccording to Xe,ish tradition, the 'orah scroll placed in a synagogue must be ,ritten by hand on parchment and a printed book ,ould not do, though the congregation may use printed prayer books and printed copies of the !criptures are used for study outside the synagogue. . sofer AscribeA is a highly respected member of any observant Xe,ish community. !rab printin techniques 'his section may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not $erify the te#t. Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involvedZ) "September #$%$& .rabs also produced and bound books in the 1slamic )olden .ge (mid >th century to 34;>), developing advanced techni6ues in 1slamic calligraphy, miniatures and bookbinding. . number of cities in the medieval 1slamic ,orld had book production centers and book markets. %arrakesh, %orocco, had a street named 'utubi in or book sellers ,hich contained more than 377 bookshops in the 34th centuryV8citation needed9 the famous Ooutoubia %os6ue is named so because of its location in this street. 'he medieval %uslim ,orld also used a method of reproducing reliable copies of a book in large 6uantities kno,n as check reading, in contrast to the traditional method of a single scribe producing only a single copy of a single manuscript. 1n the check reading method, only Aauthors could authori-e copies, and this ,as done in public sessions in ,hich the copyist read the copy aloud in the presence of the author, ,ho then certified it as accurate.A83=9 With this check0reading system, Aan author might produce a do-en or more copies from a single reading,A and ,ith t,o or more readings, Amore than one hundred copies of a single book could easily be produced.A83>9 %ood block printin 1n ,oodblock printing, a relief image of an entire page ,as carved into blocks of ,ood, inked, and used to print copies of that page. 'his method originated in "hina, in the *an dynasty (before 447 . ), as a method of printing on te/tiles and later paper, and ,as ,idely used throughout #ast .sia. 'he oldest dated book printed by this method is The Diamond Sutra (><> . ). 'he method (called (oodcut ,hen used in art) arrived in #urope in the early 3:th century. Books (kno,n as block0books), as ,ell as playing0cards and religious pictures, began to be produced by this method. "reating an entire book ,as a painstaking process, re6uiring a hand0carved block for each pageV and the ,ood blocks tended to crack, if stored for long. 'he monks or people ,ho ,rote them ,ere paid highly. Mo$able type and incunabula

. 3;th0century 1ncunable. Notice the blind0tooled cover, corner bosses and clasps. %ain articlesM %ovable type and 1ncunable

A!elected 'eachings of Buddhist !ages and !on %astersA, the earliest kno,n book printed ,ith movable metal type, 35==. Biblioth[6ue nationale de France. 'he "hinese inventor Bi !heng made movable type of earthen,are circa 37:;, but there are no kno,n surviving e/amples of his printing. .round 3:;7, in ,hat is commonly regarded as an independent invention, Xohannes )utenberg invented movable type in #urope, along ,ith innovations in casting the type based on a matri/ and hand mould. 'his invention gradually made books less e/pensive to produce, and more ,idely available. #arly printed books, single sheets and images ,hich ,ere created before 3;73 in #urope are kno,n as incunables or incunabula. A. man born in 3:;5, the year of the fall of "onstantinople, could look back from his fiftieth year on a lifetime in ,hich about eight million books had been printed, more perhaps than all the scribes of #urope had produced since "onstantine founded his city in .. . 557.A83?9

Modern &orld

!team0po,ered printing presses became popular in the early 3?th century. 'hese machines could print 3,377 sheets per hour, but ,orkers could only set 4,777 letters per hour.8citation needed9 %onotype and linotype typesetting machines ,ere introduced in the late 3?th century. 'hey could set more than <,777 letters per hour and an entire line of type at once. 'he centuries after the 3;th century ,ere thus spent on improving both the printing press and the conditions for freedom of the press through the gradual rela/ation of restrictive censorship la,s. !ee also intellectual property, public domain, copyright. 1n mid047th century, #uropean book production had risen to over 477,777 titles per year.

Book manufacture in modern times

%ain articleM Bookbinding !ee alsoM Publishing 'he spine of the book is an important aspect in book design, especially in the cover design. When the books are stacked up or stored in a shelf, the details on the spine is the only visible surface that contains the information about the book. 1n stores, it is the details on the spine that attract buyersL attention first. 'he methods used for the printing and binding of books continued fundamentally unchanged from the 3;th century into the early 47th century. While there ,as more mechani-ation, a book printer in 3?77 had much in common ,ith )utenberg. )utenbergLs invention ,as the use of movable metal types, assembled into ,ords, lines, and pages and then printed by letterpress to create multiple copies. %odern paper books are printed on papers designed specifically for printed books. 'raditionally, book papers are off0,hite or lo,0,hite papers (easier to read), are opa6ue to minimise the sho,0 through of te/t from one side of the page to the other and are (usually) made to tighter caliper or thickness specifications, particularly for case0bound books. ifferent paper 6ualities are used depending on the type of bookM %achine finished coated papers, ,oodfree uncoated papers, coated fine papers and special fine papers are common paper grades. 'oday, the ma2ority of books are printed by offset lithography. When a book is printed the pages are laid out on the plate so that after the printed sheet is folded the pages ,ill be in the correct se6uence. Books tend to be manufactured no,adays in a fe, standard si-es. 'he si-es of books are usually specified as Atrim si-eAM the si-e of the page after the sheet has been folded and trimmed. 'he standard si-es result from sheet si-es (therefore machine si-es) ,hich became popular 477 or 577 years ago, and have come to dominate the industry. British conventions in this regard prevail throughout the #nglish0speaking ,orld, e/cept for the @!.. 'he #uropean book manufacturing industry ,orks to a completely different set of standards.

Current processes
Book covers !ome books, particularly those ,ith shorter runs (i.e. fe,er copies) ,ill be printed on sheet0fed offset presses, but most books are no, printed on ,eb presses, ,hich are fed by a continuous roll of paper, and can conse6uently print more copies in a shorter time. .s the production line circulates, a complete AbookA is collected together in one stack, ne/t to another, and another. . &eb press carries out the folding itself, delivering bundles of signatures (sections) ready to go into the gathering line. Notice that ,hen the book is being printed it is being printed one (or t,o)

signatures at a time, not one complete book at a time. #/cess numbers are printed to make up for any spoilage due to Amake0readiesA or test pages to assure final print 6uality. . make'ready is the preparatory ,ork carried out by the pressmen to get the printing press up to the re6uired 6uality of impression. 1ncluded in make0ready is the time taken to mount the plate onto the machine, clean up any mess from the previous 2ob, and get the press up to speed. .s soon as the pressman decides that the printing is correct, all the make0ready sheets ,ill be discarded, and the press ,ill start making books. !imilar make readies take place in the folding and binding areas, each involving spoilage of paper. .fter the signatures are folded and gathered, they move into the bindery. 1n the middle of last century there ,ere still many trade binders N stand0alone binding companies ,hich did no printing, speciali-ing in binding alone. .t that time, because of the dominance of letterpress printing, typesetting and printing took place in one location, and binding in a different factory. When type ,as all metal, a typical bookLs ,orth of type ,ould be bulky, fragile and heavy. 'he less it ,as moved in this condition the betterM so printing ,ould be carried out in the same location as the typesetting. Printed sheets on the other hand could easily be moved. No,, because of increasing computeri-ation of preparing a book for the printer, the typesetting part of the 2ob has flo,ed upstream, ,here it is done either by separately contracting companies ,orking for the publisher, by the publishers themselves, or even by the authors. %ergers in the book manufacturing industry mean that it is no, unusual to find a bindery ,hich is not also involved in book printing (and vice versa). 1f the book is a hardback its path through the bindery ,ill involve more points of activity than if it is a paperback. @nse,n binding, is no, increasingly common. 'he signatures of a book can also be held together by A!myth se,ingA using needles, A%c"ain se,ingA, using drilled holes often used in schoolbook binding, or Anotch bindingA, ,here gashes about an inch long are made at intervals through the fold in the spine of each signature. 'he rest of the binding process is similar in all instances. !e,n and notch bound books can be bound as either hardbacks or paperbacks.

(inishin
Book pages A%aking casesA happens off0line and prior to the bookLs arrival at the binding line. 1n the most basic case0making, t,o pieces of cardboard are placed onto a glued piece of cloth ,ith a space bet,een them into ,hich is glued a thinner board cut to the ,idth of the spine of the book. 'he overlapping edges of the cloth (about ;+>A all round) are folded over the boards, and pressed do,n to adhere. .fter case0making the stack of cases ,ill go to the foil stamping area for adding decorations and type.

Di ital printin
&ecent developments in book manufacturing include the development of digital printing. Book pages are printed, in much the same ,ay as an office copier ,orks, using toner rather than ink. #ach book is printed in one pass, not as separate signatures. igital printing has permitted the manufacture of much smaller 6uantities than offset, in part because of the absence of make readies and of spoilage. (ne might think of a ,eb press as printing 6uantities over 4777, 6uantities from 4;7 to 4777 being printed on sheet0fed presses, and digital presses doing 6uantities belo, 4;7. 'hese numbers are of course only appro/imate and ,ill vary from supplier to supplier, and from book to book depending on its characteristics. igital printing has opened

up the possibility of print0on0demand, ,here no books are printed until after an order is received from a customer.

E'book
%ain articleM e0book 'he term e0book is a contraction of Aelectronic bookAV it refers to a book0length publication in digital form.8479 .n e0book is usually made available through the internet, but also on " 0&(% and other forms. #0Books may be read either via a computer or by means of a portable book display device kno,n as an e0book reader, such as the !ony &eader, Barnes \ Noble Nook or the .ma-on Oindle. 'hese devices attempt to mimic the e/perience of reading a print book.

)nformation e#plosion
'hroughout the 47th century, libraries have faced an ever0increasing rate of publishing, sometimes called an information e/plosion. 'he advent of electronic publishing and the internet means that much ne, information is not printed in paper books, but is made available online through a digital library, on " 0&(%, or in the form of e0books. .n on0line book is an e0book that is available online through the internet. 'hough many books are produced digitally, most digital versions are not available to the public, and there is no decline in the rate of paper publishing.8439 'here is an effort, ho,ever, to convert books that are in the public domain into a digital medium for unlimited redistribution and infinite availability. 'his effort is spearheaded by Pro2ect )utenberg combined ,ith istributed Proofreaders. 'here have also been ne, developments in the process of publishing books. 'echnologies such as P( or Aprint on demandA, ,hich make it possible to print as fe, as one book at a time, have made self0publishing much easier and more affordable. (n0demand publishing has allo,ed publishers, by avoiding the high costs of ,arehousing, to keep lo,0selling books in print rather than declaring them out of print.

Book desi n
%ain articleM Book design Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and se6uence of the various components of a book into a coherent ,hole. 1n the ,ords of Xan 'schichold, book design Athough largely forgotten today, methods and rules upon ,hich it is impossible to improve have been developed over centuries. 'o produce perfect books these rules have to be brought back to life and applied.A &ichard *endel describes book design as Aan arcane sub2ectA and refers to the need for a conte/t to understand ,hat that means.

"i*es
%ain articleM Book si-e

&eal0si-e facsimile of "ode/ )igas

'he ,orldLs largest book 'he si-e of a modern book is based on the printing area of a common flatbed press. 'he pages of type ,ere arranged and clamped in a frame, so that ,hen printed on a sheet of paper the full si-e of the press, the pages ,ould be right side up and in order ,hen the sheet ,as folded, and the folded edges trimmed. 'he most common book si-es areM ]uarto (:to)M the sheet of paper is folded t,ice, forming four leaves (eight pages) appro/imately 33035 inches (ca 57 cm) tall (ctavo (>vo)M the most common si-e for current hardcover books. 'he sheet is folded three times into eight leaves (3< pages) up to ? ^A (ca 45 cm) tall. uo ecimo (34mo)M a si-e bet,een >vo and 3<mo, up to = ^A (ca 3> cm) tall !e/todecimo (3<mo)M the sheet is folded four times, forming 3< leaves (54 pages) up to < ^A (ca 3; cm) tall !i-es smaller than 3<mo areM 4:moM up to ; ^A (ca 35 cm) tall. 54moM up to ;A (ca 34 cm) tall.

:>moM up to :A (ca 37 cm) tall. <:moM up to 5A (ca > cm) tall. !mall books can be called booklets. !i-es larger than 6uarto areM FolioM up to 3;A (ca 5> cm) tall. #lephant FolioM up to 45A (ca ;> cm) tall. .tlas FolioM up to 4;A (ca <5 cm) tall. ouble #lephant FolioM up to ;7A (ca 34= cm) tall. 'he largest e/tant medieval manuscript in the ,orld is "ode/ )igas ?4 _ ;7 _ 44 cm. 'he ,orldLs largest book made of stone is in Outhoda, Pagoda (Burma). 'he longest book title in the ,orld is <=7 ,ords long8citation needed9.

Types
By content

Novels in a Polish bookstore . common separation by content are fiction and non0fiction books. 'his simple separation can be found in most collections, libraries, and bookstores. (iction %any of the books published today are fiction, meaning that they are in0part or completely untrue. *istorically, paper production ,as considered too e/pensive to be used for entertainment. .n increase in global literacy and print technology led to the increased publication of books for the purpose of entertainment, and allegorical social commentary. %ost fiction is additionally categori-ed by genre. 'he no$el is the most common form of fiction book. Novels are stories that typically feature a plot, setting, themes and characters. !tories and narrative are not restricted to any topicV a novel can be ,himsical, serious or controversial. 'he novel has had a tremendous impact on entertainment and publishing markets.8449 . novella is a term sometimes used for fiction prose typically bet,een 3=,;77 and :7,777 ,ords, and a novelette bet,een =,;77 and 3=,;77. . !hort story may be any length up to 37,777 ,ords, but these ,ord lengths vary. Comic books or raphic no$els are books in ,hich the story is illustrated. 'he characters and narrators use speech or thought bubbles to e/press verbal language.

+on'fiction

. page from a dictionary 1n a library, a reference book is a general type of non0fiction book ,hich provides information as opposed to telling a story, essay, commentary, or other,ise supporting a point of vie,. .n almanac is a very general reference book, usually one0volume, ,ith lists of data and information on many topics. .n encyclopedia is a book or set of books designed to have more in0depth articles on many topics. . book listing ,ords, their etymology, meanings, and other information is called a dictionary. . book ,hich is a collection of maps is an atlas. . more specific reference book ,ith tables or lists of data and information about a certain topic, often intended for professional use, is often called a handbook. Books ,hich try to list references and abstracts in a certain broad area may be called an inde/, such as )ngineering !ndex, or abstracts such as chemical abstracts and biological abstracts.

.n atlas Books ,ith technical information on ho, to do something or ho, to use some e6uipment are called instruction manuals. (ther popular ho,0to books include cookbooks and home improvement books. !tudents typically store and carry te/tbooks and schoolbooks for study purposes. #lementary school pupils often use ,orkbooks, ,hich are published ,ith spaces or blanks to be filled by them for study or home,ork. 1n @! higher education, it is common for a student to take an e/am using a blue book.

. page from a notebook used as hand ,ritten diary 'here is a large set of books that are made only to ,rite private ideas, notes, and accounts. 'hese books are rarely published and are typically destroyed or remain private. Notebooks are blank papers to be ,ritten in by the user. !tudents and ,riters commonly use them for taking notes. !cientists and other researchers use lab notebooks to record their notes. 'hey often feature spiral coil bindings at the edge so that pages may easily be torn out.

. 'elephone irectory, ,ith business and residence listings. .ddress books, phone books, and calendar+appointment books are commonly used on a daily basis for recording appointments, meetings and personal contact information. Books for recording periodic entries by the user, such as daily information about a 2ourney, are called logbooks or simply logs. . similar book for ,riting the o,nerLs daily private personal events, information, and ideas is called a diary or personal 2ournal. Businesses use accounting books such as 2ournals and ledgers to record financial data in a practice called bookkeeping. ,ther types 'here are several other types of books ,hich are not commonly found under this system. .lbums are books for holding a group of items belonging to a particular theme, such as a set of photographs, card collections, and memorabilia. (ne common e/ample is stamp albums, ,hich are used by many hobbyists to protect and organi-e their collections of postage stamps. !uch albums are often made using removable plastic pages held inside in a ringed binder or other similar smolder. Picture books are books for children ,ith little te/t and pictures on every page.

*ymnals are books ,ith collections of musical hymns that can typically be found in churches. Prayerbooks or missals are books that contain ,ritten prayers and are commonly carried by monks, nuns, and other devoted follo,ers or clergy.

By physical format

*ardcover books

Paperback books *ardcover books have a stiff binding. Paperback books have cheaper, fle/ible covers ,hich tend to be less durable. .n alternative to paperback is the glossy cover, other,ise kno,n as a dust cover, found on maga-ines, and comic books. !piral0bound books are bound by spirals made of metal or plastic. #/amples of spiral0bound books includeM teachersL manuals and pu--le books (cross,ords, sudoku). Publishing is a process for producing pre0printed books, maga-ines, and ne,spapers for the reader+user to buy. Publishers may produce lo,0cost, pre0publication copies kno,n as galleys or Lbound proofsL for promotional purposes, such as generating revie,s in advance of publication. )alleys are usually made as cheaply as possible, since they are not intended for sale.

Libraries
%ain articleM $ibrary

"elsus $ibrary ,as built in 35; . and could house around 34,777 scrolls. Private or personal libraries made up of non0fiction and fiction books, (as opposed to the state or institutional records kept in archives) first appeared in classical )reece. 1n ancient ,orld the maintaining of a library ,as usually (but not e/clusively) the privilege of a ,ealthy individual. 'hese libraries could have been either private or public, i.e. for people ,ho ,ere interested in using them. 'he difference from a modern public library lies in the fact that they ,ere usually not funded from public sources. 1t is estimated that in the city of &ome at the end of the 5rd century there ,ere around 57 public libraries. Public libraries also e/isted in other cities of the ancient %editerranean region (for e/ample, $ibrary of .le/andria).8459 $ater, in the %iddle .ges, monasteries and universities had also libraries that could be accessible to general public. 'ypically not the ,hole collection ,as available to public, the books could not be borro,ed and often ,ere chained to reading stands to prevent theft. 'he beginning of modern public library begins around 3;th century ,hen individuals started to donate books to to,ns.84:9 'he gro,th of a public library system in the @nited !tates started in the late 3?th century and ,as much helped by donations from .ndre, "arnegie. 'his reflected classes in a societyM 'he poor or the middle class had to access most books through a public library or by other means ,hile the rich could afford to have a private library built in their homes. 1n the @nited !tates the Boston Public $ibrary 3>;4 Report of the Trustees established the 2ustification for the public library as a ta/0supported institution intended to e/tend educational opportunity and provide for general culture.84;9 'he advent of paperback books in the 47th century led to an e/plosion of popular publishing. Paperback books made o,ning books affordable for many people. Paperback books often included ,orks from genres that had previously been published mostly in pulp maga-ines. .s a result of the lo, cost of such books and the spread of bookstores filled ,ith them (in addition to the creation of a smaller market of e/tremely cheap used paperbacks) o,ning a private library ceased to be a status symbol for the rich. 1n library and booksellersL catalogues, it is common to include an abbreviation such as A"ro,n >voA to indicate the paper si-e from ,hich the book is made. When ro,s of books are lined on a book holder, bookends are sometimes needed to keep them from slanting.

)dentification and classification

uring the 47th century, librarians ,ere concerned about keeping track of the many books being added yearly to the )utenberg )ala/y. 'hrough a global society called the 1nternational

Federation of $ibrary .ssociations and 1nstitutions (1F$.), they devised a series of tools including the 1nternational !tandard Bibliographic escription (1!B ).

1!BN ,ith barcode #ach book is specified by an 1nternational !tandard Book Number, or 1!BN, ,hich is uni6ue to every edition of every book produced by participating publishers, ,orld ,ide. 1t is managed by the 1!BN !ociety. .n 1!BN has four partsM the first part is the country code, the second the publisher code, and the third the title code. 'he last part is a check digit, and can take values from 7N? and W (37). 'he #.N Barcodes numbers for books are derived from the 1!BN by prefi/ing ?=>, for Bookland, and calculating a ne, check digit. "ommercial publishers in industriali-ed countries generally assign 1!BNs to their books, so buyers may presume that the 1!BN is part of a total international system, ,ith no e/ceptions. *o,ever, many government publishers, in industrial as ,ell as developing countries, do not participate fully in the 1!BN system, and publish books ,hich do not have 1!BNs. . large or public collection re6uires a catalogue. "odes called Acall numbersA relate the books to the catalogue, and determine their locations on the shelves. "all numbers are based on a $ibrary classification system. 'he call number is placed on the spine of the book, normally a short distance before the bottom, and inside. 1nstitutional or national standards, such as .N!1+N1!( `5?.:3 0 3??=, establish the correct ,ay to place information (such as the title, or the name of the author) on book spines, and on AshelvableA book0like ob2ects, such as containers for U s, video tapes and soft,are.

Books on library shelves ,ith bookends, and call numbers visible on the spines (ne of the earliest and most ,idely kno,n systems of cataloguing books is the e,ey ecimal !ystem. .nother ,idely kno,n system is the $ibrary of "ongress "lassification system. Both systems are biased to,ards sub2ects ,hich ,ere ,ell represented in @! libraries ,hen they ,ere developed, and hence have problems handling ne, sub2ects, such as computing, or sub2ects relating to other cultures.8citation needed9

1nformation about books and authors can be stored in databases like online general0interest book databases. %etadata about a book may include its 1!BN or other classification number (see above), the names of contributors (author, editor, illustrator) and publisher, its date and si-e, and the language of the te/t.

Classification systems

Bliss bibliographic classification (B") "hinese $ibrary "lassification ("$") "olon "lassification e,ey ecimal "lassification ( ") *arvard0aenching "lassification $ibrary of "ongress "lassification ($"") Ne, "lassification !che