TextThe traditional format held by libraries is that of textual materials. Such materials contain intellectual or cultural information recorded in written forms of language: non-fiction, novels, drama, poetry, biography, dictionaries, instructional texts, etc. Text is contained in a variety of physical formats, or carriers. BooksWhile many books contain the text of a single work, some works are spread over more than one physical volume (multi-volume works such as Encyclopedia Britannica or Lord of the Rings), while other books contain more than one work (e.g. a collection of short stories). Multi-volume works can be catalogued in two ways. In the first, a single record is created for the entire work and the physical description indicates the number of volumes. In the second, a record is created for each volume, which includes information that it is only part of a work. Books are produced in hardback (also referred to as cased bindings), and paperback forms (also known as limp bindings). PamphletsThese are unbound booklets, sometimes with a card cover. They may be in the form of a leaflet (a single sheet which is folded), or a few pages folded in half and stapled to form a simple book. Such limp bindings of less than 49 pages are usually considered to be pamphlets (unless aimed at children). ManuscriptsIn a library context, manuscripts are texts that are written by hand. In book, magazine and music publishing, a manuscript is an original copy of a work written by an author or composer; although in the past this was usually hand-written, nowadays 'manuscripts' may be typed, or printed from a word processor file. PeriodicalsAlso known as serials, journals, magazines, and more recently as continuing resources. These items are published on a serial issue basis, which may be regular or irregular and at varying frequencies of publication. NewspapersA specific type of continuing resource, newspapers are published at varying frequencies from daily to quarterly. Printed on a thin, somewhat rough paper called newsprint, modern newspapers appear in three sizes: broadsheet, tabloid and Berliner or midi (used by European papers such as Le Monde). Large printItems in large print have a font size larger than font size 12. Such items are produced for those who cannot read the smaller font sizes:
Text items are also transcribed into tactile text formats such as Braille or Moon. |