Uniformity in Book Sizes: a Need Ofthehour

Annals of Library Science and Documentation 1981, 28(1-4), 90-96

UNIFORMITY IN BOOK SIZES: A NEED OFTHEHOUR

SUHAIL MANZOOR Central Library University of Basrah Iraq

Non-oonuent-ional:s[z~~ books (over and increasing diversities in book sizes due to undersize) are commonproblem of all libraries. their limitations of shelving capacity. Several methods of she lving such publications have been applied but librarians are still Much has been talked about in books and finding it hard to cope with the increasing journals on various aspects of book-publishing diversities in book sizes due to limitations but little emphasis has been given for.bringing of shelving capacity. Discusses publisher's uniformity in book sizes. The basic idea of role in the matter from librarian's point of the discussion is to review the existing diver- view start-ing from the receipt of manuscript. sities, particularly non-conventional sizes. Suggests possible ways and means for bringing The discussion excludes some of the publications about uniformity in book sizes and stresses like atlases, encyclopaedias, dictionaries, the need for creating cordial relations bet- directories and yearb00ks where unusual size liJeenlibrarians and publishers. cannot be avoided due to the nature of the material. INTRODUCTION The study narrates the publisher's role The expected outcome of the work of from librarian's point of view, starting from scholars and researchers is normally some form the receipt of the manuscript. It also sug- of publication. Ideas, findings, data, opi- gests the possible means and ways for bringing nions are embodied graphically within the about uniformity in book sizes. It further physical forms of journal articles, conference suggests the need for creating cordial re- papers, monographs, reports, books, computer lationship between the publisher and the libra- print-outs, video-display units, etc. in order rian. to pass them to the realms of public and scholarly discourse. The study coupled with appropriate examples and figures provides a clear picture The act of publication is an attempt to to the professionals in understanding the present the literature to the largely unknown reasons of these variations and their possible audience for information and assessment over- solutions. coming the barriers of time and space. BOOK SIZES The publisher is responsible for giving the physical form to the author's ideas in order In any library, it is hard to find two to make them worthy of perusal. In diverse books identical in height or width, even volu- physical forms, the publications are acquired, mes of a single set are sometimes different in processed and. shelved by the 1ibraries and sizes. On the basis of the sizes, the books information centres, to make them available to have been named as Narrow - if the width is its patrons. Non-conventional size books (over less than 3/5 of the height; s~uarh - if the and undersize) are a common problem of all width is more than 3/4 of the elg t; and libraries, no matter how big or small it is, Oblong or Landscape - if the width is greater sinre these publications require special con- than the helght. sideration in their processing, shelving and maintenance. Several methods of shelving are The books have also been grouped on the in practice to accommodate such publitations. basis of the trim-sizes (outside dimensions of Libraries are finding it hard to cope with the the paper page after the book has been trimmed.

Ann Lib Sci Doc UNIFORMITY IN BOOK SIZES

t1easurements are ~iven in inches with the width Width of the publication is to be given being given first) as seen in certain trade if it is less than half the height or if it is books e.g. greater than the height, the height is to be given first. 5 3/8 x 8" Fiction and non-fiction of minor importance If there is a difference of less than 2 5 1/2 x 8 1/4" - Non-fictions centimeters in the size of the volumes of a 6 1/8 x 9 1/4" - Non-fiction of major importance set, the larger size is to be given. If the and the college texts difference is more than 2 centimeters, the 8 1/2 x-Ll " - Pictorial books inclusive sizes are to be given, while a set 4 1/2 x 7" - Paper backs with single variation in size, the prevailing size is given followed by the variation. Folio, quarto, octavo are also used as indica- tions of approximate size of the books. The rule provides a coverage to the existing variations and giving an idea to the BOOK SIZES AND THE PRINTING PAPER reader about the size of the publication fol- lowed by the location mark in the catalog Accor dt aq to Warshall Lee, "The paper merchant keeps AUAdred of items in stock - dif- entry, if the publication is of unconventional ferent brands, ki",ds, qualities, finishes, colo- size. This does not provide solutions to the library personnel in processing and accommodat- rs, weight and sizes. Obviously, he wants to ing these publications. reduce this number to the fewest possible. The printer has presses of various sizes, but the UNCONVENTIONAL SIZES number is limited. Presuming the publishers want to utilize the full size of the presses, In every library there are materials they need mainly the paper sizes that fit the other than the normal run. In technical or presses available. Consequently paper is made research libraries they form a high proportion in a few standard sizes and any other must be of the stock. It has been well established made to order. Each paper mill has its own that about 10% of the entire collection is of minimum quantity requirements for making spe- unconventional size. The percentage seems to cial sizes in each grade of paper". be small but the library personnel have·much inconvenience in their processing, shelving Further according to Marshall Lee, "the maintenance and making them available to the page size of the book is generally an arbitrary readers. decision based primarily on custom. Economy affects the decision, but in most cases custom Table in the next page provides a has been shaped by economy, so there is little comparative study cf few cases to show the . conflict. Once a press size has been standard- unconventional sizes (over and under size) agalnst ized to accommodate a preferred trimsize, paper preferred trim-size of 6x9". besides specifying is made to fit that size." the book length in context to the book ,size and vice-versa. Foregoing paragraphs illustrate that Examples 3, 9 and 10 in the Table 'show there is no definite policy to decide the book that the books have over height with book sizes. With the result diversities of a high length running to few pages, contrary to this magnitude has become a part of this trade. is seen in examples 1 and 6. These examples Whatever trimsize is desired by the publisher, clearly indicate the monopolistic approaches the book is made accordingly without consider- of the publishers and confirm that the ~ize ing'much about the actual consumers. of the book is on the mercy of the publlsher. Whatever paper size is desired or available BOOK SIZES AND ANGLO-AMERICAN CATALOGUING on haod, the book is designed accordingly RULE without considering much about the pre and post publication form of it. AACR rule 2.5 D has been framed to des- cribe the diversities in book sizes and as per Figure-I explains how different book this rule the height of the publicat.ion is to sizes are accommodated on the shelf. The be given in centimeters exact to witl;n one book-T (HI x WI) is of normal size and can centimeter. B"'ooks 10 centimeters otl ess in be accommodated within the shelf. The book-2 height are to De described in milimeters. In (H2 x W2), where the book height is more than case of bound volumes the height of the binding 'the shelf height (examples-2,3,4,5 in the is to be given, while for a pamphlet inserted Table). The book is to be kept on its fore- in the binder, the height of the pamphlet is edges, the height becoming the width projected given. out of the shelf as is true for book-3

Vol 28 Nos 1-4 (Mar-Dee) 1981 91 MANZOOR

TABLE

Comparat-ive Sizes and Lenqbhe of the Uneonoent.ioral. Books

Sl. Particulars of the books Pages Size* No. (Book 1ength) (Height x Width)

1. Westwick, C A: How to use management ratios. Epping, Ess., Gover, 1973 xv, 288p 8.8 x 12 2. Hill, Malcolm R: Export marketing of capital goods to the socialist countries of the Eastern Europe Farnborough, Wilton, 1978. xiii, 213p 11.8 x 8 3. Bettleheim, Charles: Some basic planning problems. New York, Asia Publishing, 1960. vii, 68p 11.5 x 8.8 4. Meddis, Ray: Statistical handbooks for non-statisticians. London, McGraw-Hill, 1975. viii. 162p 10.13 x 8.1 5. Martino, R L: Resource management. Wayne, Penn., MOl Publications, 1968. 147p 11.4 x 8.11 6. Learning Systems Ltd.,: The interpretation and construc- tion of break-even charts. Oxford, Pergamon, 1967 131p 5.14 x.8.4 7. Moss, John: Introduction to data processing. London, Input Two Nine, 1978. 113p 11.10 x 8.4 8. Rumaihi, M G: Bahrain; social and political change since the first world war. New York, Bowker, 1976. xiv, 258p 11.12 x 8.11 9. Sykes, Alan: The lease buy decision; a survey of current patches in 202 companies. London, British Institute of Management. 1976. 11.13 x 8.4 10. National Safety Council: Making safety at work. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1976. 11.1 x,8.8

* Measurements are shown in inches exact to the height and width of the books. (This is contrary to MCR. but are given to illustrate the exact situation).

(H3 x W3) and 5 (H5 x W5), where the width is in addition to the following disadvantages more than the shelf depth (example-l in the for the 1 ibra ry personnel and the readers. Table). The book-4 (H4 x W4) is undersize and appears buried within large size books. 1. Avoiding Single Sequence Basic idea of the library is to pro- The above cases are common to most vide easy access to the material available of the libraries. They provide a clear by arranging it in the most convenient manner. picture to the problem and emphasises the Increasing diversities in book sizes are need ~r uniformity. hampering the libraries in accommodating the entire collection in a simple manner. Lib- DISADVANTAGES OF UNCONVENTIONAL SIZES raries are adopting different methods to solve the growing problem of shelving of the Unconventional size publications re- unconventional sizes. quirj;!special treatments in their processing, shelving and maintenance. These treatments Some libraries plan separate sequence are usually inconvenient and time consuming on the basis of sizes as practiced by some

92 Ann Lib Sci Doc UNIFORMITY IN BOOK SIZES

2 Reduction of Shelving Space ,I The overall effect of unconventional sizes is on the shelving capacity of an indi- vidual library. Oversized books shelved with r------~ normal books result in occupying more space, X since they are accommodated by keeping them -;-.,:======::::;n'• HI on their fore-edges or horizontally, thus I I occupying more space than their actual sizes. r-1------il; f These books project out beyond the shelf ,, depth making access difficult and reducing , ' the between-stack area. I: ,I Ms ,.-~--I------~------With regard to undersize books, they I I, r----- " I I Mil are usually lost in between other larger ,I ' books or even sometimes - they are pushed ,I I 'I , 1 behind them, misleading the reader about I I• I their availability in the library. In order to overcome this problem, some libraries wti'i_"JL w, iW1 keep them in book boxes along with other ! books, which again leads to occupying more space. ~ Shelf' depth ~t I To accommodate the oversized publi- cations with the remaining stock, modi t tca- .tions have to be made in the hei9ht of .shel- FIG. I Side view of the book shelf to illustrate ves. Bottom shelves or sometimes the upper- the diversities in height (H) and width most shelves are left for such publications (101)of the books by adjusting the tiers at different heights. Distance at which shelves are fixed is of course mainly of interest in that it affects 1. HI x WI Book normal height and normal width the number of shelves that can be fitted per x 1012 tier and the overall shelving capacity of 2. H2 Book overheight with normal width the library. 3. H3 x 1013 Book underheight with overwidth 4. H4 x 1014 Book underheight with underwidth 3 Llmltations of Shelving ~ystem 5. H5 x 1015 Book normal height with over width. Every library is equipped with specific Solid lines showing the height and depth of type of shelves. Flexibility in the housing of the shelf. capacity of the shelves is a matter of concern Dashed lines after X and Z points shows un- for all the libraries. conventional height and width of the books. Libraries having fixed shelves, wall depository libraries, while others put loca- mounted shelves, closed back shelves or pannel tdon marks for such,publications e.g. 'Q' shelves face extra problem in accommodating for books above 9. inches and 'F' for the unconventional size books, since no flexibi- largest. lity in the structure is possible. Experience shows that once a library starts with certain shelving system, it finds These alternatives reduces the use of it hard to change over to some other system these publications due to their location away due to their limitations, more particularlv from the main subject collection. Looking 'the funds available for such expenditures. into various sequences, even if location Libraries are left with no option but to mark is provided is inconvenient and rather compromise with the exi~ting system until time consuming in an open access library. there is some possibility for a change.

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4 Physical Damage to the Books come of their cooperation is providing eco- nomy in expenses as well as in space. Various Unfavourable storage of the books tend devices for shelving, including that of com- to cause physical damage to books. The books pact shelving, are the result of their co- of unconventional sizes are ~sua1ly kept on operation. their fore-edges or horizontally or even some- times on the upper edges of other books of a It is rather surprising to see that particular shelf. This not only gives a poor there exist no definite relation, except that look to the shelves but causes wear and tear of trade, between the publishers and the lib- to the books, thereby reducing the average rarians - the major consumers of the books. span of these books. (R.E. Barker in a report submitted to UNESCO in 1956 stated that half of the global book SUGGESTIONS production goes to the libraries). There is vital need for close cooperation between In order to overcome the growing them, more particularly at pre-publication diversities in book sizes, the following stage of an individual book. In consultation points are suggested : with eaGh other certain norms are to be laid down for bringing out the uniformity. 1 Need for Cooperation between Librarians and Publishers Cooperation between publishers, keep- ing aside the competetive urge, may playa Cooperation prevails in all walks of part in reducing the diversities in book sizes. life. It enables us to work as team and to Professional organisations, associations of reap the maximum benefits of our efforts. national and international importance may play The same may be applied to the book publish- a vital role by cooperating on this aspect. ing. Publishers must realise that neither library development nor bOok publishing There is a growing need for holding development can proceed very far without seminars, conferences in order to provide the full cooperation from the other. To help opportunities for the librarians and publish- their own future the publishers should do ers to exchange their views and to develop the everything they can to aid the development understanding about each other's problems and of libraries, in addition to helping the limitations in the best possible way. It will educational and" economic advances'.of their further help in eliminating diversities, countries. re?ucing competition followed by economy in pnces. The library planners, manufacturers of the library furniture, equipment are going . The cooperation will help in getting shoulder to shoulder with the librarians, in th: publications of uniform sizes, thus simpli- finding out the possible means and ways which fYlng the processing and maintenance of all the are most suitable to the libraries. The out- publications in a uniform way. (Fig. II). \

Alrla.r llaDuacript ~ ___ oJ ~ PUBLISBliB SIZE j---- I (oeordiDater) iE:------Nl! L18rarian : Books SPECIFICATIO L ______JI Cen8,.er8 ...•.--

- Miter ~ De.iper Printer I-- Binder

FIG.II Book production cycle. Dashed li ne showing the need for new link between librarian and publisher to.specify the physical size of the book.

94 Ann Lib Sci Doc UNIFORMITY IN BOOK SIZES

2 Possible Role of the Publishers controls. It has made possible much of the technological progress of the 20th century. Publishing is a business and the object of a business is to reap the profit, The objective of standardization is however,the publisher must realise that it is to eliminate useless, wasteful and disadvan- only the profit motive that book publishing tag~ous divers ity. It brinqs more regul arity, resembles any other business, otherwise it is rellability and facilitates interchangeabi- much more informal, complicated and hazardous 1 ity. than most. It differs from other manufactur- ing business, since it produces a hundred . .Librarians have long been cognizant entirely different products in one year, each of ltS lmportance and the standardization of o~e a unique creation by an independent indi- library equipment, materials and methods has vldual who has determined personally what the gained wider acceptance. product shall be. There is no way of knowing how many buyers will be there for it. Partial attempts have also been made in book publishing trade by fixing certain Physical manufacture of the book is trim sizes for books, but the picture is not the part of the publishing functions and still far from bright. Some kind of unifor- most publishers today employ outside design- mity is being observed quite rigidly in tra~ ers, printers and binders to perform these paper backs where price is the primary ele~ operations, but as a coordinator of the ment to satisfy the retailers. entire book production process, it is obli- g~tory on the part of the publisher to super- . In the middle of the 20th century Vlse and control the reproduction of the work. prlnters attempted to bring uniformity in He has the res pons ibil ity of des igni ng tho book sizes by keeping certain presses set layout, title page, dust jacket and binding. for one size of sheet, plates and margins. He chooses the style and size of type, select~ Partial standardization by the manufacturers the paper and specifies the method of compo- of the presses have also been attempted to sition and presswork to be used. fit the most popular trim sizes. It is the designing stage which seems Standards for page size have been to be crucial in determining the physical issued by British Standards Institution (BS: f?rm of th~ book and a check at this stage 1413:1970) and International Organization wl11 result in getting fruitful result. In for Standardization (ISO: R216) but the the production schedule while specifying the study reveals that the advances in this direc- trim-size by the publisher, decision should tion have been pai-I'lfunyslow, due to compe- not be based on the paper size available in. tetive practices followed bj' the publishers. the stock at a given time, b~t it should be decided in the light of the manuscript and Standardization in paper size will its actual destination i.e. library. While bring a direct control to the problem. designing the book,they should not overlook Extensive efforts by the paper manufacturers the average height and depth ratios of .the at national and international level are' shelves. needed to develop a cordial atmosphere on this aspect. Introduction of standard The publishers must try to prevent "Library Size" printing paper for books in the books being trapped in the commercial and t~e 1ight of average she 1f h_~lght and ctel!th industrial system. They should further real- w~ll b~ the most appropriate action in this ise that the introduction of wide varieties dlrectlon. in this trade for the sake'-ofaesthetic urge seems to be of ljttle value, since the fate Once "Library Size" paper is introduced of a product is decided on the utility of in book ~ublishing, it will not be very far to the contents. Diversity is playing only the see its lmpact upon uniformity. role o~ increasing competition followed by economlC stress on the consumers. IMPACT OF STANDARDIZATION 3 Standardization It will be in two ways - Standardization of human activities, operations, tools, forms, records and materi- 1. On book-publishing trade als is a fundamental pre-requisite to scien- tific management. Standardization has been - Uniformity in paper sizes. the foundation for the before-mentioned Simplifying the paper stocking,

Vol 28 Nos 1-4 (Mar-Dec) 1981 95 MANZOOR

- estimating and costing. team, some kind of uniformity will be seem. Simplifying the handling and packaging. Further, it is hoped that the publishers will do Uniformity in press sizes. their best by avoiding the production of uncon- Simplifying the designer's job. ventional size books to help the libraries on - $implifyin the collation. one hand and the readers on the other hand. Economising the production cost (smaller the page size lesser the cost of paper REFERENCES and printing) Reducing the competetion among publishe~ 1. Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed. Reducing the unwanted varieties. London: Library Association, 1978. Simplifying the binder's job. 2. Harrod, L M, ed.: The Librarian's gloss- 2. On libraries ary of terms used in librarianship, docu- mentation and the book crafts and refer- - Simplification in processing, shelving ence book. 4th ed. Boulder, Colorado: and maintenance. Westview Press, 1977. Economising the buying cost. Possibility for accomodating all books 3. Lee, Marshall: Book making; the illus- in single sequence. trated guide to design, production and Proving easy access to the readers. editing. 2nd ed. New York: Bowker, 1979. Maximising the shelving capacity. Eleminating the limitations of shelving 4. Rice, Stanley: Book design; systematic system, whether fixed, adjustable, pann~ aspect. New York: Bowker, 1978.· or any other. 5. Smith, D.C.: A guide to book publishing. CONCLUSION New York: Bowker, 1966. It is hoped that the above discussion 6. Thompson, Godfrey: Planning and design will bring some fruitful result in this direction of library buildings. 2nd ed. London: If due consideration is given by the publishing Architectural Press, 1977.

96 Ann Lib Sci Doc