DAISY—Structure Guidelines: Elements, Major Structural Elements, Front Matter

DAISY—Structure Guidelines: Elements, Major Structural Elements, Front Matter

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Information Object: Front Matter

Definition

One of the three major divisions of the interior of a book, the front matter is comprised of preliminary pages which serve as a guide to the contents and nature of the book. Front matter may include:

  • Series title, list of contributors, frontispiece or blank page
  • Title page
  • Verso (Copyright notice, publisher’s agencies, printing history and country where printed, ISBN, CIP)
  • Dedication (or epigraph)
  • Blank page
  • Table of Contents
  • List of Illustrations
  • List of Tables
  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • List of Abbreviations
  • Chronology
  • Bibliographic Reference

Many objects in a book’s front matter will not have headings, such as the title page, dedication and acknowledgments. There are basically two approaches to structuring this content:

  • A generic level element wraps all front matter, within which each information object is contained in a <div> element
  • Each information object is contained within its own level element—this approach is outlined in the detailed sections about each Information object.

Overview

Within the front matter of a book, only objects with headings are usually identified using a level tag and its associated heading tag. A preface would normally be a major structure that an end user would want to directly access so it should be marked as a level with the associated heading. Other items without a heading, such as the dedication, should be marked as divisions (<div>) within the level element.

Syntax

front matter may contain only the following child elements:

<frontmatter>

<doctitle>...</doctitle>

<docauthor>...</docauthor>

<covertitle>...</covertitle>

<level1>...</level1>

<level>...</level>

</frontmatter>

Note: Either <level1> through <level6> OR <level> may be used, but they may not be used together. Block-level elements such as <div> are not permitted as child elements of <frontmatter>.

Information Object: Doctitle

Definition

Identifies the title of this book.

Markup

Doctitle should be the first element in the book and is used to quickly identify each book. If the book is structured to contain front matter, doctitle must be the first element inside the front matter. It serves the same function as the title printed on the cover of the print book and should contain the same information. It may be followed by opening announcements contained in a producer’s note which would contain such information as author, publisher, copyright notice, etc. The information included in the producer’s note and the order in which it is presented is generally specified by the producing agency. The exact contents of the title page are included separately, as indicated in the following section. See Information Object: Title Page.

When a book contains a title which is abbreviated on the cover, with the full title presented on the title page, <covertitle> should be used to mark up the abbreviated title, and <doctitle> to mark up the full title as shown on the title page.

Syntax

<doctitle>...</doctitle>

Example

<doctitle>Reading for Success</doctitle>

Information Object: Docauthor

Definition

Identifies each author, editor, etc. of the book.

Markup

As with doctitle, docauthor will ordinarily appear both at the very beginning of the book and on the title page.

Syntax

<docauthor>...</docauthor>

Example

<docauthor>Roberta P. Stevenson</docauthor>

<docauthor>R. William Ipswitch</docauthor>

Information Object: Title Page

Definition

The title page presents the full title of the book, the name of the author, editor or translator and the name and location of the publishing house. If the book is a new edition of a work previously published, the number of the edition may also appear on the title page following the title. Additional items such as publishing year and colophon sometimes appear on the title page. Bibliographic Reference

Markup

The title page is included in the front matter, within a level tag.

The title of the book should be marked with the <doctitle> tag; and each author, editor, etc. with the <docauthor> tag. The <doctitle> and <docauthor>, if they appear as the first elements of <frontmatter> do not need to be repeated here. If the title of the book is abbreviated on the cover (e.g., a subtitle is omitted), the full title will be marked up in the title page with the tag <doctitle>. The remaining contents of the title page are most easily managed by the end user if the separate items are marked up as paragraphs using <p> and </p>.

Syntax

<level1 class="title_page">

<doctitle>...</doctitle>

<docauthor>...</docauthor>

<p>...</p>

</level1>

Example 1

<frontmatter>

<covertitle>Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and It's All Small

Stuff</covertitle>

<docauthor>Richard Carlson, Ph.D.</docauthor>

<level1 class="title_page">

<doctitle>Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and It's All Small

Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking

Over Your Life.</doctitle>

<p>Hyperion</p>

<p>New York</p>

</level1>

...

</frontmatter>

Example 2

<frontmatter>

<doctitle>Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and It's All Small

Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking

Over Your Life.</doctitle>

<docauthor>Richard Carlson, Ph.D.</docauthor>

<level1 class="title_page">

<p>Hyperion</p>

<p>New York</p>

</level1>

...

</frontmatter>

Information Object: Acknowledgments

Definition

A formal declaration of acknowledgment by the author in which persons and/or institutions are thanked for their part in the creation of the content. Acknowledgments can form a separate page or can be combined with the preface. Bibliographic Reference

Markup

The acknowledgments page is included in the front matter (unless it falls at the back of the book, in which case it is included in the rear matter) and is marked with a level or level1 tag if there is a heading. Otherwise, it should be marked with a div tag within a level element.

Syntax

<level1 class="acknowledgments">

<h1>Acknowledgments</h1>

<p>...</p>

</level1>

Example

<level1 class="acknowledgments">

<h1>Acknowledgments</h1>

<p>In any collection, the editors' first debt is to the

contributors, without whose talent and cooperation the book

could not exist. We thank them for their enthusiasm,

conscientiousness, and in many cases, advice.</p >

<p>We are especially thankful to Jeanne Heifetz and Jonathan

Rosen, who have been extraordinarily generous and helpful in

their suggestions.</p>

</level1>

Information Object: Dedication

Definition

A formal offering or dedication of a text by the author to one or more persons or institutions.

Markup

The dedication page is included in the front matter and is marked with a level or level1 tag. If there is no heading associated with it, it should be marked with a div.

Syntax

<level1 class="dedication">

<h1>Dedication</h1>

<p>...</p>

</level1>

Example

<level1 class="dedication">

<h1>Dedication</h1>

<p>For Digger, Magrath and Poppy - as always</p>

</level1>

Information Object: Preface

Definition

The preface is used by the author or publisher to explain the content, origin and/or purpose of the book to the reader. Bibliographic Reference

Markup

The preface is included in the front matter and is marked with a level, level 1 or level 2 tag, depending on the structure of the front matter. Other prefatory material such as introductions, forewords, editor’s notes, translator’s notes, etc. should be marked up in the same manner as a preface.

Syntax

<level1 class="preface">

<h1>Preface</h1>

<p>...</p>

</level1>

Example

<level1 class="preface">

<h1>Preface</h1>

<p>Certain authors write with such vitality that literary coteries

grow up around the characters of their imagination. The

"Pickwickians", the "Jane-ites", the "Dickensians" are typical

of such groups. Lewis Carroll's "Alice" books have a world

following and the devotees of "Pooh" recognize each other almost

upon sight. Most of these enthusiasms are based upon two or more

titles by the same author. There is one enthusiasm, however, the

fellowship of Rat and Mole and Mr. Toad, that stems from one

single book - The Wind in the Willows.</p>

</level1>

Information Object: Table of Contents

Definition

The table of contents provides information to the reader about the main sections of the book: front matter, text divisions and back matter including the index. It usually includes the title and the beginning page number of each section of the book. In a volume consisting of chapters by different authors, the name of each author may be given in the table of contents with the title of the chapter.

Markup

The printed table of contents is included in the front matter and is most often marked with a level 1 tag. The table of contents should be considered a nested list and each item in the table of contents should be marked as a list item. If page numbers are provided for the items listed, each item and each page number should be marked as separate list item components using the lic tag. The class attribute on lic specifies what type of list item component each one is (“entry” and “pagenum” in the example below).

Note:  the “type” attribute in <list> is required. See Information Object: Lists for additional information about marking up lists.

Syntax

<level1 class="print_toc">

<h1>Table of Contents</h1>

<list>

<li><lic class="entry">First Item</lic> <lic class="pagenum">1</lic></li>

<li><lic class="entry">Second Item</lic> <lic class="pagenum">23</lic></li>

</list>

</level1>

Example

<level1 class="print_toc">

<pagenum page="front" id="p-vi">vi</pagenum>

<h1>Table of Contents</h1>

<list class="toc" type="pl">

<li><lic class="entry" id="p_vi">CHAPTER 1 Preparing to Read for

Success</lic>

<lic class="pagenum">1</lic>

<list class="toc_chapter" type="pl">

<li><lic class="entry">Getting Ready to Read This Book</lic>

<lic class="pagenum">1</lic></li>

<li><lic class="entry">Why Read a Book to Learn How to Read a

Book?</lic> <lic class="pagenum">2</lic></li>

<li><lic class="entry">Final Check</lic> <lic class="pagenum">

14</lic></li>

</list>

</li>

<li><lic class="entry">CHAPTER 2 Previewing Reading Selections</lic>

<lic class="pagenum">15</lic>

<list class="toc_chapter" type="pl">

<li><lic class="entry">Previewing Reading Selections</lic>

<lic class="pagenum">15</lic></li>

<li><lic class="entry">How to Preview</lic> <lic

class="pagenum">18</lic></li>

<li><lic class="entry">Final Check</lic> <lic class="pagenum">

32</lic>

</li>

</list>

</li>

</list>

</level1>

Tags: DAISY