In
typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...
and
word processing, a page header (or simply header) is text that is separated from the
body text and appears at the top of a printed
page.
Word-processing programs usually allow for the configuration of page headers, which are typically identical throughout a work except in aspects such as page numbers.
The counterpart at the bottom of the page is called a
page footer (or simply footer); its content is typically similar and often complementary to that of the page header.
In
publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
and certain types of
academic writing
Academic writing or scholarly writing is nonfiction produced as part of academic work, including reports on empirical fieldwork or research in facilities for the natural sciences or social sciences, monographs in which scholars analyze culture, ...
, a running head, less often called a running header, running headline or running title, is a header that appears on each standard page. Running heads do not usually appear on display pages such as
title pages
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
, or on other front or
back matter. Running heads in a book typically consist of the title on the left-hand (
verso) page, and the chapter title on the right-hand (
recto) page; or the chapter title on the verso and subsection title/subhead on the recto, aiding the reader's navigation by showing what content exists within the two-page spread at hand.
A special case of the latter is in
dictionaries
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, ...
, whose running heads are called guide words; they show the first
headword and last headword on each page, to expedite the reader's navigation to a desired headword. In academic writing, the running head usually contains the page number along with the author's last name, or an abbreviated version of the title.
The counterpart of the running head is the
running foot.
Živé_záhlaví.jpg, Header with highlighted current chapter title
Knižní_záhlaví.jpg, Header with the author's name and pagination
File:Záhlaví_na_straně.jpg, Header placed on the left hand side of page
File:Sadhupratikramanasutra.png, Header placed on the left hand side of page, pothi format
File:Záhlaví_sloužící_jako_orientační_systém_v_knize_365_typo_2..jpg
See also
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Headpiece (book illustration)
*
Page footer
References
Page layout
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