UC Standard For Spine Lettering

To provide clarity and uniformity in the rendering of book spine titles, a set of standard guidelines and abbreviations have been established from input provided by the UC binderies and the UC preservation operations committee.

General Guidelines

  1. Use all upper case letters in both the mid spine area and the call number area (this has been amended to allow lower case in the call number)
  2. Eliminate spaces and use periods only where necessary to separate elements, i.e., PT. 2, PP. 1-32, C. 2, or for series, i.e., N. S.
  3. Discontinue the use of codes (e.g., dashes or periods) to indicate line spacing, and use three spaces between titles and subtitles. The binderies apply standard spacing between elements, based on the thickness of the book and the size of type used.
Mid-Spine Abbreviations (Titles)
Word Approved UC Style
Pages P.
Part PT.
Supplement(s) SUPPL(S)
First 1st
Second 2nd
Third 3rd
Fourth 4th
Volume 10 10
Number 10 NO. 10

Some campuses use foreign terms (tome, folge), which should be abbreviated similarly:

Word Approved UC Style
Tome 10 10
New Series N. S.
Series SER
Month JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUNE, JULY, AUG, SEPT, OCT, NOV, DEC
Months Double JAN-JUNE, APR-JUNE, JULY-DEC, etc.
Spring SPR
Summer SUM
Fall FALL
Winter WIN
Years 1|9|8|7-8|8
(Option to print 1987/88 and 1986/87-1987/88 for volumes that are published on the fiscal year)
Proceedings PROC
Publications PUBLS
Transactions TRANS
Call Number Abbreviations
Word Approved UC Style
Copy 2 C. 2
Part 2 PT. 2
Reference REF
Volume V. 10
Number NO. 1-2

Foreign words for "volume" or "part" in the call number. They should be abbreviated similarly, but consistently for a given title.

Word Approved UC Style
Tome 2 T. 2
Folge 2 F. 2
New Series N. S.
Series SER

Shelving locations (Imprint). Retain option to place imprint either above or below call number.

Additions:
Word Approved UC Style
Spring SPR
Summer SUM
Fall FALL
Winter WIN

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