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About This Manual <br />By act of Congress the Public Printer is authorized to determine the form <br />and style of Government printing. Th e GPO Style Manual is the product <br />of many years of public printing experience, and its rules are based on prin- <br />ciples of good usage and custom in the printing trade. <br />Editors and writers whose disciplines have taught them aspects of style dif- <br />ferent from rules followed in this Manual will appreciate the diffi culty of <br />establishing a single standard. Th e GPO Style Manual has served Federal <br />printers since 1894, and with this 30th edition, the traditions of printing and <br />graphic arts are carried forward in the 21st century. <br />Essentially, the GPO Style Manual is a standardization device designed to <br />achieve uniform word and type treatment, and it aims for economy of word <br />use. Such rules as are laid down for the submission of copy to GPO point to <br />the most economical manner for the preparation and typesetting of manu- <br />script. Following such rules eliminates additional chargeable processing by <br />GPO. <br />It should be remembered that the GPO Style Manual is primarily a GPO <br />printer’s stylebook. Easy rules of grammar cannot be prescribed, for it is <br />assumed that editors are versed in correct expression. Likewise, decisions <br />on design and makeup are best determined by the individual publisher to <br />meet the needs of the intended audience. As a printer’s book, this Manual <br />necessarily uses terms that are obvious to those skilled in the graphic arts. <br />Users of the GPO Style Manual should consider it as a general guide. <br />Its rules cannot be regarded as rigid, for the printed word assumes many <br />shapes and variations in type presentation. An eff ort has been made to pro- <br />vide complete coverage of those elements that enter into the translation of <br />manuscript into type. <br />Th e GPO Style Board made signifi cant revisions to update this edition of the <br />GPO Style Manual. Th e changes include redesigning the format to make <br />it more modern and easier to read; replacing “What is GPO Access?’’ with <br />“GPO’s Online Initiatives’’; removing the atomic weights column from the <br />Chemical Symbols table; expanding and updating time zone abbreviations; <br />v <br />Preliminary-CD.indd vPreliminary-CD.indd v 3/4/09 10:18:05 AM3/4/09 10:18:05 AM