opening
Any two facing pages in an open book or other printed publication. The right-hand page is called the recto; the left-hand page, the verso. Click here to see an opening in a copy of the The Canterbury Tales published by William Caxton in 1476-77 (British Library), and here to see an opening in a 15th-century miniature Book of Hours (Lilly Library, Indiana Unviersity. Compare with conjoint leaves. See also: double spread.
Also refers to the proper preparation of a new book for reading, accomplished by holding the book block perpendicular to a flat surface with the boards open flat, then using both hands to gently press down on the leaves along the gutters, starting with the outer leaves and working toward the center.
Also, the process of slicing open the uncut bolts of a book in order to read it, done by hand with a dull blade held parallel with the plane of the paper. A folio edition has no folds and therefore needs no opening; a quarto has folds at the head only; an octavo has folds at the head and fore-edge. To avoid damage, the motion of cutting should be away from the book.
In library operations, the procedures followed by staff at the beginning of each workday to ready the facility for use by its patrons, such as deactivating the security system, turning on lights and equipment, checking the paper supply in printers and photocopiers, checking the book drop for materials returned after the previous day's closing, unlocking the entrance door(s), etc.
opinion
A statement, usually prepared in writing but sometimes delivered orally by a judge or court to announce the decision reached in a case argued or tried before them, giving a brief summary of the facts, expounding the law as it applies to the case, detailing the rationale on which the decision is based, and pronouncing judgment. A majority opinion, written by one of the judges, presents the principles of law deemed operative by a majority of the court. In common law, a majority opinion has more weight as precedent than a dissenting or minority opinion in which one or more judges disagree with the result and therefore with the reasoning and/or principles underlying the decision. A concurring opinion agrees with the result reached by the majority, but disagrees in at least one particular with the rationale leading to it. A separate opinion may be written by one or more judges who concur or dissent from the majority opinion. A plurality opinion is agreed to by less than a majority as to rationale, but by a majority as to result. Not all court opinions are released for publication but when they are, they are collected in law books called court reporters. In the United States, each state has at least one reporter in which the opinions of its courts are published; the federal courts have several.
A prescribed format exists for the publication of court opinions in reporters. At the top of each page, the name of the reporter appears, preceded by the volume number, and in the upper outside corner of the page is printed the page number. The volume number, reporter name, and page number constitute the citation used in reference to the opinion and as a means of locating it. The name of the reporter may be abbreviated in the citation, for example, 101 Cal. Rptr. 500 for an opinion appearing at page 500 in volume 101 of the California Reporter. The elements of an opinion are arranged as follows:
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- 1. Title of the action, identifying the parties and their roles in the action (plaintiff and defendant or appellant and respondent)
- 2. Docket or calendar number assigned by the court
- 3. Name of the court delivering the opinion and date of the decision
- 4. Summary of the facts and the decision (supplied by publisher of reporter)
- 5. Headnotes classifying the points of law applied by the court (supplied by publisher)
- 6. Syllabus summarizing the case (usually written by the court reporter)
- 7. Names of the attorneys representing the parties
- 8. Text of the opinion, opening with the name of the judge who wrote it
output
The end result of processing by a computer, as opposed to data entered into or transferred to a computer system for processing (input). Output may be sent to a peripheral device for storage or display. Also refers to the signal that emanates from a video or audio player, as opposed to the signal fed into it.
Also, the total amount of work produced by a person, team, organization, machine, etc., usually during a fixed period of time (hour, day, week, or month), for example, the number of items cataloged by the technical services department of a library in a given amount of time.