Implied print page numbers

[Ed Godfrey]

Have an odd situation. No print page numbers appear in the front matter of a nonfiction book. The first print page number shown in print is Arabic 1, for the Prologue, which is also the first item listed in the Table of Contents (TOC).

The surprise comes in the Index, which refers to specific items in the front matter by lowercase Roman numeral. Examples: xii (italicized, citing a photo/caption on the print page facing the Prologue); vii (two widely separated index entries, citing the topic and attribution of an epigraph printed two print pages before the TOC).

To summarize: There are 12 unnumbered print pages in the front matter. Yet the index (and the photo credits, ordinarily omitted) cite specific lowercase Roman print page numbers for material on those front matter pages.

I cannot find this situation described in Braille Formats. Should we show all of the "implied" lowercase Roman page numbers on the braille front matter pages?

-Ed

[joannavenneri]

Hi Ed,

I am so sorry for the delay in responding. I get to blame it on technical problems--but still, I do apologize.

That IS an odd situation. And because it's so odd, you get to make a creative decision. I can offer a suggestion. The criteria I follow with creative decisions is to interfere with print as little as possible. So therefore, I would avoid adding a large number of implied print pages, especially here where there are NO print pages at all.

The items in the index you describe do not seem to be of great significance, but of course, that is your call. You can see the book and you are the transcriber. I would consider a transcriber's note on the TN page that says the following items are listed in the index and omitted in braille and then list those items right there (without page numbers.) The reader will see those items as he or she goes through those preliminary pages and now s/he knows that they won't be found in the index where nobody would expect to find them anyway. I'm assuming there is no table of contents or that these items aren't listed there, since you didn't mention it.

And then you just run these p-pages with p-page numbers only and no print page numbers.

--Joanna

[joannavenneri]

And guess what. I've been overruled. The person I consulted with points out that Formats does indeed say to add the braille for implied page numbers. And the fact that there are items listed in the index with page numbers serves as enough of an implication! I have been convinced that this is a better answer, so follow print for listing items in the index and simply add the implied print page numbers. See Formats 2.7.1. It says NOT to add page numbers when there are no actual or implied page numbers. The index listing implies those numbers. so go ahead and add them. No TN needed.

--Joanna

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