# book

> medium for recording information (words or images) typically on bound pages or more abstractly in electronic or audio form

**Wikidata**: [Q571](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q571)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/book

## Summary
A **book** is a medium for recording information in the form of words or images, typically presented on bound pages, though it also exists in electronic or audio formats. It serves various functions, including as a source of information, for education, critical thinking, and pleasure.

## Key Facts
- **Definition**: A medium for recording information (words or images) typically on bound pages or more abstractly in electronic or audio form.
- **Uses**: Serves as a source of information, for education, critical thinking, imagination, and pleasure.
- **Structure**: Can be composed of text and chapters.
- **Identity**: It is an instance of a "type of mass media" and a "type of publication."
- **Classification**: It is a subclass of a document, publication, and written work.
- **Cataloging**: Identified by an Amazon.com browse node of 1000 and a GS1 GPC code of 60010200.
- **History**: The history of the topic is "history of the book".
- **Digital Presence**: Has subreddit communities 'books' and 'buecher', and a Twitter topic ID 847519659179954178.

## FAQs
**What are the different forms a book can take?**
A book is typically a medium on bound pages but also encompasses electronic and audio forms like audiobooks.

**What are the primary uses of a book?**
Books are sometimes used as a source of information, for education, to foster critical thinking and imagination, and for pleasure.

**How is a book classified in terms of media?**
A book is classified as an instance of a type of mass media and a type of publication, and it is a subclass of a document and a written work.

## Why It Matters
Books are a fundamental medium for preserving and transmitting human knowledge, culture, and stories across time and space. They serve essential roles in education and personal development, acting as tools for critical thinking and imagination while providing pleasure. As both physical objects and digital entities, books remain central to mass media and the publication industry, facilitating the broad dissemination of information.

## Notable For
- Acting as a versatile medium for recording information in both physical (bound pages) and abstract (electronic, audio) forms.
- Serving multiple purposes including education, entertainment (pleasure), and intellectual development (critical thinking, imagination).
- Being a foundational component of mass media and the publication ecosystem, classified as a specific type of publication and document.
- Possessing a wide range of structural components such as text, chapters, titles, authors, and publication details.

## Body

### Definition and Nature
A **book** is a medium for recording information, comprising words or images, typically found on bound pages. The definition extends to more abstract forms, including electronic publications and audio formats like audiobooks. The concept is distinct from the general notion of a "written work" or a "document," though it is a subclass of both. It is also differentiated from disambiguation pages found in encyclopedias.

### Classification and Typology
Books are formally classified within several hierarchies:
- **Instance of**: Type of mass media, type of publication.
- **Subclass of**: Document, publication, written work.
- **Union of**: Monographs, audiobooks, and individual copies of books.

This entity has properties for types such as P1823, P1143, P2879, and others.

### Components and Characteristics
A book is defined by several key properties and parts, including:
- **Content**: Contains text and is organized into chapters.
- **Metadata**: Includes a title, author, publishing house, publication date, language, volume, and number of pages.
- **Identifiers**: Associated with an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), editorial board, editor, and compiler.
- **Physical Attributes**: Possesses a specific book format and illustrations.
- **Symbols**: Represented by various emojis (🕮, 📚, 📙, 📘, 📗, 📖, 📕).

### Uses and Functions
The function of a book is multifaceted. It is "sometimes" used as:
- A source of information.
- A tool for education.
- A means to stimulate critical thinking.
- A medium for imagination.
- A source of pleasure.

### Digital and Community Presence
Books have a significant footprint in digital and social spaces:
- **Social Media**:
    - **Reddit**: Hosts subreddits like `books` (with the description "So many books, so little time" since 2008) and `buecher` (German).
    - **Twitter/X**: Has a topic ID `847519659179954178` labeled "Books."
    - **Quora**: Features a topic "Books."
- **Online Communities**: Includes Lemmy communities such as `books@lemmy.world` and `books@lemmy.ml`.
- **Other Platforms**: Tagged on platforms like Stack Exchange (Academia, TeX), Fandom (Star Wars), and various news outlets like ABC News, BBC News, and The Guardian.

### Cataloging and Identification
Books are cataloged extensively across various systems and libraries globally:
- **Library Codes**:
    - **Dewey Decimal**: 002, 070.573, 302.232, 090.
    - **Library of Congress**: Authority ID `sh85015738`.
    - **National Libraries**: IDs from France (BNCF), Spain (BNE), Germany (GND), Japan (NDL), and others.
- **Academic and Reference IDs**: Found in Britannica, Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, and others.
- **Standard Identifiers**: FAST ID `836401`, UMLS CUI `C0005990`, and various thesaurus entries (UNESCO, EuroVoc, etc.).
- **Commercial Codes**: Amazon Browse Node `1000`, Google Product Taxonomy ID `784`, and iTunes Genre ID `38` (archived).

### History and Cultural Impact
The study of books is encapsulated in the "history of the book." This topic is deemed vital enough to be included in the "List of articles all languages should have" and "Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4." It is maintained by WikiProject Books and has a dedicated Wikimedia Portal (`Portal:Books`) and Outline (`outline of books`).

### Linked Data and Ontology
In the semantic web, the entity "book" is equivalent to classes in several ontologies:
- `http://dbpedia.org/ontology/Book`
- `https://schema.org/Book`
- `http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/Book`
- `http://purl.org/net/nknouf/ns/bibtex#Book`
- `http://www.ontotext.com/proton/protonext#Book`
- `https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/Q13`

It also has exact matches with other semantic definitions like `http://purl.org/spar/fabio/Book` and `https://citationstyles.org/ontology/type/book`.

### Multimedia and Archives
- **Images**: Visual representations include `Reimski_evanđelistar.10.jpg` and `Americanstudbookvolume2open.jpg`.
- **Audio**: A spoken text audio file `Nl-Boekdocument.ogg` exists in Dutch.
- **Archives**: Categorized under "Books" in the UK Archival Thesaurus and the National Historical Museums of Sweden.

This entity is also referenced in specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias, including the Jewish Encyclopedia (Russian), Treccani's Dictionary of History, and the Dictionary of Late Antiquity.

## References

1. [Nuovo soggettario](https://thes.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/termine.php?id=303)
2. Nuovo soggettario
3. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
4. [Registros de autoridad de "Materia" de la Biblioteca Nacional de España. Spain open data portal](https://www.bne.es/media/datosgob/catalogo-autoridades/materia/materia-UTF8.zip)
5. Integrated Authority File
6. YSO-Wikidata mapping project
7. BabelNet
8. UMLS 2023
9. Quora
10. Europeana Fashion Thesaurus v1
11. [Book (Object) - Giant Bomb](https://www.giantbomb.com/book/3055-818/)
12. [Source](https://golden.com/wiki/Book-XXJK)
13. National Library of Israel
14. KBpedia
15. Wikibase TDKIV