obelisk
a free-standing stone pillar that narrows off at the top, often featuring inscriptions
obscurantist
a sinister character who sees himself as opposed to the core tenants of the Enlightenment
obverse
face side of a coin or banknote
Occident
the lands of the West, in contrast to the Orient
Occident
the Christian Western World as distinct from the Orient (or Eastern World)
Offizin
the traditional workshop quarters of a German printer’s
offline
devices and services that are either temporarily or permanently unavailable on a particular network
offset paper
paper suitable for offset printing that is not prone to dust collection
offset printing
an indirect flat printing process which features a rubber blanket between printing plate and paper
online
devices or computer services that are temporarily or permanently available for use within a network
online public access catalogue (OPAC)
a library catalogue that is publicly accessible on a digital network
opacity
the state of being non-transparent; this can be heightened in printing paper by the addition of bulking agents or wood fibre content
open-access shelving
books are shelved in a library in such a way that they are directly accessible and do not need to be fetched from a storeroom
optical character recognition technology (OCR)
computer-aided character recognition of image files containing typewritten or printed text
optical memory
storage media that can be read by means of optical scanning and overwritten using laser technology
opus
a Latin term for a literary or musical work
opuscule
a short or minor literary or musical work
orality
the quality of being communicated verbally
Orient
the part of the world seen from Europe in the direction of the rising sun
Oriental studies
a field of study devoted to the languages and intellectual and material culture of the Orient
original
the first version, the primary text, the basis for a copy or edited version
original cover
the cover of a brochure which is to be commissioned for printing by a publishing house
original edition
the first, complete published form of a work that has been approved by the author for publication
originator
in the fields of science, literature, art and music one whose creativity requires the creation of new technology
ornament (typographical)
a template that is often repeated and frequently abstract, often used in job printing as a spacer
ornamental engraving
graphic representation of ornaments as a reference tool for craftspeople, architects, etc.
orphan
in typography, lines of a paragraph, which are left dangling at the end of a page and which are considered to be a serious professional error
orthodoxy
the insistence on conformity with an original religious doctrine or, in a figurative sense, political theory
ostraca
pieces of broken pottery that were used as a writing surface for the purposes of notices or short messages and for casting votes
ostracism
a court procedure in ancient Athens which had the authority to banish citizens from the city-state; voting involved the casting of ostraca ballots
ostracism
an ancient form of written judicial sentencing that provided for the removal of unpopular or overly-powerful individuals from a city with sentences written in shards of pottery
