• Sachsenspiegel

    a book of German common law of the Middle Ages that, since its inception ca. 1221/24, has held great literary and historical significance as an early example of written prose in the German language
  • sacrilege

    an offence against that which is sacred by means of stealing from a temple or through the destruction of holy buildings
  • sacristy

    a room in a church used for storing liturgical vestments such books, objects and robes
  • saddle stitching

    special book-binding technique in which the individual layers are pierced with thread or wire from the inside out
  • saga

    a form of Old Nordic literature that was written down in the 12th and 13th centuries
  • samizdat

    a strand of self-published, dissident Soviet literature that was distributed through unofficial  channels
  • Sanctum Officium

    the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – an institution of the Catholic church responsible for overseeing matters of doctrine
  • sans-serif

    an Antiqua typeface without serifs, featuring consistent stroke width; also known as “Grotesque”
  • satellite

    an artificial object launched into space that orbits the Earth or other bodies used for communication purposes
  • scaling

    in digital image processing and computer graphics, the altering of the size of an image
  • scanner

    device for the optical digitalisation of images
  • scanography

    production of macro shots using a flatbed scanner
  • schism

    a division between members of a religious denomination
  • scholar

    pupil, academic or erudite cleric who does not hold an official office or post
  • scholar’s library

    a library that is dedicated to the research interests of a particular individual, often containing works of unique significance
  • Scholasticism

    dominant method of critical thought and reasoning in the Latin-speaking world of the Middle Ages
  • Schwabacher

    a blackletter typeface from the 15th century
  • science fiction

    a genre in literature, film and visual arts relating to alternate time periods, geographical realms and civilizations
  • screen printing

    printing process also known as silk-screen printing or silk-screening, in which the print image for transfer is laid as a stencil onto a screen mesh
  • screen reader

    software application that reads out screen content via a synthetic voice
  • screen reader

    a program that identifies content displayed on a screen with the information read back to the user by means of speech synthesis
  • screen ruling

    a measure of the fineness of a halftone screen
  • screenplay

    text draft for a film, with different characteristics for various genres such as documentaries or feature films
  • scribe

    a person who transcribed text for a living and enjoyed a level of renown on account of their written and literacy skills as long as those skills were only mastered by a small portion of society
  • scribe’s workshop

    a workshop used for the professional creation of manuscripts, especially before printing was invented
  • scrinium

    a word that has developed, in Modern English, into “shrine”, a scrinium was a round Ancient Roman container used to hold scrolls and papyrus
  • script

    a system of symbols used to record and communicate information in a conventionalized graphical form
  • scriptorium

    a medieval room in which manuscripts were written
  • scroll

    the predominant book form of pre-Christian antiquity, made of materials such as papyrus, leather or parchment
  • seal impression

    a symbol applied to documents or closed receptacles using a sealing stamp; usually made out of sealing wax or clay
  • seal matrix

    device for the application of a seal
  • sealing wax

    resinous mass that softens when heated, composed of shellac, rosin, mineral cinnabar, etc. for the purposes of creating seals on documents and certificates
  • search engine

    software that allows users to search for documents amidst a large mass of data
  • secondary usage

    subsequent usage of a work that has already been used by a media publisher
  • secretary

    an administrative employee with responsibilities relating to communication and correspondence, sometimes in a senior position
  • Secular Games

    Ancient Roman celebrations held between saeculums - periods of time representing the longest possible human lifespan (either 100 or 100 years)
  • secularisation

    in terms of legal policy, the confiscation of ecclesiastical property and land by a secular authority, often the state
  • self-censorship

    restrictions of freedom of speech and print that are imposed, for a variety of possible reasons, in the fields of journalism, the arts and sciences
  • sententia

    brief moral sayings such as adages, maxims and aphorisms
  • sequestrator

    administrator employed by an authority responsible for removing or seizing possession
  • serial

    library-specific term for newspapers,  magazines, journals and other regular and repeated publications
  • serial work

    work delivered over a longer period in parts, the sequence of which may not correspond to the later arrangement
  • series (of books)

    series published by a publishing house, mostly with a unified appearance, often also characterised by thematic coherence
  • serifs

    lines that finish off a main stroke at the top or bottom of a letter
  • sermo (Latin)

    a lecture, speech or sermon
  • sermon

    the preaching of God's word, usually in a religious service, but sometimes outside of this
  • sermon of commitment

    a sermon or eulogy issued in printed form, often supplemented by information relating to the person and curriculum vitae
  • server

    in the context of a digital network, a computer that provides data and services for a group of users using server software
  • Seven Years‘ War

    conflict between the great powers of Europe lasting from 1756 until 1763
  • sewing frame

    a device used in a bookbinding workshop for stretching binding wire or string
  • shares

    commercial papers that give the bearer a share in the ownership of a joint stock company, voting right at the annual general meeting and entitlement to dividends
  • sheet

    large unfolded sheet of parchment or paper
  • sheet-fed printing

    paper is printed in sheets rather than in the form of a roll
  • short grain

    when the grain of a sheet of paper lies parallel with its short sides
  • shorthand

    a writing system used predominantly for the purposes of quickly copying dictated language or for recording the content of parliamentary debates
  • sieve (paper making)

    an implement for making sheets at a pulping vat, generally used in conjunction with a rectangular mould
  • sigillography

    the study of seals; an auxiliary historical discipline
  • signature mark

    a small indication placed on the first page of a sheet of the work to which the pages belong 
  • signet

    a stamp that is pressed into selling wax in order to seal a document
  • Silk Road

    important trade and cultural transmission routes that connect East Asia with the Mediterranean and which was of great significance in terms of the exchange of scripts, printing technology and paper
  • sizing

    a method of paper production in order to make the product writable and printable
  • slip proof

    proof taken for correction purposes taken from the as yet not finalised type
  • slipcase

    protective casing for books which leave the inscribed spine exposed
  • slow seller

    books that are difficult to sell or even not for sale
  • small caps

    uppercase letters at the same height as lowercase letters primarily used in special display typefaces
  • SMS (Short Message Service)

    a telecommunications service for delivering small amounts of information
  • social media

    digital media and services that allow for interaction and exchanges between individual users
  • soft cover

    a book held in a paperboard cover
  • software

    executable computer program with an associated range of files. e.g. fonts and documentation
  • source book

    a publication (edition) containing historical or literary sources
  • source citation

    reference to the source where information in a printed or digital publication was obtained from
  • source criticism

    the process of evaluating a source concerning its reliability, where it comes from, its genuineness, validity and relevance
  • source studies

    a subarea of the historical sciences that teaches how to deal with sources that provide information about the past
  • sources

    this describes, in the historical sciences, texts, objects or facts from which one can gain knowledge about the past
  • space

    equal distribution of spaces between words to achieve lines of the same length in justified text
  • spacing (justification)

    in typography, the placement of gaps between symbols and blank characters – in hot-metal setting, lead is used, while in digital typesetting software performs the spacing
  • special character

    non-numerical and non-alphabetical symbols required for, among other functions, punctuation
  • special edition

    better appointed in terms of paper, binding, illustration, etc. in comparison with the standard edition 
  • specimen sheet

    test sheet from the production print for checking the print quality
  • speculum literature

    a medieval amalgamation of literary texts that shed light on one particular area of life
  • SPI (samples per inch)

    a unit of measurement for the resolution of scanners
  • spine title

    title of a book positioned on the spine of the book cover or dust jacket
  • stammbuch (family register)

    originally a genealogical record in Germany, since the mid-sixteenth century it was used to collect entries from friends and guests as a sign of friendship
  • stamp

    an implement used to place text, seals or symbols on a surface
  • standard generalized markup language (SGML)

    meta language used for defining various generalised markup languages such as HTML or XML
  • standing type

    technical term in the field of book printmaking which involved keeping the lead type of a printed page for a future edition
  • statutory copy

    a copy of a publication that must be delivered to the relevant facilities free of charge as part of a legal deposit
  • steel engraving

    intaglio process that, throughout history, has been used in creating bank notes, stamps and illustrations
  • stemma

    in handwriting science and manuscript study, the genealogy of individual handwriting forms
  • stencil

    a sheet of material with designs, figures or text cut from it, used to form cut-outs of  images, decorations or to make inscriptions
  • Stiftung Buchkunst (Book Art Foundation)

    a German foundation that runs the “Most Beautiful German Books” competition
  • Stiftung Lesen (Reading Foundation)

    a German, non-governmental foundation that pursues its goal of promoting the act of reading
  • stock exchange

    an organised market for assets and shares in which the price is set from the interplay of supply and demand
  • stock-control card

    book trade organisational aid from pre-digital times for the monitoring of sales and re-ordering of stock
  • stone lithography

    technique of lithographic printing using the physical properties of a limestone surface treated with grease or water
  • streamer

    a tape drive that reads and writes data on a magnetic tape, primarily used for data storage
  • study of watermarking

    the study of watermarking techniques, historical watermarks and new watermarking technologies
  • stylus

    an ancient pointed writing implement made of a hard material such as bronze, iron, ivory or bone for the purposes of writing on wax tablets
  • stylus

    a writing utensil for making inscriptions on slate or wax tablets
  • subject catalogue

    a library catalogue that systematically organises a given set of collections, for example using key words
  • subject heading

    selected terms in the fields of library indexing and document management for the purposes of classifying media or document content
  • subject headings authority file (SWD)

    a file constructed according to a controlled system of words that reference persons, titles, geographical data and other relevant information
  • subscriber

    a person who, by paying in advance, buys the subscription right to have newspapers, magazines, series or works delivered to his or her address
  • subscription

    pre-paid purchase of newspapers, magazines, serials or other types of work that appear in instalments
  • subscription

    a process that gave consumers access to before it was available to the general public
  • Subskribent

    a form of patron who undertook an advance agreement to purchase a specialist printed work before its publication in German book publishing/music industries as of the 17th century)
  • Subskribentenliste

    a list of individuals who committed to purchasing a specialised printed work before it was published; as financiers their names were often published in the work itself
  • subtractive colour mixing

    mixing technique that uses a range of overlapping colours, facilitating colour printing using the colours cyan, magenta, yellow and black
  • supplement

    an additional publication to a core or already completed work
  • supralibros

    coat of arms or monogram on the front cover of a book indicating ownership
  • suspension

    disciplinary action in the Roman Catholic church that sees a person relieved of their responsibilities
  • symbol

    the identifying marks or semiotic characters suggesting an idea, thought or entity
  • synagogue

    a Jewish place of assembly and worship that can also facilitate the study of scripture and religious instruction
  • synod

    a church council that deals with matters of administration or doctrine