Intentionally blank page
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Intentionally blank pages at the end of a book |
An
intentionally blank page is a
page that is devoid of content, and may be unexpected. Such pages may serve purposes ranging from place-holding to space-filling and content separation. Sometimes, these pages carry a notice such as, "This page is intentionally left blank." The phrase is a self-refuting
meta-reference, in that it falsifies itself by its very existence on the page in question. Such notices typically appear in printed works, such as manuals and exam papers, in which the reader might otherwise suspect that the blank pages are due to a
printing error and where missing pages might have serious consequences.
Print media
Intentionally blank pages are usually the result of printing techniques. Book pages are often printed on large sheets due to financial considerations. Thus, a group of eight, sixteen, or thirty-two consecutive pages will be printed on a single sheet in such a way that when the sheet is mechanically folded and cut, the pages will be in the correct order for binding. Books printed in this manner will always have as many pages as a multiple of the large sheets they were printed on, such as a multiple of eight, sixteen, or thirty-two. As a result, these books will usually have pages left blank.
If a printer's document processor has been designed to skip completely blank pages, notices may also be required on intentionally blank pages to prevent incorrect page numbering.
Intentionally blank pages are ubiquitous in technical and instructional
manuals, directories, and other large, mass-produced volumes of text. The contents of manuals produced by a given product's vendor are often compiled from generic instructions suitable for a variety of products, with additional instructions or chapters included for the specific product or model in question. This automation of manual-generation leads to intentionally blank pages required to fit the requirements for mass printing.
In digital documents, pages are intentionally left blank so that the document can be printed correctly in double-sided format, rather than have new sections start on the backs of pages. Intentionally blank pages have also been used in documents distributed in
ring binders. The intention is to leave room for expansion without breaking the document's page numbering. This allows updates to be made to a document while requiring minimal new pages, reducing printing costs. The only drawback is the increased time required by the reader to manually insert various newly updated pages into their correct locations in the document.
In military and classified documents, intentionally non-blank pages are used to confirm that the page has not been stolen and replaced with a blank page.
[U.S. Joint Staff manual with a section on the proper style for intentionally blank pages (PDF)]Standardized tests
Intentionally blank pages can be useful in
standardized tests such as the
SAT,
ACT,
MCAT, and
GRE. In these exams, there are often individual, timed sections in which test-takers are prohibited from proceeding to the next section until that section's time interval has passed and the examiner allows them to continue. Because all of these separate sections are printed consecutively in the examination booklet, it may be possible for a test-taker who has finished the section early to see through the page and read the problems in the next section. By placing intentionally blank pages between these sections, the test-taker is prevented from cheating in this way. By printing a notice on the page, such as "this page intentionally left blank", test-takers will not be concerned that their test has been misprinted.
Sheet music
In books of
sheet music, pieces of relatively short music that can span two to four pages often need to be arranged so the number of page turns for the performer is minimized. For example, a three page work (starting on the left hand sheet) followed immediately by a two page work involves one page turn during each work. If a blank page immediately followed the three page work (on the right hand sheet), the two page work will span the left and right pages, alleviating the need for one page turn during the second work.
Some organizations, such as the
College Board, have avoided the meta-reference paradox by changing the notice; for example, on the
SAT exams, the message now reads, "No test material on this page."
Intentionally blank pages placed at the end of books are often used to balance the
folios which comprise the book (see
bookbinding). Often these pages are completely blank with no such statement, or are used as "Notes" pages, serving a practical purpose. In the case of
telephone number directories, these pages are often used to list important numbers and addresses.
Book publishers have also used stylized designs (
dingbats) underneath the last paragraph of a chapter to indicate that no other content is to be expected until the next chapter, allowing for the possibility of blank pages without misunderstandings by the readers.
Author
Idries Shah, distrusting critics' reviews of his books, wrote
The Book of the Book (1969, ISBN 090086012X), which consists of sixteen written pages of reviews of itself. The rest of the book is intentionally filled with about 140 blank pages to give the appearance of a normal book. Initial reactions were generally negative, but over time critics have come to praise it.
A variation on the intentionally blank page was used in the
computer game Zork I. In the game, the player enters the living room of a
white house, and finds a wooden door with "strange gothic lettering", which upon translation reads, "This space intentionally left blank."
[About Zork (PDF)]A similar example to the intentionally blank page can be found in electric road warning signs, normally used to indicate traffic problems down the road. Rather than have the sign remain blank when not in use, some employ phrases such as "No Reported Problems" to reassure drivers that the sign is still functional.
An example similar to both the intentionally blank page and the road signs is the self-diagnostics of most recent computer monitors. When no signal is detected, they will often display red, green, and blue bars and a message to the effect of "Check input signal, this monitor is working." This is to let the user know that the problem is not with the monitor.
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4′33″*
Rene Magritte and
The Betrayal of Images*
Publishing*
Self-reference*
The This Page Intentionally Left Blank Project*
Everything2 discussion of the phrase*
BBC h2g2 entry on the phrase*
"This page intentionally left blank" phrase translated into over 60 languages.
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Humorous look at the history of blank pages*
Guide to writing intentionally blank pages in
XSL-FO
