In stationery

Stationery

Stationery has historically meant a wide gamut of materials: paper and office supplies, writing implements, greeting cards, glue, pencil case etc.-History of stationery:...

, a diary is a small book containing a main diary

Diary

A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...

 section with a space for each day of the year with room for notes, a calendar

Calendar

A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...

, and usually various pages at the beginning and end containing various pieces of reference information, which may include maps and telephone codes, and pages for a short address book

Address book

An address book or a name and address book is a book or a database used for storing entries called contacts. Each contact entry usually consists of a few standard fields...

 at the end. Most diaries are pre-printed for a specific year, which is printed on the cover, with each day's space therefore able to be printed with the day of the week. However diaries that can be used for any year are also produced. Page-marker ribbon

Ribbon

A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth ribbons, most commonly silk, are often used in connection with clothing, but are also applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolic purposes...

s are commonly included. The US Customs official definition of a diary is: "A book prepared for keeping a daily record, or having spaces with printed dates for daily memoranda and jottings; also applied to calendars containing daily memoranda on matters of importance to people generally, or to members of a particular profession, occupation, or pursuit".

The main different sizes produced are the small pocket diary and larger desk diary, both of which come in many different sizes. Any size may be referred to as an appointment diary, especially larger diaries with pre-printed lines for each period in the day, as in the picture above. A large variety of layout formats are sold, including:

• page per day
• week per view/opening
• week per page
• month per view/opening

Often, as in the diary pictured above, weekend days are given less space than workdays. Small calendars of the current month, and if there is room, previous and following months at the bottom of the page are also typical.

Most diaries run from January to December, but school or academic diaries, also known as "mid-year" diaries, run for twelve months from shortly before the beginning of the school or academic year. Many diaries are themed for different interest groups, and contain relevant reference information to that interest, and others are given as gifts by businesses. Especially in diaries for children or young people, many are now branded for fictional characters, authors, recording artists or magazines.

The British stationery business now called the Letts Filofax Group Ltd produced the world's first pre-printed diary in 1812, calling it the "Commercial Diary". Printed diaries now compete with loose-leaf personal organizer

Personal organizer

A personal organizer, day planner, personal analog assistant, or personal planner is a small book/binder, designed to be portable, usually containing a diary, calendar, address book, and other sections usually including blank paper. It may also include pages with useful information, such as maps,...

s and various electronic forms of diary functions on personal computer

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

s, personal digital assistant

Personal digital assistant

A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...

s and mobile telephones.

External links

• Library of Congress
  Library of Congress
  The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
  
  Seven pocket diaries of Theodore Roosevelt