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Headers and Footers

Headers and footers contain can various information. Header and footer information is usually placed relative to the binding of the pages. On one-sided pages, they are always located at the same side, either left or right. On double-sided pages, their positions alternate on successive pages.

Headers and footers usually contain navigational information that provides readers with information on where in the document they are. This includes the page number and the chapter heading.

Including the chapter heading is called running heads. These aid readers in identifying to which chapter a page belongs and in searching for particular chapters. Running heads are usually located on the inside of the page. If they are in the footer, they are called running feet. Some document creation systems do not support running heads or feet. In this case the title of the document is included instead.

In some environments readers may have a number of identically formatted documents open at the same time. They need to be able to distinguish between the documents. In this case it is useful to include both the title of the document and running heads.

Page numbers are usually located on the outside of the page in order to facilitate quick search for a particular page. Page numbers can be either in headers or footers.

In technical documents that are distributed in loose format, it is useful to also include the total number of pages of the document. This is usually done in the form of "Page 1 of 10." Including the total number of pages enables readers to ensure that no pages are missing at the end of the document.

In technical documents, headers and footers also contain additional information, such as the date and version of the document, company name, company logo, copyright notice, or confidentiality notice (e.g., "For internal use only").

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