The German national standard DIN 5008 by

Deutsches Institut für Normung ' (DIN; in English, the German Institute for Standardisation Registered Association) is the German national organization for standardization and is the German ISO member body. DIN is a German Registered Association ('' e.V.'') headquartered ...

(DIN) specifies writing and layout rules for

word processing A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...

. As such it is one of the fundamental standards for office communication and administrative work in Germany. Today, the standard is maintained by the – Fachbereich Bürotechnik, Bankwesen und elektronisches Geschäftswesen (NA 043–03). The rules and recommendations for word processing and typewriting define the typographically correct usage of

punctuation Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. A ...

and

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

s for words, mathematical signs, abbreviations, formulas as well as the proper representation of numbers (including dates and times), the usage of text for emphasis, the layout and organization of tables, outlines and templates in order to create well-arranged, easily accessible and purposeful text documents. While DIN 5008 covered text processing with

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

s until 1996, newer revisions discuss issues related to word processing on PCs as well. The 2020 edition does not mention the typewriter at all.

Revisions

*DIN 5008:1949-04 *DIN 5008:1951-06 *DIN 5008:1963-11 *DIN 5008:1975-11 *DIN 5008:1986-11 *DIN 5008:1996-05 *DIN 5008:2001-11 *DIN 5008:2005-05 *DIN 5008:2011-04 *DIN 5008:2020-03

Literature

* Comment: Special print of DIN 5008:2011-04.

References

05008 {{Standard-stub

Revisions

See also

Literature

References