Three stars (asterisks) appearing at the bottom of a page, typically preceding a page number, signify the use of star pagination. This is a specific method of referencing used to indicate the original page breaks of a source publication within a larger, compiled document.
Understanding Star Pagination
Star pagination serves a crucial role in documents that consolidate materials from various original sources, such as legal compilations, academic anthologies, or research documents. Its primary purpose is to allow readers to pinpoint the exact page an excerpt appeared on in its original publication.
Purpose and Function
The core function of star pagination is to distinguish between the various publications' page breaks within a document. When you see stars preceding a page number, it means that the content immediately following that mark (or the content that would fall on that page in the original source) corresponds to that specific page number in the original published version.
- Original Source Reference: Even if a document is digitally formatted or reprinted with its own continuous pagination, star pagination ensures that citations can accurately refer back to the exact page numbers of the original print source.
- Consistency in Citation: It helps maintain consistency when citing materials, especially in fields like law, where precise referencing to official reporters or casebooks is essential.
- Navigational Aid: It acts as a navigational aid, guiding researchers to the corresponding content in the original physical or digital publication, even if the current document's layout is different.
How It Works
The number of stars (one, two, three, or four asterisks) can be used to differentiate between multiple distinct original publications included within the same compiled document. For instance, if a document integrates content from three different books, each book's original page breaks might be indicated by a different number of stars (e.g., one star for Publication A, two for Publication B, and three for Publication C).
Example:
Imagine you are reading a legal brief that cites a passage from a court opinion. The brief might show:
...and the court stated, "The motion was denied for lack of standing." *123
Here, the three asterisks followed by "123" indicate that the preceding text (or the text at this point in the compiled document) would have appeared on page 123 of the original, cited court opinion.
Practical Applications
Star pagination is most commonly found in:
- Legal Documents: Especially in case reporters, treatises, and legal research databases (like LexisNexis or Westlaw) where opinions from different courts or versions of statutes are compiled. It allows lawyers and scholars to cite directly to the official reporter page numbers regardless of the platform or compilation they are using.
- Academic Compilations: In some academic fields, particularly history or literature, anthologies may use star pagination to indicate page breaks from original editions of works.
- Research Databases: Digital databases often incorporate star pagination to mirror the page numbers of physical books or journals, providing continuity between digital and print versions.
By using this system, compiled documents become more versatile and reliable for research and citation purposes, ensuring that users can always trace information back to its authoritative source page.
