A Statement on the Presentation of Documents
in PDF ["portable document format]

Though some patrons may have difficulty accessing documents presented in PDF form, there are good reasons why this format is utilized in the posting of various documents. Adobe Acrobat is the most common version of PDF available, though some other compatible versions can be found, including some free software available over the internet.

1. Preservation of the form--the look and feel--of the original, as much as possible. By using this format we can convey the original margins and paper size, along with the typestyle, pagination, and other features of the source document.

2. An easy means of accurately conveying Greek, Hebrew and other foreign language scripts. To present these scripts over the internet, either the viewer must have the same fonts installed on their computer, or an approach such as PDF must be employed.

3. PDF allows the reader to increase the type size of the document being viewed. This is an obvious benefit for sight-impaired readers. The standard Adobe Acrobat reader also has a feature which allows for a document to be audibly read, and this is again another benefit for the sight-impaired.