Address book
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An address book or a name and address book (NAB) is a book or a collection of data storing contact details (for example: address, telephone number, e-mail address, fax number, mobile phone number). Most such systems store the details in alphabetical order of people's names, although in paper-based address books entries can easily end up out of order as the owner inserts details of more individuals or as people move. Many address books use small ring binders that allow adding, removing and shuffling of pages to make room.
A related term that has entered the popular lexicon is little black book (or simply black book). Such books are used as dating guides, listing people who the owner has dated in the past or hopes to in the future. More explicit variations are guides for sexual encounters. It is unclear how prevalent this is in practice, though such books have been mentioned in many pieces of popular entertainment.
Software address books
Address books can also appear as computer software designed for this purpose, such as the Address Book included with Apple Computer's Mac OS X. Simple address books have been incorporated into e-mail software for many years, though more advanced versions have emerged in the 1990s and beyond. A personal information manager (PIM) integrates an address book, calendar, task list, and sometimes other features.
Entries can be imported and exported from the software in order to transfer them between programs or computers. The common file formats for these operations are:
- LDIF (*.ldif, *.ldi)
- Tab delimited (*.tab, *.txt)
- Comma separated (*.csv)
See also
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