What it means
A running head (or header) is the short line of text that repeats at the top of the pages of a book, above the text block. The commonest scheme puts the book title (or the author's name) on the verso and the chapter title on the recto, with the folio at the outer edge of the same line; a running head placed at the bottom of the page is a running foot.
Running heads are omitted on display pages — chapter openers, part titles, blanks, the front matter — because the heading itself does the job there and a repeated title would clutter it. That is also why chapter openers use a drop folio.
They are set small, often in small caps or italics, and a long chapter title is shortened to fit on one line. In a novel they are optional; in nonfiction, where a reader dips in and out, they are close to essential.
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