When to Spell Out Acronyms

["Harris, Michael" <Michael -dot- Harris -at- innocon -dot- com>]

One of the most fluid issues I find in writing technical documentation is determining when to spell out acronyms in the first usage and when to 'assume' that since all of the readers should have some knowledge of the material, that spelling it out is not necessary.  

Does anyone have guidance in this regard?  The primary customer of our documentation is a technical branch of the Army.  While CPU is well known, does it get spelled out?  How about CORBA, which a local manager thinks is well-known enough as Common Object Request Broker Architecture and does not need to be spelled out.

Thank you for your input.

Michael 

Michael "It's my job to make you look good" Harris
   
Michael B. Harris
Technical Writer
Innovative Concepts, Inc.           |  michael -dot- harris -at- innocon -dot- com
8200 Greensboro Drive, Suite 700    |  http://www.innocon.com <http://www.innocon.com/> 
McLean, Virginia, 22102  USA        |  Phone: 703/893-2007, X510


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Easily create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to any popular Help file format or printed documentation. Learn more at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.