RE: When to Spell Out Acronyms

Subject: RE: When to Spell Out Acronyms
From: "Daniel Frankham" <daniel -dot- frankham -at- saabsystems -dot- com -dot- au>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:35:40 +1030

> From: Harris, Michael [mailto:Michael -dot- Harris -at- innocon -dot- com]
> Subject: When to Spell Out Acronyms
>
> 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.

The Australian defence documentation standard I usually use requires all
acronyms to be spelled out on their first appearance in each chapter.
The manual I mainly work on has about 200 chapters. Ouch.

The standard doesn't specify which acronyms can be used without being
spelled out, but as a rule we don't spell them out if they're part of
everyday speech, such as PC, CD, and DVD. Acronyms that we know are part
of the everyday vocabulary of our audience, but not everyday speech, are
spelled out. This is part of the standard, but also seems like a good
idea as a general practice. Some of our readers will probably read this
manual 'on their first day' -- or at least before they've had a chance
to absorb all the acronyms they'll end up using all the time.

--
Daniel Frankham


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

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.


Previous by Author: RE: Evaluating Candidates Using Tests, Logic Questions, and Similar
Next by Author: Re: How many technical writers wear different hats?
Previous by Thread: RE: When to Spell Out Acronyms
Next by Thread: RE: Mathematical and Scientific Standards?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads