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Heather Anderson wrote:
> Good morning everyone!
>
> I have been tasked to create a style guide for my company.
>
> I was curious if people used them or if they simply used the Chicago Manual of Style for their documentation?
>
> I was hoping to make a simple, quick style guide that covered fonts, formats, and template usage.
>
> Does anyone have any examples or any other information I should include? I am not sure if I should create a usage section with frequently misused words.
>
> I've used style guides in the past, but this is my first time creating them.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
The CSC Style Guide we used on our Medicare contract had a list of
industry-specific generally recognizable names so we didn't have spell
out the first mention of LDAD as Local Data Acquisition and
Dissemination. Our supplement there had a similar section, so spelling
out CMS was deemed unnecessary but we did have to spell out sub-agencies
and other federal agencies. Our style guide here has rules for
formatting UNIX commands but we use another style guide for the usual
issues.
I have a one page style guide for the newsletters I edit that covers
things like serial commas, number usage, etc. where their rules differ
from what we use here for weather sensor documentation.
Beware of content bloat. The editor who was tasked to do a style guide
where I used to work came up with 300 pages mostly duplicating
infomation used in other style guides sitting on our shelves. We trimmed
it down by designating a primary style guide and dictionary, and only
dealt with cases specific to us.
--
Eva Whitley, ETOSS Contract
301-713-1833x191
SSMC-2, 16129
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