TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Labels on forms: Abbreviate or use symbols? From:Cheryl Magadieu <cmagadieu -at- gmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:52:42 -0500
Thanks for the information and suggestions, everyone. I'm going to suggest
that we use "No." in places where "Number" must be abbreviated.
Cheryl
On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 11:41 AM, Viv Crawford <viv_crawford -at- hotmail -dot- com>wrote:
> In the UK it's called a hash sign and isn't (or is rarely) used to
> indicate a number. No. is much more commonly used.
>
> But that was only one example you gave...
>
> My own pet hate is where multi-word labels are shortened to the point of
> incomprehensibility. To my mind, calling a field 'Patient Number' and
> consistently labelling it as such is preferable to calling it, perhaps more
> precisely, 'Patient Account Number' and then abbreviating that to 'Pat Acct
> #' whenever it's referred to.
>
> If it *must* be called 'Patient Account Number' then I'm for rearranging
> the form to make room for the label in its entirety.
>
> But that's only an opinion and I have no evidence whatsoever to back it up
> :)
>
> Viv
>
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Use Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word, or HTML and
produce desktop, Web, or print deliverables. Just write (or import)
and Doc-To-Help does the rest. Free trial: http://www.doctohelp.com
Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at: http://www.ModernAnalyst.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
