Re: abbreviations, acronyms, and glossaries

[Janet Valade <janet -at- SYSTECH -dot- COM>]

>
> When to use acronyms & abbreviations, and when to write out in full? Any general
> guidelines?
>

The accepted standard is to write it in full the first time it's used, with the
acronym in parentheses.  Later references can use the acronym alone.

I am not convinced this is appropriate for software documentation.  The
assumption in the above standard is the the reader will begin at the beginning
of the document and proceed to the end.  Readers of software documentation
more often jump into the middle of a document.  I think a better standard
might be to spell it in full the first time it is used in a section or some
breakdown of the document.  Actually, a better solution might be to
include an acronym glossary in the document so that a user who jumps into
the middle of the doc and encounters an unknown acronym can find it in a
glossary, rather than having to move backwards in the document to try to
locate the instance where the acronym is written in full.

Janet

Janet Valade
Technical Writer
Systech Corp., San Diego, CA
janet -at- systech -dot- com

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