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.
Sue Kocher wrote:
>
> Sorry if this question has been asked a zillion times...
> But what dictionary do you use as your authoritative source, and why?
> Our Technical Editing department use Webster's Collegiate, but Corporate Communications uses American Heritage (which I also like)--we'd like to set a standard across the company but we need good reasons for advocating one dictionary over another.
>
> One good reason for us is that we also use the Chicago Manual of Style as our basic style guide resource for things not covered in our own in-house style guide... and the CMoS declares Webster's to be its source also. Other reasons for or against?
>
All dictionaries do a good job of documenting standard written American
English, which is what you're interested in as a tech editor. So unless
differences in the format or content of entries are of concern to you, I
really don't think it matters which one you use. If you're interested in
historical usage, obsolete forms, slang, alternate spellings, etc., then
it might matter.
In any case, I personally would go with whoever has the best CD-ROM
dictionary. I just don't see the need to kill trees to print reference
books any more. "Best" here would mean number of entries and ease of
use. I have no opinion on which of the currently available CD
dictionaries is best.
Lin
--
Linda K Sherman <linsherm -at- gte -dot- net>
Learn Welsh - http://www.dalati.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-Based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 ($100 STC Discount)
**WEST COAST LOCATIONS** San Jose (Mar 1-2), San Francisco (Apr 16-17) http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001
Conference East, June 4-5, Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. http://www.pdfconference.com or toll-free 877/278-2131.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
