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.
I agreed with Tom, off-list, but offer this point for the list to consider.
Maybe my logic is off.
In the industry I work in, telecommunications, there is a term PIC, which
stands for Primary Inter-exchange Carrier. I worked here for awhile before
1) I ran into the term in the help text and 2) found one reference to
"Primary Inter-exchange Carrier (PIC)" in many many help text documents.
While it may not add nothing to the discussion, I then understood what it
means to say "MCI is my PIC" and "why I picked (not PIC'd) A&T" is right. I
think terms like this are worth a pop-up definition in the online Help so
that if someone doesn't remember what it is, they can click and find out.
In April, 2001, an email was sent out internally that stated "[PIC] was used
incorrectly in our Explanation of Changes (EOC)
documents and in one error message." A client had noticed this. I have this
email directly in front of me now to remind me of the differences. Maybe I
don't refer to it, maybe I already know it and use the email as a safety
net, but at some point there was confusion regarding when to use the term.
And that to me would justify having a simple pop-up definition for the term
in the online help and, if a glossary was included in the document,
including it there.
As far as ACSII goes, I don't see what harm is being done by including a
definition of it. That you retain what it stands for in your brain? What's
the harm in that?
Paul
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Anne -dot- Robotti -at- radisys -dot- com [SMTP:Anne -dot- Robotti -at- radisys -dot- com]
wrote:
> Tom, I respectfully disagree.
>
> I think if the acronym helps to explain the concept, then it's okay to
> define it. If it adds nothing to the discussion, leave it out.
Tom wrote:
> Notice how many on THIS list didn't know the meaning of ASCII?
>
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
TECH*COMM 2001 Conference, July 15-18 in Washington, DC
The Help Technology Conference, August 21-24 in Boston, MA
Details and online registration at http://www.SolutionsEvents.com
---
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.
