Re: Acronyms in Glossary

[Jan Boomsliter <boom -at- CADENCE -dot- COM>]

Your glossary does not present any problems; if any entry is known by
its abbreviation, put that in the entry, e.g.,

        customer service representative (CSR) ...

If a list of abbreviations is helpful, make one; try this format:

        CSR  customer service representative

Call it "List of Abbreviations" (NOT acronyms) and place it before the
glossary (see Chicago Manual of Style).

jb
===========================================
  I'm working on a large on-line procedures manual for our
  inventory analysts.  My questions are about where to put
  acronyms in the glossary.

  The first question is whether we should list entries in the
  glossary under the acronym/initialism/abbreviation, followed by
  the spelled-out version:

  > CSR (Customer Service Representative)

  or as the fully spelled-out term, with the acronym in parentheses:

  > Customer Service Representative (CSR).

  Each letter of the alphabet has its own screen in the glossary;
  for example, the user clicks on a "B" button to go to a list of
  words that start with the letter "B," then clicks on the term.
  Each letter's list is pretty short (you can see most, if not all,
  of the terms on one screen without scrolling), so "both" probably
  wouldn't be necessary.

  My second question:  if we decide to list them by
  acronym/initialism instead of by the full term, how do we sort
  them within the glossary?  Right now they're listed like this:

  > FCAT (Forecasting Category)
  > FDPT (Forecasting Department)
  > FDIV (Forecasting Division)
  > FSUB (Forecasting Subdivision)
  > Factory Ship
  > Final Replenishment Period
  > Finished Goods
  > Forecasting Hierarchy
  > ...

  I find this arrangement a bit disorienting.  "FSUB" just doesn't
  "belong" ahead of "Factory Ship" in my model of the world.

  My references are silent about the issue.  I guess they weren't
  written by people who work in an environment where people
  actually speak in acronyms instead of complete words (never mind
  complete sentences).

  Thanks for any enlightenment y'all can provide.

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