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: British English Dictioinaries From:Carol Atack <carol -at- ANT -dot- CO -dot- UK> Date:Fri, 28 Jun 1996 09:12:38 +0000
At 2:52 pm -0400 27/6/96, Stan Radomski wrote:
>All,
>This question is really for all my colleagues across the puddle (and those
>to the north and down under may also have some valid information)...
>What dictionaries do you use other than the OED? I believe there is also
>a Concise Oxford which would probably fit our needs but I'm not sure what
>else may be available and valid.
There is an in-between version, the Shorter English Dictionary, which may
be more suitable for professional use. The Concise is a bit too concise
(though an excellent dictionary). There is also the Collins range of
dictionaries (which have a reputation of being a little bit more
up-to-date, though I haven't done any direct comparisons).
>Also, do you know if these are available electronically? I'll be contacting
>some of the people that make 'em but I always like to have a little
>knowledge so my questions don't seem completely foolish.
OUP's dictionary products are almost all available on CD-ROM. (perhaps one
day someone will buy me the OED on CD-ROM :) They also do a range of
specialist dictionaries including collections of reference works and
dictionaries for science and business writers, called the Oxford
<specialism> Shelf. The computing content of the 'Science shelf' is a bit
old-fashioned and oriented more to academic than business computing.
Cambridge University Press do an excellent handbook on copy-editing which
as they publish a lot of scientific and technical reference material has a
lot of useful stuff on technical editing.
To be honest, for specialist references for computer terminology I use US
sources and spellings, such as the Microsoft Manual of Style. And I don't
use a dictionary much for day-to-day work: I think that if I have to look a
word up to use it, it is inappropriate to include it in user documentation.
TECHWR-L List Information
To send a message about technical communication to 2500+ list readers,
E-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send administrative commands
ALL other questions or problems concerning the list
should go to the listowner, Eric Ray, at ejray -at- ionet -dot- net -dot-
