User guide?

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 This is always a tough one. The answer mostly depends on
 what you actually want to say. Strictly speaking:

 - a guide for users: a Users' guide (possessive form of
 users)
 - a guide for _the_ user: a User's guide (possessive form
 of user)
 - a guide on (how to use?) Users: a User guide (adjectival
 form, in the same sense as field guide, installation guide)

 I lean towards the middle option, since most often one user
 at a time will use the guide; you might prefer "users" for
 networked help files or software intended to be shared in a
 busy office. In practice, any of the three alternatives is
 correct, since even the last one is in common use, and when
 popular usage fights with strict grammatical rules, usage
 usually wins in the eyes of the readers. (This is not an
 attempt to justify sloppy writing, but rather a note that
 sometimes you have to use the language of your audience
 even if it's not your first choice.)

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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