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George Hayhoe wrote:
>As Bill Burns observed, it's called down-style capitalization in
>which only the first words of titles and subtitles are
>capitalized, along with proper nouns. In addition to APA and
>others, the 14th edition of the _CMOS_ now uses it as an option
>for titles in lists of references (chapter 16) but not for
>titles in text.
<tongue in cheek>
For heaven's sake, why would anyone want to use the same rules of
capitalization forever when new styles and formats like this can be invented
and used until they are accepted as standards?
</tongue in cheek>
It's like the end-of-series comma or single-spacing between sentences: it's
all really just a matter of preference or of what's trendy at the time. And
what's "right" in one circle may be "wrong" in another, but give them ten
years and they'll swap preferences and continue to accuse each other of
missing the stylistic boat.
>Along with other redesign elements in the new _Technical
>communication_, I adopted the down style, and extended it to
>titles in text for the sake of consistency.
I do like the new look of the journal. The old look was, how shall I say
it? A bit dry, I guess. As a college student who reluctantly joined the
STC at the urging of my professors and advisor, it was all I could do to
skim through the journal so I wouldn't feel guilty for paying my dues and
never touching the reading material. Now that I have graduated and am
working as a technical writer I appreciate the journal much more, and the
new look makes it even more enjoyable to read.
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Megan E. McMacken
Product Development and Documentation
FANUC Robotics North America, Inc.
Rochester Hills, Michigan
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