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Subject:Re: Spelling out acronyms at first mention From:Sandy Harris <sandy -at- storm -dot- ca> To:Gilda_Spitz -at- markham -dot- longview -dot- ca Date:Thu, 12 Oct 2000 13:03:07 -0400
Gilda_Spitz -at- markham -dot- longview -dot- ca wrote:
>
> In the "good old days" of books only, the rule regarding acronyms used to
> be:
>
> - Spell out an acronym at first mention ...
>
> But when you write text for an online help system, you can't assume that
> users will read the "first" text first. So what do you with the concept of
> "first mention"? ...
>
> I'd be curious to hear what people do about this.
Have a glossary with an explanation of all such terms. Link to it often.
Max of one link to same term per paragraph.
In an overview, introduction, or explanatory section, I spell it out at
first mention in that section.
