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<SIANNON -at- VISUS -dot- JNJ -dot- com> wrote in message
news:<m16Jdm3-000BNcC -at- mail -dot- GTS -dot- NET>...
> I'm going to have to agree with those who've stated the term *can* be
> used,
> even as a verb, as long as it is defined clearly for the audience.
I've
> heard the term often over the past five years, including the verbed
form,
> used to indicate the action of establishing or recording an initial or
> foundational reading/metric (i.e., baseline, used as a noun) for a
system's
> performance or configuration, against which irregularities or changes
can
> be measured. (I have *not* heard it in the straight past tense before.
I've
> heard it as "subject-did baseline-object", but not
> "subject-baselined-object".)
>
> I've most recently heard it in the context of establishing a baseline
> of a
> database's DDL against which later DDL exports can be compared to
verify
> the elements changed (used in lieu of, and in comparison with,
automatic
> change tracking and version control features while they're still being
> tested), expressed as "We need to baseline the existing DDL, and then
run
> periodic exports throughout the development process for comparison."
>
> Now, your audience may differ from mine, so take this opinion with
> whatever
> grains of pretzel salt you deem necessary...
For years in newspaper editing, we dealt with problems like this on a
daily basis. I agree with Shauna that "verbing" a word such as
"baseline" might work in a very specific context. This specificity is
the key to proper usage. Such usage might not work for a broader
audience, or in a broader context.
In another context, using a jargony verb such as "baselining" carries
the risk of muddying meaning, rather than sharpening it. Shouldn't the
goal be to express things as precisely as possible?
Take the adjective "appropriate/inappropriate." Please. :-) This is one
of my "red flag" words, because in most cases I can use a more precise
term, such as: smart/dumb, correct/incorrect, proper/improper,
sufficient/insufficient, right/wrong, required/optional, etc., etc.
"Appropriate" might express what we want it to express, but it might
imply or connote other things as well. This might or might not be
desirable, depending on the context. So it appears to be with
"baselining."
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