RE: To space before a bracket or not to space?

["Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- Users -dot- com>]

As a former catalog librarian, I can say that the editor is NOT
completely out in left field here, even though she is applying a
convention that's not appropriate for this situation.  There is a
situation where you don't include a space before and after brackets --
when you're correcting a particular type of misprint and need to
identify the correction as such.  When you're cataloging a book (or
other item), you must reproduce the exact content of the title page,
including any misprints, so that the catalog record will accurately
identify that specific book.  You can, however, supply a correction in
brackets.  If the correction is one or more letters missing from a word,
you wouldn't use spaces before and after the brackets.  For example, if
the title page gives that author's last name as "Smth" when it should be
"Smith," the catalog record would read "Sm[i]th."


-----Original Message-----
From: Dick Margulis [mailto:margulisd -at- comcast -dot- net] 
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 4:58 AM
Subject: Re: To space before a bracket or not to space?




Sameh Saeb wrote:

> 
> An Example would be the following:
> Sameh works for a software company (EnR Solutions) and is a technical
> writer.
> ----
> 
> I am referring to the space before and after the brackets.
> 

You mean your friend's editor wants it to read, ". . . software 
company(EnR Solutions)and is a . . ."?

If that's the case, the editor is a loon, you should keep doing what 
you're doing, and your friend should make a mental note not to take this

silly practice to the next job.

I suspect, however, that there is some miscommunication going on between

your friend and the editor. It is possible the editor is merely trying 
to prevent, ". . . software company ( EnR Solutions ) and is . . . ." 
That is something you sometimes see in presentation graphics 
(PowerPoint) because of the way certain very clunky display faces 
work--or fail to work--in terms of characters crashing into each other. 
Throwing in extra spaces around brackets, slashes, etc., seems to 
improve readability in those situations. But in running text in a 
magazine, this is never the case.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Attention:
The information contained in this message and or attachments is intended
only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
confidential and/or privileged material.  Any review, retransmission,
dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon,
this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient
is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and
delete the material from any system and destroy any copies.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared 
by NetIQ MailMarshal
_____________________________________________________________________________________

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

SEE THE ALL NEW ROBOHELP X5 IN ACTION: RoboHelp X5 is a giant leap forward
in Help authoring technology, featuring Word 2003 support, Content
Management, Multi-Author support, PDF and XML support and much more! http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrldemo

>From a single set of Word documents, create online Help and printed
documentation with ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 7 Professional, a new yearly
subscription service offering free updates and upgrades, support, and more.
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.