Punctuating parentheses

["Teresa Wittel" <teresa -dot- wittel -at- microchip -dot- com>]

     Cassandra asks about punctuation near parentheses and what the latest 
     edition of The Chicago Style Guide is.
     
     OK, this has probably been answered several times, but I can't resist. 
     My copy of Chicago (14th Edition) is dated 1993, but I still use it. 
     (Been thinking that I should update it to the latest edition, too.) 
     Reference 5.14 clearly states that periods (and other punctuation) 
     fall inside the parentheses when they enclose a complete sentence, and 
     outside the parentheses when they enclose a partial sentence (love 
     that Chicago).
     
     I've noticed a lot of questions on this list that could be resolved by 
     a little research in The Chicago Style Guide. It is a very useful book 
     and covers a lot of publishing ground. No tech writer should be 
     without one.
     
     Personally, I think Reference 5.13 (regarding punctuation around 
     quotation marks) is more interesting. I'm American, but I just LIKE 
     the British style. It makes more sense to me, especially since we do 
     parentheses that way. However, I see that most (American) teachers 
     seem to prefer the American style. Ugh, this creates a problem for my 
     poor son, when his mom and his teacher argue over where the 
     punctuation goes in his homework. ;-)
     
     Hey, I can list another little annoyance, too. Hyphenated words in 
     titles should all be initial-capped, unless the subsequent elements 
     are words you would not normally capitalize in a title, like articles 
     or prepositions (Chicago, 7.128). Lately, I've run into a lot people 
     who think otherwise. Does a later version of Chicago differ on this 
     rule?
     
     Teresa Wittel
     Sr. Technical Writer 
     (teresa -dot- wittel -at- microchip -dot- com)
     Microchip Technology, Inc.