EDUCAUSE Style Guide

EDUCAUSE uses The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition) as its main source of reference for style questions. Note that information that appears in this online style guide supersedes that in the Chicago manual. Always check here first for style questions. If you don't find what you're after here, please refer to Chicago.

Whenever possible, explanations of style and use are given in this guide; many entries have just the word, term, or phrase.

EDUCAUSE uses Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition) as its spelling guide. Chicago's Hyphenation Guide for Compounds, Combining Forms, and Prefixes (7.90) is quite helpful for compound words and words with prefixes and suffixes.

MIT Libraries Virtual Reference Collection is an excellent resource for information ranging from acronyms through weather.

Acronyms and IT terms often pose a particular challenge. In addition to MIT's site, the following are useful resources:

• Glossary of Academic Information Technology Terms
• Whatis.com (Contains more than two thousand individual encyclopedic definition/topics and a number of quick-reference pages on information technology.)

| 2 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

- 2 -

24 x 7
In print pieces, the x should be the mathematical symbol, not the letter x.

- A -

“Aha” moment
In the first instance, aha! moment thereafter.

a priori
Two words, even if used as a modifier (no hyphen); not italicized.

a.m.

AA, associate's degree, associate's degrees; see degrees

AACC
American Association of Community Colleges

acronyms
Spell out first instance of an acronym. If the work has multiple chapters, spell out the acronym on first use in each chapter. No need to provide acronym in parentheses if it occurs in the same sentence or if it's a well-known term such as IT. Some acronyms do not need to be spelled out: CIA, FBI, MIT, UCLA.

ad hoc
Two words, even if used as a modifier (no hyphen); not italicized.

An EDUCAUSE Affiliate
Appears this way, even in the middle of sentences.

An EDUCAUSE ____ Partner
Options are Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. This appears after the names of EDUCAUSE partners in the first instance; the An is always capitalized.

AN-MSI
Advanced Networking Project with Minority-Serving Institutions

annual conference; see EDUCAUSE Annual Conference

annual meeting; see ELI Annual Meeting

anytime (adv.), at any time

anytime, anywhere (expression often used to indicate 24 x 7 accessibility)

ARL
Association of Research Libraries

ATM
asynchronous transfer mode

audio/video, A/V

audiovisual, AV

awards program, EDUCAUSE Awards Program
See the EDUCAUSE awards page for proper names of awards and fellowships.

- B -

BA, bachelor's degree, bachelor's degrees; see degrees

backbone

bandwidth

bills
Congressional bills that originate in the House of Representative should be designated as H.R. 1492. Note the period after each letter and a space before the number. Bills from the Senate are designated as S.R. 1493. (The numbers are examples only.)

BITNET

board of directors, board of regents, board of trustees, board
Not capitalized unless full name is used, as in EDUCAUSE Board of Directors.

build-out (n.), build out (v.)

buy-in

- C -

campus-wide
See the rule for -wide words.

CAN-SPAM Act

Capitol Hill
The area in Washington, D.C., surrounding the Capitol, and on which the Capitol sits. (This is not named because it's a hill in the nation's capital.)

Carnegie Mellon
Formerly included a hyphen; the name has changed officially to exclude the hyphen.

catalog

CD-ROM

cell phone (n., adj.) (never hyphenated)

chargeback

check-in (n.), check in (v.)

CHEMA
Council of Higher Education Management Associations (see CHEMA membership page for many higher ed acronyms).

chief business officer, CBO

chief executive officer, CEO

chief information officer, CIO

chief operating officer, COO

chief technical officer, CTO

client-server

CNI
Coalition for Networked Information

coauthor, cochair, cohost, but co-worker
Note: This last is an exception to M-W's coworker.

COBOL

college
Don't capitalize unless it's part of the official name, e.g., Colorado College; the college.

comma
Use the serial comma, which means in a series of three or more words or phrases, include the comma before the and. For example: EDUCAUSE membership is open to institutions of higher education, corporations serving the higher education information technology market, and other related associations and organizations.

CompuServe

convener instead of convenor.

cosponsor

cost-benefit analysis

cost-effective

Core Data Service, CDS, CDS survey, but core data survey

cost savings (n.), cost-savings (adj.)

CLIR
Council on Library and Information Resources

credit card (n., adj.) (never hyphenated)

CUPA-HR
College and University Professional Association for Human Resources

cyberattack, cyberethics, cybersecurity, cyberspace
Note and do not change government’s two-word usage of cyber security, i.e., National Cyber Security Alliance.

- D -

data set

data warehouse

database

decision maker

decision making (n.), decision-making (adj.)

degrees
Do not use periods: AA, BA, BS, MA, PhD, JD, MD, etc.

departments and offices
The president's office or the chemistry department, but the Department of Chemistry (see Chicago 8.73).

desktop

dial-up

dialogue
Dialog is used only for computers, e.g., dialog box.

digital rights management, DRM

digital subscriber line, DSL
Variations include xDSL, HDSL, ADSL, RADSL.

dot-com
Also, dot-org, dot-net, and dot-edu. Alternatively, you can use .com, .net, .org, or .edu, depending on the context, but be consistent. Do not use dot-org and .org in the same piece.

downtime

- E -

E terms
E terms should always use the hyphen, because the e stands for electronic. Examples include e-business, e-commerce, e-discovery, e-learning, e-portfolio, and e-mail, though the rule applies to any word using this construction. When it appears at the beginning of a sentence, it should be capitalized: E-mail has become a widespread form of communication. The second word in the combination term is lowercase unless the term appears in a title or ad in which each word is capitalized: E-Learning Gathers Steam. Exceptions are formal programs such as e-Framework and ePortfolio (see below).

ECAR Symposium, the symposium

EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, annual conference
The phrase annual conference is capped only if preceded by EDUCAUSE.

e-Framework
An initiative by the UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and Australia’s Department of Education, Science, and Training (DEST).

Electronic Data Interchange, EDI

ELI Annual Meeting, annual meeting

ELI Fall Focus Session, ELI Spring Focus Session, ELI focus session, focus session

ELI Web Seminars, ELI Web Seminar, web seminar
Capped if preceded by ELI.

em dash —
The em dash is used without spaces on either side. When using plain text, substitute two hyphens for an em dash. (See A List Apart for a guide to the differences between the en and em dash, as well as HTML coding for the two.)

en dash –
The en dash, half the length of an em dash and longer than a hyphen, is used to connect continuing or inclusive numbers, e.g., pp. 5–7; 1910–99. It is also used in place of a hyphen in a compound adjective when one of the elements of the adjective is an open compound, e.g., information technology–enhanced learning. (See A List Apart for a guide to the differences between the en and em dash, as well as HTML coding for the two.)

enterprise resource planning, ERP

enterprise-wide
See the rule for -wide words.

ePortfolio, Iowa ePortfolio
This unique capitalization is used only for the trademarked product developed by the University of Iowa.

Ethernet

ex officio
Two words, even if used as a modifier (no hyphen); not italicized in text.

extranet

- F -

federal
(government, agency, court, powers)

file sharing (n.), file-sharing (adj.)

file transfer protocol, FTP

firewall

first-come, first-served

floorplan (n., adj.)

folksonomy
Avoid the synonymous term free tagging/freetagging.

for-profit

Frye Institute, the Institute

fund-raising (n., adj.)

- G -

gateway

gigaPOP
This is the generic spelling. If the word begins a sentence or if it is part of a formal name, the g is capitalized, i.e., Florida GigaPOP. Also retain the unique spelling of gigPOP in the formal name where applicable, i.e., Pacific Northwest Gigapop.

Gopher

groupware

- H -

handheld (n., adj.) (never hyphenated)

health care (n., adj.) (never hyphenated)

help desk (n., adj.) (never hyphenated)

higher education, higher ed (n., adj.) (never hyphenated)

Hispanic-serving institutions

historically black colleges and universities, HBCUs

home page
Be sure to use it as two words, not a single word. An exception is the Homepage department in EDUCAUSE Review.

honeypot

HTML
Stands for Hypertext Markup Language.

HyperCard

hypertext

hyphens
See Chicago 7.90 for a comprehensive overview of compounds and hyphenation, e.g., a two-and-a-half-year-old project but the project is two and a half years old. Below is a list of words we do not typically hyphenate when used as compound modifiers:

business continuity
distance education
distance learning
disaster recovery
distributed learning
fair use
financial aid
health care
help desk
high school
higher education
incident reporting
incident response
intrusion detection
learning object
learning space
life sciences
local area network (doesn't apply to LAN)
open source (hyphenate only if it’s part of a 4–5 word modifier)
risk management
wide area network (doesn't apply to WAN)

- I -

ID
No periods, e.g., "A photo ID is required."

identity access management, IAM

identity management, IdM, IM

Information Age
EDUCAUSE capitalizes historical periods and designations: Millennial Generation but millennials, Baby Boom but baby boomers, Net Generation, Net Geners.

information technology (n.), IT (adj.)

in-house (adj.), in house (adv.)

institutions' names
Some institutions include The as part of the official school name, e.g., The Pennsylvania State University, The University of Memphis. MIT is acceptable for Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Rutgers University is acceptable for Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; and Virginia Tech is acceptable for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and UCLA is preferred for University of California, Los Angeles. (Check an institution's web page for its style, as well as the EDUCAUSE Membership Directory.) Note: We do not cap The in running text (see Chicago 8.73) or in front matter/biographical information, unless the author specifically requests it; however, we do cap The in a speaker's byline information in a conference program.

institution-wide
See the rule for -wide words.

Integrated Services Digital Network, ISDN

Internet
Internet is always capitalized, but intranet is not.

Internet Protocol, IP

Internet service provider, ISP

Internet2

intranet
Intranet is capitalized only at the beginning of a sentence or as part of a title, etc. Internet, however, is always capitalized.

Ivy League (always capitalized)

Ivy-Plus
Referring to the Ivy League as well as a small handful of other select institutions.

- J -

Java

Jini

judgment

jump start (n.), jump-start (v.)

- K -

KB
Capitalized, with a space between it and the numbers, e.g., 512 KB. For units with a single-letter designation, the space is eliminated, e.g., 500W.

- L -

laser disk

Learning 2.0, Life 2.0
These terms and other variations of the Web 2.0 theme should be capitalized.

life cycle (n.), life-cycle (adj.)

lifelong

listserv
LISTSERV is the trademarked term, often spelled Listserv. Use mailing list instead of listserv whenever possible.

local area network, LAN

lockbox

logon (adj.), log on (v.)

- M -

MA, master's degree, master's degrees, master of science; see degrees

marketplace

mashup

massively multiplayer online game, MMOG
World of Warcraft is an example of an MMOG.

megabyte, MB

memorandum of understanding, MOU

metadata

metaverse

mid-90s, but mid to late 90s

middleware
Programming that mediates between two separate programs, or programming between a software program and hardware logic.

midsized

Millennial Generation, millennials

MIME

mouseover (n., adj.), mouse over (v.)

multimedia

multiuser virtual environment, MUVE
Also known as a virtual world. Second Life is an example of a MUVE.

- N -

NACUBO
National Association of College and University Business Officers

name badge

name tag

nationwide
This is an exception to the -wide rule.

NERCOMP, NorthEast Regional Computing Program
Note that NorthEast is one word, with a capital E. Typically accompanied by the phrase, An EDUCAUSE Affiliate.

Net
Avoid Net (on its own) in text; spell out Internet instead.

Net Gen, Net Generation
Introduced by Don Tapscott in his 1999 book, Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. Tapscott also used the term N-Gen, a term EDUCAUSE does not typically use. The ELI frequently uses the terms Net Gen and Net Generation.

net neutrality
Short for network neutrality, not Internet neutrality.

net savvy
A term coined by and used frequently by the ELI.

Net@EDU

nicknames and informal names
Nicknames should be enclosed in quotations marks, not parentheses, e.g., George Herman "Babe" Ruth. For informal names, Chicago recommends parentheses rather than quotation marks, e.g., Ramon (Ray) Maryn.

nonprofit

not-for-profit
With the hyphens, but should be changed to nonprofit when possible.

numbers
Spell out whole numbers below 10, use numerals for 10 and above. Use an en dash for continuing or inclusive numbers. Note: EDUCAUSE Review follows Chicago's general rule (9.3) below:

In nontechnical contexts, the following are spelled out: whole numbers from one through one hundred, round numbers, and any number beginning a sentence. For other numbers, numerals are used. For the numerous exceptions and special cases, see throughout this chapter and consult the index. For hyphens used with numbers, see 7.90.

- O -

off-site (adj.), off site (adv.)

on-demand (adj.), on demand (adv.)

online

on-site (adj.), on site (adv.)

Open Knowledge Initiative, OKI

open source (never hyphenated)

OpenCourseWare, OCW

operating system, OS

OS/2

- P -

p.m.

Patriot Act, USA PATRIOT Act

per capita (no italics, never hyphenated)

percent
Generally, spell out percent when used in text, don't use % (exceptions are CDS summary report and other data-intensive copy). Example: Community colleges make up almost 21 percent of the EDUCAUSE institutional membership. Always use a numeral with percent and never hyphenate as a compound modifier: 5 percent profit.

Perl (programming language)

personal computer, PC

PhD, doctorate; see degrees

plurals of proper names
Try always to use full proper names separately, as in "the University of New Mexico and the University of Montana" rather than "the universities of New Mexico and Montana."

policy making (n.), policy-making (adj.)

policymaker

problem solving (n.), problem-solving (adj.)

point-of-presence, POP; see gigaPOP

postconference, postsecondary

preconference

prepositions in headlines
EDUCAUSE capitalizes all prepositions of 5+ letters in headlines. An exception is EDUCAUSE Review, which follows Chicago 8.167: "lowercase prepositions, regardless of length, except when they are stressed."

president-elect

proof-of-concept (always hyphenated)

PS/2

public key infrastructure, PKI

- Q -

- R -

recharge (as in chargeback)

re-create (note to distinguish from recreate)

reengineering

request for proposal, RFP

résumé

roadmap
Note: This is an exception to M-W’s road map.

role-play (v.)

rollout (n.), roll out (v.)

- S -

Second Life (no italics)

Seminars on Information Technology Leadership, the Seminars (formerly SAC)
No apostrophe in Directors Seminar.

service level agreement, SLA

setup (n.), set up (v.), set-up (adj.)

side effect

single sign-on, SSO

SMART Board (trademarked product from SMART Technologies)

smart classroom

smartphone (n., adj.)

Social Security number
Note: CMOS lowercases social security in this context.

states
Always spell out the names of states and territories when standing on their own, and unless it's a list or mailing address, it's preferable to spell out state names even when followed by a city (but use Washington, D.C.). When abbreviated, it's preferable to use the long abbreviation, e.g., Calif., Colo. (see Chicago 15.29), except when used in a mailing address (CA, CO, DC).

statewide
This is an exception to the -wide rule.

system-wide
See the rule for -wide words.

- T -

tablet PC (generic usage), Tablet PC (Microsoft product)

T-carrier system

TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the basic communication language of the Internet.

teardown (n.), tear down (v.), tear-down (adj.)

Telnet

test-drive (always hyphenated)

time frame

time-consuming (always hyphenated)

timeline

titles
Conference titles should appear in quotation marks, book titles should appear in italic, and book series titles should be set in roman type without quotation marks. Persons' titles should be capped in attributions and listings such as conference programs and ads; they should be down in text.

toll free (n.), toll-free (adj.)
Note: Per Chicago; M-W always hyphenates toll-free.

total quality management, TQM

totebag

touch-tone

touchscreen (n., adj.)
Note: This is an exception to M-W’s touch screen.

tribal colleges and universities

- U -

underused

under way (adv.), underway (adj.)
Note: Almost always used adverbially, and frequently incorrectly used as one word in that context.

United States (n.), U.S. (adj.)

username

university
Don't capitalize unless it's part of the official name, e.g., "Duke University is located in North Carolina. The university is part of the Research Triangle."

university-wide
See the rule for -wide words.

UNIX
Use all caps rather than Unix (you'll see it both ways).

up-to-date (adj.), up to date (adv.)

URL
Stands for uniform resource locator. In text, URLs should include the protocol (e.g., http://, https://, ftp://). Exceptions to this rule include ads and some marketing text, where, for example, www.educause.edu is acceptable for the EDUCAUSE URL. See Chicago 17.9–11 for URL guidelines.

- V -

VAX

versus
Spell out, except in titles, when it becomes vs.

very high-speed Backbone Network Services, vBNS

video game (n.), video-game (adj.)

video over IP; see Internet Protocol

videoblogging

videoconferencing

virtual private network, VPN

voice over IP, VoIP; see Internet Protocol

voicemail
Note: This is an exception to M-W's voice mail.

- W -

waitlist
Note: This is an exception to M-W's wait-list.

web, web page, website, but Web 2.0
Note: As of first quarter 2008, EDUCAUSE no longer capitalizes Web and no longer follows Chicago 7.90, which gives as examplesWeb site, Web-related matters, he is Web-happy. (Noun form open, adjective form hyphenated.) Instead, following Wired Style and common usage, web is lowercase. The noun form is open for web page and closed for website. The adjective form is hyphenated but lowercase: web-happy. Web 2.0 and its variants (Life 2.0, Learning 2.0, etc.) should be capitalized.

webcast, webcaster, webcasting

webisphere

weblog, weblogging
Avoid if possible. Use blog and blogging instead.

Whois
As in, the Whois database.

 -wide
Most constructions that include wide at the end are hyphenated, including campus-wide, enterprise-wide, institution-wide, system-wide, and university-wide. Exceptions to this rule are statewide, nationwide, and worldwide.

wide area network, WAN

Wi-Fi

Wikipedia (no italics)

WiMAX

working group (generic), CALEA Tech Working Group (proper)

workplace

workstation

worldwide
This is an exception to the -wide rule.

- X -

XML
Stands for Extensible Markup Language.

- Y -

- Z -