Indexing Acronyms

Acronyms and initialisms pepper the workplace conversation in many technical and scientific environments.

If you’re new to the organization or industry, the many unknown acronyms can be a real barrier to comprehending anything at all. Published books and technical documentation often spell out the full term when first used and then employ the acronym only. As indexers we need to serve both the “newbies,” who find the acronyms confusing, and the “old hands,” who dream only in acronyms.

Where the spelled-out term is still seen as the more significant, you may create a main entry for the spelled-out term and use a “See” reference from the acronym:

Total Quality Management (TQM)
   and Deming Method, 15
   application of, 148-84
   Civil Service Reform Act, 224-25

TQM. See Total Quality Management

Including the acronym with the spelled-out term in the main entry, while optional,  makes the entry absolutely clear. And, as always, you could double-post the subentries under the acronym as well:

Total Quality Management (TQM)
   and Deming Method, 15
   application of, 148-84
   Civil Service Reform Act, 224-25

TQM (Total Quality Management)
   and Deming Method, 15
   application of, 148-84
   Civil Service Reform Act 224-25

When the acronym is used predominantly, it makes sense to reverse the policy and index under the acronym.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
  application layer protocols, 467-468
  application services, 452-453
  IBM support for, 54
  IP addressing, 455-466

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. See TCP/IP

Subentries represent an interesting situation. Using the acronym only may save space, but may not be fully clear to all readers. Where the acronym is used predominately, you may wish to list the acronym first:

graphics
   …
   GDI (Graphical Device Interface) 595
   …

An interesting problem is what to do with acronyms that appear within a larger term. Spelling the acronym out may be more clear, but can become visually confusing:

active NE databases
DCM Interface (DCMIF) cards 
GUID (Globally Unique ID) generator
LWM User Manager

Some terms work better in the index in the plural form. You may wish to add a lower case “s” in these cases:

ADTs (abstract data types)
FAQs
GUIs (graphical user interfaces)
PCs
WaveHub NEs

When establishing your policy for a particular index, think of your readers’ needs first. And remember, consistency is more important than being “right.”

Fred Brown
Allegro Technical Indexing
fred.brown@allegrotechindexing.com
(613) 728-9373

September, 2002
Allegro Time!


Home | Website indexing | Training | Professional expertise | Articles
Test your index | Sample indexes | Internet links | Contact Allegro