Hi, Jim.
I do not have the IBM style Guide, but some other references below ...
hope this helps.
Both "The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition" and the "MLA Style
Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing" are silent on the topic of
gerunds. At least, there is no index entry for gerund. (MLA = Modern
Language Association of America.)
But the "Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publishing, 3rd
Edition" says:
Use a gerund (-ing form) rather than an infinitive (to form) in
titles of procedural topics, especially in print. After some brief
context-setting information to help the reader decide if she has found
the right topic, the heading that introduces the procedure itself should
be an infinitive phrase.
Style of indexed keywords
Follow most of the same general style guidelines as those used
for printed indexes:
* Use gerunds (the -ing form) rather than infinitives (the to
form) or the present tense of verbs for task-oriented entries, unless
they are unsuitable, as they may be for languages, systems, or localized
versions.
* Avoid generic gerunds that users are unlikely to look up:
using, changing, creating, getting, making, doing, and so on.
Also, separately (not what you asked about though), I have concerns
about using gerunds in body since they can change the meaning of the
text - and can be particularly confusing for non-native English readers.
So, "use them very sparingly in body text" is my approach.
Z
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
> Jim Owens
> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 12:04 PM
> To: Framer's List
> Subject: need IBM Stryle Guide reference
>
> Referring to the IBM Style Guide, a correspondent has informaed me:
>
> "Do not use gerunds in headings. IBM rule"
>
> but my 2004 copy of the IBM Style Guide says explicitly to use gerunds
> in headings (under "Headings and subdivisions of text"). Is there a
> later edition in which this has changed?
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