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: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] 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?