Style guides and so forth are all very well, but there comes a point when
you have to know (if you're a good editor) when to disagree with them.
The classic example of where you need capitals, as someone has already
pointed out, is when a sentence reads "These islands host nesting colonies
of little penguins..."
John Leonard
On 11 April 2012 12:21, Russ Lamb <> wrote:
> I believe Carl is correct in nominating style manuals as the source of the
> problem. There was a time when newspapers, publishing houses, government
> departments etc.each had their own "style guide" (note, "guide" not
> "manual") to assist internal authors with their publications. Increasingly
> however, guides have given way to manuals, and the dominant one is the
> Federal Government endorsed (propably too weak a description) publication
> "Style manual: for authors, editors, and publishers" 6th edition (2002),
> which appears to have influence in Australian publishing way beyond the
> Commonwealth Government's many agencies.This manual was (to quote from the
> Australian Government website) "revised for the Australian Government by a
> consortium of communication and publishing professionals" and "provides
> guidance and recommendations for anyone faced with the task of preparing
> material for publication in either print or electronic format".
> A quick glance at the members of this consortium reveals that they indeed
> are involved in the publishing industry, but of more interest to me was
> that only one (of at least 10) appeared to come from an academic
> linguistics background.
> None of this answers the question posed by previous correspondents as to
> why previously capitalized bird species names are no longer capitalized,
> but the decision appears to be part of a broad momentum to make published
> works more accessible to all readers, regardless of intended audiences and
> well-established and logical linguistic conventions. It is, in effect, yet
> another example of "dumbing-down" and the oxymoronic statement of "one size
> fits all".
> I would be interested to hear what Sean Dooley, as editor of the old
> Wingspan and new Australian Birdlife, thinks of the reach of style manuals,
> and what guides him in publishing the magazine. (Interestingly I note in
> the first edition of the magazine that the front cover uses non-capitalized
> "birdlife", but the editorial refers to the magazine as " Australian
> Birdlife")
>
> Russ Lamb, Maleny,SEQ
>
|
