Food for Thought - May 2005
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Webgrammar's Food for Thought - ISSN: 1530-034X
Editor and Publisher: Judy Vorfeld
mailto:judyvorfeld@webgrammar.com URL: http://www.webgrammar.com
May 2005
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CONTENTS
Note from Judy
Windows Keystroke & Tips - Go to the beginning and end of document
Did you Know - Using articles, acronyms, and initialisms
Recommendations
Arts
Education
Grammar
History
References
Science/Technology
Writing/Journalism
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NOTE FROM JUDY
1. Ah, the joys of digital photography. One of the best tips I've seen has to do with the importance of getting a good optical zoom. See bottom of page for distance and close-up shots taken by my brother, David Crook. He uses a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z1 with a 10x optical zoom.
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WINDOWS KEYSTROKES & TIPS - Go to the beginning and end of document
Ctrl+Home: Go to beginning of document
Ctrl+End: Go to end of document
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-DID YOU KNOW -
USING "A" OR "AN" BEFORE ACRONYMS AND INITIALISMS
AND BEFORE CERTAIN SOUNDS
The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, University of Chicago
Press, says that when an abbreviation (this includes acronyms and
initialisms) follows an indefinite article (like "a" or "an"),
the choice is made by the way the abbreviation would sound if
spoken aloud.
Acronyms (words like NATO, radar, or snafu that are formed from
the initial letter or letters of each of the successive or major
parts of a compound term) are spoken and read as words unless used
adjectivally, like "a HUD program." They're rarely preced by "a,"
"an," or "the."
Initialisms are generally spoken and read as a series of letters
and are often (but not always) preceded by an article, e.g., a NATO
member, an HTML document, an MS symptom. (15.9)
Use "a" before any word beginning with a consonant sound (a usual
response). Use "an" before any word beginning with a vowel sound
(an office) (an honorary degree). An initialism (whose letters are
sounded out individually, like BBC and USA) may be paired with one
article, while an acronym (which is pronounced as a word) beginning
with the same letter is paired with the other (an HTML document
describing a HUD program).(5.202)
The indefinite article "a" (not "an") is used in American English
before words beginning with a pronounced "h." Examples: a hotel,
a history lesson, a hopeful sign.
Before an abbreviation, symbol, or numeral, one uses "a" or "an"
depending on how the term is pronounced. Examples:
...an MS treatment (a treatment for multiple sclerosis)
...a MS in the library (MS also stands for manuscript)
...an NBC anchor ...a CBS anchor
...a URL ...an 800 number ...an @ sign
(7.46)
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RECOMMENDATIONS
ARTS
THE ALAN LOMAX DATABASE
The Database catalogs the documentary work of international folk
performance traditions by folklorist and musical anthropologist,
Alan Lomax.
http://www.lomaxarchive.com/index.html
WORLD WAR I SHEET MUSIC
http://dl.lib.brown.edu/sheetmusic/ww1/index.html
EDUCATION
CHINESE NEW YEAR CUSTOMS AND CULTURE
http://www.geocities.com/susanchua_sg/index.html
THE COLLECTIBLE LIBRARIAN
Gaming resources for librarians. Gamer librarian Heather Wilson's
goal is to introduce and explain games to librarians making it
easier for them to integrate games into their collections.
http://www.thecollectiblelibrarian.com/index.html
DERRY COOPERATIVE SCHOOL DISTRICT TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
http://www.derry.k12.nh.us/teachers/techintegration/techindex.htm
PRIVATE SCHOOL REVIEW
Profiles of US private elementary day schools & high schools
combined with useful community data (e.g., housing costs)and maps
of the surrounding areas.
http://www.privateschoolreview.com
EVALUATION JUNCTION
One way to recognize the importance of identifying and evaluating
sources you find on the Internet is to try your hand at this quiz.
http://writing.msu.edu/station/evaluation/evaluation14.htmGRAMMAR
GRAMMAR
COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH: PROFESSOR PAUL BRIANS' SITE
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
DAILY GRAMMAR
A great way to check grammar knowledge. Quizzes take four minutes.
http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.shtml
GRAMMAR CENTRAL
Links to both a teacher's notes on grammar lessons, as well as copies
of the lessons themselves. Be sure to check the index, which is an
alphabetized list of definitions.
http://www.longview.k12.wa.us/mmhs/wyatt/homework/grammar/gramm.html
MRS. BLUEZETTE'S GRAMMAR CORNER
"A PBS mind in an MTV world." Delightful, highly educational articles
by a wonderful English language wizard (umm...wizette).
http://www.newsblues.com/grammar.htm
PROFESSOR CHARLES DARLING'S GRAMMAR SITE
Outstanding to use as a quick reference for your grammar questions.
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
GREEK GRAMMAR ON THE WEB
http://perswww.kuleuven.ac.be/~u0013314/greekg.htm
THE ENGLISH MAZE
A web-based learning system for individuals and schools worldwide.
Students can improve their pronunciation, speaking, reading, listening,
and writing skills. The site contains hundreds of hours of material,
much of which is free.
www.englishmaze.com
HISTORY
CHURCHILL SPEECH INTERACTIVE
An online educational resource that allows you to explore Churchill’s
renowned "Iron Curtain" speech, delivered March 5, 1946 in Fulton,
Missouri.
http://www.churchillspeeches.com/
DIGITAL QUAKER COLLECTION
Digital library containing full text and page images of over 500
individual Quaker works from the 17th and 18th centuries. The
software developed for Earlham School of Religion provides
multiple search functions and an interface for viewing pages.
http://esr.earlham.edu/dqc/
LAKOTA WINTER COUNTS
This online exhibit was created in response to requests from Lakota
educators and community members to make primary source materials in
Smithsonian collections available online for Lakota researching their
cultural heritage.
http://wintercounts.si.edu/index.html
TALKING HISTORY
Talking History is a production, distribution, and instructional
center for all forms of "aural" history. Its mission is to provide
teachers, students, researchers and the general public with as broad
a collection of audio documentaries, speeches, debates, oral
histories, conference sessions, commentaries, archival audio sources,
and other aural history resources as is available anywhere. University
at Albany, State University of New York.
http://www.talkinghistory.org/index.html
REFERENCES
ALL THAT JAS: JOURNAL ABBREVIATION SOURCES
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/JAS.htm
WIRED CAMPUS BLOG
Education-technology news from around the Web, by The Chronicle
of Higher Education
http://wiredcampus.chronicle.com/
NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
http://www.naa.org/sectionpage.cfm?sid=3D167
THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
http://www.cec.sped.org/
HOW TO CHOOSE A DICTIONARY
http://www.randomhouse.com/words/choose/
THE JARGON FILE
A comprehensive compendium of hacker slang illuminating many
aspects of hackish tradition, folklore, and humor.
http://jargon.watson-net.com/section.asp
MEANS BUSINESS
MeansBusiness is a large, fast-growing growing database of
business ideas worldwide. It provides corporations, universities
and consultants with the latest and most advanced business
thinking from the world's
leading business experts-on demand.
http://www.meansbusiness.com/
HUMAN ERROR WEBSITE
Designed to be a repository for data on error rates in the human
cognitive processes. Maintained by Ray Panko, University of Hawaii.
http://panko.cba.hawaii.edu/HumanErr/
INDEX ACADEMICUS
Instruction to Authors For + 15.000 Journals, Free Medical Journals
http://www.akademisyen.com/author/
NATIONAL CENTER FOR LEARNING DISABILITIES
http://www.ld.org/advocacy/
NATIONAL DISSEMINATION CENTER FOR CHILDREN WITH
DISABILITIES
http://www.nichcy.org/index.html
PEOPLE'S NETWORK: ENQUIRE
This UK site is a live question and answer service available 24
hours a day, every day. It works like instant messaging or chat
room technology, allowing visitors to put questions to trained
staff who can help. Library services in England are working with
library staff internationally to deliver Enquire around the clock.
http://www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk/enquire.html
NONPROFIT GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE
The website is a one-stop shop for widely-accepted, innovative
nonprofit practices offering Preferred Practices and Pitfalls,
Glossaries, Resources, Trends and Web site Profiles within ten
topic areas. The Guide can be used as a reference for quick
answers, in preparation for staff or board meetings, as a
training tool, and in reference for classroom studies.
http://www.npgoodpractice.org/
PRESERVING ACCESS TO DIGITAL INFORMATION
http://www.nla.gov.au/padi/
RAIL PICTURES ON THE NET
The best rail photos on the net. Submit your own rail photos.
http://www.railpictures.net/
VIRTUAL SALT
Contains definitions and examples of more than sixty traditional
rhetorical devices, all of which can still be useful today to
improve the effectiveness, clarity, and enjoyment of your writing.
http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm
SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY
BLUE CRAB ALMANAC
practical and educational resource providing a comprehensive
picture of the blue crab; its history; where and how it lives,
eats and reproduces; how to buy it; how it is consumed; and
how its living conditions hang in a delicate balance. This is
a compendium about Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, the Blue Crab.
http://searay.50megs.com/bluecrab.html
THE JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE
Founded in 1977 by primatologist Jane Goodall and Genevieve,
Princess di San Faustino
http://www.janegoodall.com/default.asp
CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC ATLAS ONLINE
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/intro.aspx?lang=En#
JOURNAL ABBREVIATION RESOURCES
Resources that will help decipher the full title of a journal,
when you only have the abbreviation for the journal.
http://www.lib.purdue.edu/life/j-abbrev.html
LIST OF JOURNALS INDEXED FOR MEDLINE
The 4,844 journals being indexed for MEDLINE as of January 2005
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/serials/lji.html
MOUNT ST. HELENS POST-ERUPTION CHEMISTRY DATABASE
This collection illustrates some of the methods used to study
the chemistry of volcanoes and the impacts of such a powerful
eruption. It also seeks to show the human side of research, for
example, how it feels to be inside the crater taking samples
when the volcano erupts again. It will be of interest regionally,
for students K-12 and college-level, as well as researchers.
http://content.lib.washington.edu/mshchemweb/index.html
MANAGING CHRONIC PAIN
Advice on coping skills and choosing a comprehensive treatment
program. Includes resources for families and caregivers. The
American Chronic Pain Association was founded in 1980 by Penney
Cowan, who took part in the pain management program at the
Cleveland Clinic, and wanted to maintain the skills she learned
there when she returned to daily life.
http://www.theacpa.org/pf_02.asp
WRITING/JOURNALISM
A JOURNALIST'S GUIDE TO THE FEDERAL COURTS
A Journalist's Guide to the Federal Courts is intended to assist
reporters assigned to court coverage.
http://www.uscourts.gov/journalistguide/welcome.html
STYLE & SUBSTANCE NEWSLETTER
Distributed monthly to the staff of The Wall Street Journal, and
is made available to the public on WSJ.com. It critiques the Journal's
news pages on language and other issues, and it notes stylistic and
other updates for The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Business
Style and Usage. Each issue includes a quiz asking readers to "find the
flubs" that appeared in the Journal, involving use of the language.
http://wsj.com/stylememo
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Photos by David Crook
Judy's sites and ezines:
http://www.digifeld.com
http://www.editingandwritingservices.com
http://www.ossweb.com
http://www.webgrammar.com
http://www.judyvorfeld.com
Communication Expressway, Judy's Small Business ezine designed to help
people improve office, technology, presentation, and writing skills.
http://www.ossweb.com/ezine.html
Webgrammar - for students, educators, editors, writers, librarians,
researchers, lovers of the English language, and Web developers.
http://www.webgrammar.com
Webgrammar's Food for Thought: Library of Congress, Washington DC
ISSN: 1530-034X - Reprinting of written materials is not permitted
without the prior consent of the author or owner.
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