Editorial/Style Guide

Potential Sections for In-House Editorial Style Guide (TRU-OL)

What Is a Style Guide? (Purpose Statement)

• What is a Style Guide? How to use a style guide? Who should use this style guide? Benefits of using a style guide?
• How does this support the TRU Academic Plan? 

Structure of TRU-OL Courses

TRU-OL courses come in many shapes and varieties, which we call methods of delivery.

• Distinction between modalities and delivery modes

Other Resources

• Standardized Course Guide

Writing Conventions

The original plan had file naming conventions under writing conventions, but I suggest we make a new section for file naming (below).

File Naming Conventions

We use file naming conventions in Curriculum Services for syntactical consistency, which in turn supports file management and helps Production to identify how files should be organized. [Could we express this more clearly using plain English?]

How to name TRU-OL files

Guidelines for Typography/Page Design/PowerPoint

• Sample hierarchy of headings
• Sample title page

Copyright Guidelines

New policy 02/04/2013: New online copyright clearing form: http://kamino.tru.ca/ipo/register.html The results come directly to IPO team care of the copyright@tru.ca e-mail. This should eliminate the need for filling out other forms.

Editing Best Practices and Style Checklists

• Media
• Math type and eq. editor
• Styles in MS Word
• Templates
• Show changes: How to do it? What to keep in show changes & what to accept?
• Deep links & URLs: link from anchor text and/or provide written URL?
• Publisher's online materials: computer requirements, open access mandate, log-in instructions, privacy concerns (if any)

Glossary

Standardization

• Misspelled-words.jpg

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To ensure consistency, accuracy, and clarity, the following spelling and standardized terminology lists have been developed.

Standardized TRU-OL Spelling List

• acknowledgement
• aging
• anaesthetic
• analyze
• appendices
• archaeology
• audiovisual
• axe
• backup (n.)
• behaviour
• benefited
• biased
• birthdate
• Blackboard
• Blackboard Collaborate (not Elluminate)
• cacti
• café
• catalogue
• CD-ROM
• cellphone
• centimetre
• centre
• cheque
• chlorophyll
• clamour
• colour
• co-operate
• coordinate
• coordinator
• counselled
• counsellor
• Course Guide
• coursework
• database
• decision-making (attrib.)(adj.)
• decision making (n.)
• defence
• demeanour
• dialogue disc (sound or video)
• disk (computer)
• draft
• e-book
• email
• endeavour
• enrol, enrolment
• Enrolment Services
• equalled
• Exams Department
• favour
• fetus
• fibre
• focused
• focuses (n. & v.)
• formulas
• fulfill
• fulfillment
• grey
• Hhome Ppage (for our courses); home page
• honour
• humour
• icon
• imperilled
• indexes
• instalment
• instill
• Internet
• jewellery
• journalling
• judgment
• kilometre
• labelled
• left-hand
• levelled licence (n.)
• license (v.)
• lifestyle
• likeable
• livable
• long-term (attrib.)
• lustre
• manoeuvre
• marvellous
• meagre
• medieval
• meter (instrument)
• Metis
• metre (measurement)
• midterm
• modelled, modelling
• mould
• naive, naïveté
• neighbour
• Net (Internet)
• odour
• offence
• online (adj. & adv.)
• Open Learning Faculty Member (not OLFM)
• organize
• paralleled
• paralyze
• per cent
• plow (n. & v.)
• postwar
• practice (n.)
• practise (v.)
• practice exam pretense
• program
• prophecy (n.)
• prophesy (v.)
• realize
• recognize
• regroup
• revisit
• savour
• self-test
• short-term ((attrib.)
• signalled
• sizable
• skilful
• smoulder
• sombre
• spectre
• storey (building)
• Student Handbook
• sulphur
• theatre
• toward
• tranquilize
• tranquilizer
• travelled
• traveller
• TRU-OL (use hyphen)
• TRU-OL, Open Learning
• tumour
• usable
• videoclip
• videotape
• vigour
• web (Internet)
• web browser
• web page
• website

This list conforms to The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, (2004), which we follow unless the a course project team decides on alternativestakes an alternate approach—, for example, to be consistent with the main textbook used for a course.

Standardized Terminology

• “Assignments” (for the link in the LMS, not Assignment File)
• click (not “click on” or “clink on”)
• Course Modules OR Course Units (but not both)
• Course Guide (not Course Overview OR Course Manual (but not both)
• Course Tools menu (not Course Menu area)
• “Discussions” (not forum, area, board, or conference)
• Distance Regional & Open Learning (DROL) Services (and no quotation marks, no hyphen after Regional)
• “Following a citation trail” guide (as the title of the guide itself, not the link)
• “Getting Started” (not “Getting Started with WebCT Guide”)
• “Help” link or “Help” (not HELP button)
• home page (two words, lowercase unless referring to course Home Page)
• How Do I...? (Do is first-initial cap; question mark goes after ellipses)
• IT Service Desk (not Help Desk, not IT service desk)
• learning management system (not WebCT)
• Library (when TRU Library) (not TRU-OL library)
• “Mail” tool (instead of “mail in WebCT”)
• Pack Slip (not Packing Grid)
• PIN (not PIN number)
• Student Handbook
• TRU Library (not the TRU Library)
• TRU-OL Social Sciences Guide
• TRU Open Learning
• Tutor Open Learning Faculty Member (not OLFM, Tutor, Facilitator, or Instructor)
• Tutor Marked Assignment form
• “View Attempt” not view results
• “Web Links”
• welcome letter (lowercase)
• World Wide Web, but web
• Other:
• “Getting Connected to WebCT” is outdated (get rid of WebCT references)
• There is no “WebCT Guide”
• Italics for course names (after acronym and number)
• Print info not needed, how to access course online info not needed
• Think in terms of students viewing the info on a monitor: for example, change language such as “turn now to your Assignments File”

Recommendations:

Include, on the “Web Links” page, a link to TRU-OL Examinations (so students can plan) Include, on the “Web Links” page, a link to Submission Guidelines, as it is referred to constantly in some courses Include, on the “Web Links” page, a link to Grading Systems and Procedures Fix language in grading scale: for example, Grading Systems and Policies is called Grading Systems and Procedures on the TRU web page

Appendix A: TRU-OL Course Formats Information

• Note: Please see the discussion topic on presenting the appendix info in a wiki or web context.

Appendix C: Forms

Links to:

• IP form
• Media web site
• CIS (?)

Appendix D: Overview of TRU Open Learning

Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning (TRU-OL) is the Division of Thompson Rivers University (TRU) that specializes in providing learners with flexible learning options, open access to education wherever possible, and a wide variety of course and program choices, meeting the needs of its own students and helping other institutions and organizations meet the open and online learning needs of their communities.

TRU is a public institution mandated by the provincial government to provide the province's open learning programming and an open learning educational credit bank, TRU-OL opens the door to accessible, recognized and quality post-secondary education, providing learning opportunities in print, online, web-based or blended formats, with programs tailored to each student's personal needs and support offered by over 160 highly respected and qualified Open Learning Faculty Members from all over BC.

For a comprehensive description of TRU, Open Learning Division (TRU-OL), see About TRU Open Learning

Appendix E: Work in Progress

TRU Editing Style Checklist

Purpose Statement

Reference Style Guides and Other Resources

Writing Conventions

Copyright Forms and Guidelines

Media Forms and Files

Glossary

Interculturalizing the Curriculum Resources

Standardized Course Guide Resources

Best Practices

It's important to name files correctly so all the stakeh