| Term | Note |
|---|---|
| Academic Degrees | See: Reference Publications style sheet |
| acronyms/abbreviations | See: Reference Publications style sheet |
| alumni | Indicate when a person (including Libraries staff) is an alumnus/a of MIT with the year(s) of graduation |
| ampersands (&) | Avoid using in running text -- spell out “and.” Exceptions: if it is part of a company or organization's official name (e.g., AT&T) or if space is limited on the website or digital signage |
| Ask Us | We used to include the exclamation point, but no more. |
| Borrow Direct | capitalize |
| dashes | Note the difference between the em dash (—), the slightly narrower en dash (–), and the even narrower hyphen (-). Em dashes can take the places of commas, parentheses, or colons. Use a space on either side. En dashes indicate a range or span (e.g., 2–4 p.m.). Hyphens are used in compound terms and in phone numbers. |
| DSpace DSpace@MIT |
Use DSpace when referring to the software. Use DSpace@MIT when referring to our digital repository. |
| e- or electronic | Make sure the context is clear. Consider audience and whether the concept is familiar. (examples: e-resources, e-reserves) |
| ebook vs e-book | Use e-book |
| email vs e-mail | Use email |
| the Institute | capitalize "Institute" when referring to MIT |
| Internet | capitalize Internet as a noun, but not as an adjective (ex: "internet resources") |
| Libraries' | note correct position of the possessive plural apostrophe in constructions such as "Libraries' web site," "MIT Libraries' policy," etc. |
| Libraries, the | always capitalize the word "Libraries" in "the MIT Libraries" or "the Libraries" when MIT Libraries are meant |
| Libraries, the | plural. Ex: "The Libraries are eager to engage the community." |
| library, as adj. | ok to use as adjective, but do not capitalize it |
| library, the | lower-case "the library" even when referring to a particular library |
| log in | as verb: two words |
| login | as noun or adjective: one word. Ex: "the login screen" |
| MIT | Use "MIT," not "M.I.T." Use "an" as article with "MIT" Ex: "an MIT thesis" (General rule is you choose the article based on the way the acronym is pronounced.) |
| MIT addresses | Use Building, not Room (Institute style). Ex: "Building 14S-216" or just "14S-216" |
| MIT Libraries, the | singular when referring to the organization as a whole Ex. "The MIT Libraries is committed to..." |
| ordinals | Spell out first through ninth; otherwise, use numerals and letters. Do not use superscript. Ex: "the 10th anniversary" |
| pdf vs PDF | Use "pdf" |
| plural/singular | see: Archives, Libraries, staff, data |
| Services | All units ending in "Services" are treated as singular within sentences: "Curation and Preservation Services provides treatment for books, manuscripts, and archival materials." |
| staff, n. | Collective nouns such as "team" and "staff" may be either singular or plural depending on use in a sentence. Examples: The staff is in a meeting. The staff are in disagreement about the findings. |
| telephone numbers | Use hyphen between each set of numbers. |
| titles (for jobs) | In news stories, capitalize formal titles only when they precede an individual's name. |
| URLs, how to represent | Do not include "www." Do not include a final slash after the last directory: Correct: libraries.mit.edu/barker |
| Your Account | capitalize |