CONTENTS FEATURE: Excessive abbreviation leaves readers short SPOTLIGHT: EditPros clients in the news NET NOTES: Captivating web sites FEATURE: Excessive abbreviation can leave your readers short      Suppose you're a corporate lawyer seeking a district judge to speak about covenants, conditions and restrictions at a homeowner's association meeting, and you send a note asking your new assistant to book a local D.J. familiar with CCRs. Imagine your surprise the evening of the event when a guy calling himself Twig drives up in a van and unloads an audio console, a mixing board, strobe lights and a library of rock hits by Creedence Clearwater Revival.      A newspaper headline warns about CD shortcomings. One alarmed reader thinks his music library of compact discs is in jeopardy. Another believes the article reflects a threat to funding for civil defense. Yet another believes the writer is discouraging cash discounts.      Abbreviations and acronyms pockmark our speech and writing. They're popularly used because they save time or space, and also because they constitute a type of code language that creates a sense of communion. Abbreviations can correspondingly be exclusionary by alienating people who are unfamiliar with them. Abbreviations used in a training manual published by an organization may be inappropriate for its annual report that is directed in part to lawmakers and prospective financial contributors.      One abbreviation may denote more than one term or concept. DJ can refer to a district judge, a Doctor Juris degree of law, or to a disc jockey. APA is used to designate the American Philological Association, the American Philosophical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association. Make certain that your references are clear.      As a courtesy for your readers, consider placing within parentheses the full names of organizations or terms that are best known by their initials. Those might include CARE (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere), NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), ASCII (American Standard for Code Information Interchange), CD-ROM (compact disc, read-only memory), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act), FOB (free on board), RFD (Rural Free Delivery) and ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps). For abbreviations about which you're uncertain, turn to dictionaries and well-established style manuals for guidance. Some organizations that have changed their formal name retain their original acronyms because they are so firmly entrenched. Although the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund officially shortened its name to the United Nations Children's Fund, it has retained its UNICEF acronym.      Widespread use of certain abbreviations have legitimized them as words. The abbreviation for "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus" became the word scuba. The term "radar" is really an acronym for "radio detection and ranging."      Periods separate the letters of some abbreviations, such as U.S., Ph.D. and D.V.M., but the contemporary tendency is to run the letters of abbreviations together without interceding punctuation. That's true for many corporations and government organizations best known by their abbreviated names, including the FAA, IBM, IRS, PBS, NFL and NASA. While those abbreviations can stand on their own, less commonly recognized abbreviations should be introduced by placing them within parentheses alongside the full name of the reference organization--as in American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).      While U.S. is the common abbreviation for "United States," many style guides endorse its use only as an adjective. Thus, it is acceptable in "U.S. Court of Appeals" or "U.S. agricultural production," but not in "agricultural production in the U.S."      Some common terms are abbreviated in capital letters, while others are lowercased. With 12-hour clocks, morning hours are designated "a.m." (from the Latin ante meridiem, meaning "before noon"), either in lowercase letters or small capitals, with periods. But capitals without periods are used in reference to the AM radio band. The same is true for "p.m." (post meridiem) times and FM radio. Periods are not used in radio and television station call letters.      Many people don't realize that the year qualifiers B.C. and A.D. require a distinct syntax. B.C., in reference to "before Christ," is derived from the phrase "in the year XX before Christ." Therefore, the year should precede the notation "B.C.," as in "265 B.C." The qualifier A.D. stands for "anno Domini," meaning "in the year of our Lord." Because the proper syntax for that phrase is "in the year of our Lord XX," the year should follow the notation "A.D.," as in "A.D. 26."      Some abbreviations have been reduced to colloquialisms, particularly in e-mail messages. The vocabulary of common e-mail slang abbreviations (many needless and bordering on the absurd) includes: BTW (by the way); FOTCL (falling off the chair laughing); F2F or FTF (face-to-face); FWIW (for what it's worth); FYA (for your amusement); IMHO (in my humble opinion); IOW (in other words); LOL (laughing out loud); NRN (no response necessary); OTOH (on the other hand; ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing); TIA (thanks in advance); TIC (tongue in cheek); TPTB (the powers that be); WOBTAM (waste of both time and money); WRT (with respect to); YABA (yet another bloody acronym).      Keep in mind the true derivation of an abbreviated entity or term to avoid redundancy. Examples of common redundancies include: Please RSVP (because the abbreviation stands for the French expression "repondez s'il vous plait," the word "please" is redundant); ATM machine (the word "machine" is embedded in the abbreviation, standing for "automated teller machine"); UPC code ("UPC" stands for "Universal Product Code"); ICBM missile (stands for "intercontinental ballistic missile"); PIN number (stands for "personal identification number"); estimated ETA ("ETA" means "estimated time of arrival") GPS system ("GPS" stands for "Global Positioning System");      Keep all of that in mind before you find Twig telling you, "So like, dude, I heard you're a Creedence Clearwater Revival fan. I didn't have any of CCR's CDs, but I brought a bunch of BTO, ELO and ZZ Top tunes."      IOW, acronyms can be WOBTAM. Reminder: EditPros can check your documents for consistency in the use of abbreviations and acronyms. SPOTLIGHT: EditPros clients in the news University of California Agency produces Internet Directory of Experts in Conservation Biology and Biodiversity      Are you a developer seeking a qualified expert to offer advice in producing environmental impact reports? Is your nonprofit nature conservation group trying to identify researchers working on problems relevant to your organization's interests? Are you a member of a government agency seeking new scientific evidence in support of your management responsibilities over biological resources?      If you're looking for a directory of California experts in conservation and biodiversity, you can now find it on the Web. The University of California's Genetic Resources Conservation Program (GRCP), based in Davis, Calif., has produced a "Directory of University of California Expertise and Interest in Conservation Biology and California Biodiversity."      The directory is a database of UC research personnel who are primarily concerned with biodiversity. GRCP--a statewide program of the University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources--produced the directory in collaboration with the Wildland Resources Center. The directory includes about 340 individuals, and is searchable by keywords coded by research interest, (such as "biocontrol," "disease resistance" or "endangered species"), by habitat (such as "aquatic" or "terrestrial"), by type of organism (such as "fungi," "mollusks" or "plants") and other parameters.      You may view the directory on the Web. Net Notes: Captivating Internet resources Rich's Insider's Guide to Northern California Businesses http://www.norcalcompanies.com/index.html      Look up information about more than 30,000 Northern California companies on this Web site. You may view basic profiles at no charge; access to more detailed information requires a paid subscription. Service operated by Rich's Business Directories Inc. of Mountain View. Andy McFadden's CD-Recordable FAQ http://www.cdrfaq.org/      So you bought a new CD recorder but the only thing that's getting "burned" is your patience. You've called technical support for your computer manufacturer, for your CD drive manufacturer and for the CD disc manufacturer, and were given three different answers--none of which resolved your problem. Where can you go for authoritative help? Try this Web site, a repository of information about recordable CD technology maintained as a public service by software engineer Andy McFadden. Then burn a few CDs tonight. The CD Page http://www.cdpage.com/      Here you'll find information not only about recordable CDs, but also about DVDs (including rewritable DVD technology) and topics related to duplication of CDs. YOUR TURN: Ask the "grammar coach" or subscribe      We invite you to submit your questions to the "grammar coach," and we welcome you to subscribe to this monthly newsletter—which we'll send to your e-mail address at no charge. We respond to all "grammar coach" questions personally, but delays may occur because we must place top priority on assignments from our clients. We appreciate your patience and your interest.      You also can change your e-mail subscription address. For an address change, please indicate your existing AND your new e-mail address. Thank you. OUR PRIVACY POLICY for e-mail newsletter subscribers:      We do not use any commercial e-mail lists or automated mass-mailing programs, and we do not allow access to the list by anyone else for any reason. 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