Preferred Terms
This style guide was adapted from the Associated Press (AP) Style Guide. If you have questions regarding style and formatting that are not covered here, please refer to the AP Guide.
Terminology Specific to the Library and UIC
Libraries and Departments
*University Library* This is the formal collective name for the UIC libraries. In writing, refer to the library as the UIC Library or Library.
Individual names of libraries:
- Richard J. Daley Library
- Library of the Health Sciences-Chicago
- Library of the Health Sciences-Peoria
- Crawford Library of the Health Sciences-Rockford
- Library of the Health Sciences-Urbana
Abbreviations:
- Daley Library
- LHS-Chicago
- LHS-Peoria
- CLHS-Rockford
- LHS-Urbana
Library Terms
*Article Delivery:* UIC library’s fee-based document delivery service; use instead of InfoQUIC /InfoqUIC.
CITY2000: Use as abbreviation for Comer Archive of Chicago in the Year 2000
Comer Archive of Chicago in the Year 2000: This is the full name of the Library’s CITY2000 photographic collection. Abbreviate with all upper case letters and no space between CITY and 2000.
Course Reserves: Refers to any print or online materials designated for course use by an instructor. See also Electronic Course Reserves
Distance Education: Preferred term for courses offered in an online environment and courses for off-campus students; use instead of Online Education/Online Learning.
Distance Education User: Refers to students who participate in Distance Education courses; use instead of Distance Learner/Online Learner.
Distance Learner: use Distance Education User.
Database: a more specific type of Electronic Resource.
E-book(s): Refers to books that are available full-text online; use instead of electronic book/ebook/eBook.
E-journal(s): Refers to journals that are available full-text online; use instead of ejournal/ e-journal/eJournal.
E-Reserves/ERES: Use Electronic Course Reserves.
Electronic Course Reserves: Preferred term for Course Reserves that are available online; use instead of Electronic Reserves/E-Reserves/ERES.
Electronic Reserves: Use Electronic Course Reserves.
Electronic resources: use instead of electronic databases/online resources.
Guides: Use Research Guides.
Help Guides: Use Research Guides.
i-card: The official University of Illinois Identification Card; always lower case, even at the beginning of a sentence.
IDEA Commons: Though found in logos and within the physical space as "idea" (all lower case), use as printed here when referring to it in text.
ILL: Use Interlibrary Loans
I-Share: Spell I-Share when referring to the consortium, and use “I-Share catalog” when referring to the catalog database.
InfoQUIC/InfoqUIC: Use Article Delivery.
Library Catalog: Preferred term for the UIC library’s online Catalog; use instead of UICCAT.
Multiple Resource Search: Name of the UIC library’s federated search tool; use instead of qUICSearch or Webfeat.
MyILL@UIC: Use Interlibrary Loan*.
Online: use Electronic.
qUICsearch: Use Search Multiple Resources.
Research Guides: Use for Subject Guides/Help Guides.
Smart room: Use "smart room".
Subject Guides: Use Research Guides
Webfeat: Use Multiple Resource Search.
UICCAT: Use Library Catalog.
University Archives: This is the formal collective name for the UIC Archives. UIC Archives should be used for all subsequent references. A directional suffix can be used when referring to a specific part of the UIC Archives, as in University Archives-West (for a first reference to LHS) or UIC Archives-East. (for a subsequent reference to Daley).
Voyager: Use Library Catalog.
UIC Terms
*ACCC:* This is the acronym for the Academic Computing and Communications Center.
athletics designation: UIC’s teams play in Division I-AAA of the NCAA. The conference is called the Horizon League. Note that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a member of the Big Ten Conference, has an athletics program entirely separate from UIC’s.
C: The letter C in UIC is not to be used as the first letter of a subsequent word that begins with the letter C, e.g., UICampus. Also, always insert a space between UIC and the subsequent word.
campus regions: lowercase. When writing about sides of campus, use the words the and of campus: the south side of campus, the east side of campus, the west side of campus. Avoid using east campus and west campus, which could imply distinctly separate campuses.
Great Cities Commitment: Spell out the phrase on first reference; Great Cities is an acceptable abbreviation in subsequent references. Do not abbreviate with the acronym GCC. Commitment is the correct term to describe UIC’s pledge to improve the quality of life in Chicago and other cities. It is not proper to refer to it as an initiative because it has existed for more than 10 years. A hard copy of the Great Cities Commitment report is available from the Office of Public Affairs; call ext. 6-3456. See also the UIC Great Cities Commitment section.
Great Cities Institute: Serves as UIC’s central point for new initiatives in interdisciplinary, applied urban research. It is structured as a research unit within the College of Urban Planning and Public Administration. Find it online at www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci.
Horizon League: This is the NCAA conference of which UIC is a member.
i-card: The official University of Illinois Identification Card; always lower case, even at the beginning of a sentence.
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum: Note there are two d’s in Addams. Hyphenate Hull-House.
mail code: Two words. Abbreviate as MC (capital letters, no periods or slash) and leave a space between the acronym and the number. Place the abbreviation and the number in parentheses after the department name: Office of Public Affairs (MC 288). Official business cards demonstrate the correct format.
massmail, mass mail: Lowercase. As one word, it is used as a noun or verb referring to UIC’s system for bulk distribution of e-mail messages. As two words, it is a generic verb phrase to describe the sending of a single piece to a large audience.
neighborhoods near UIC: Use these spellings for the most commonly identified neighborhoods surrounding UIC: Little Italy, Greektown, Pilsen, the Loop, Little Village, Chinatown, Near West Side.
phone numbers at UIC: Be mindful that, because there are multiple prefixes at UIC, five-digit extensions will be inadequate for anyone calling from a noncampus phone. Always include the full prefix when writing a phone number. Also, when writing a phone number in a document for external audiences, preface it with the area code, in parentheses. Example: (312) xxx-xxxx
residence hall: This is the term used at UIC, rather than dorm or dormitory.
Sparky D. Dragon: This is the official mascot of UIC athletics. In writing for external audiences, refer to the character by its full name or as Sparky, but specify that it is a mascot: Mascot Sparky D. Dragon will be on hand to welcome new students.
streets around UIC: Be mindful that roadways around UIC take a variety of suffixes: Roosevelt Road, Ashland Avenue, Halsted Street, Congress Parkway. If you do not know a street’s official suffix, check the U.S. Postal Services Web site; entering only the street name, with city and state, will deliver the appropriate suffix. Use of the abbreviations St., Ave. and Blvd. are acceptable in numbered addresses; all other suffixes should be spelled out in all uses.
UIC Flames: Capitalize in all references to the nickname for UIC athletic teams. Use with the university acronym on first reference. It can stand alone on subsequent references: The UIC Flames have won their first 11 games this season. Fans of the Flames are hoping to see their team go to the NCAA tournament.
UIC Student Center East: Formerly the Chicago Circle Center or CCC. Use of the former name should be discontinued.
UIC Student Center West: Formerly the Chicago Illini Union or CIU. Use of the former name should be discontinued.
University Library: This is the formal collective name for the UIC libraries
Web page: Use for a single page of a Web site.
Web site: Use for the collection of Web pages from a single web site.
University of Illinois: This is the name of Illinois’ largest public university, which comprises three main campuses at Chicago, Urbana-Champaign and Springfield. Find the university online at www.uillinois.edu. Use University of Illinois judiciously, as the general public typically interprets an unqualified mention to mean only the Urbana-Champaign campus. Do not refer to the Urbana Champaign campus simply as Illinois. On first reference, use the full name of the university rather than the acronym. On second reference, use Urbana, not UIUC.
University of Illinois Alumni Association: The membership organization for alumni of all three University of Illinois campuses. Find the association online at www.uiaa.org.
University of Illinois at Chicago: Not University of Illinois-Chicago. Use the full name rather than the acronym on first reference. Do not put UIC in parentheses after first mention of the full name. The acronym will be understood, and is acceptable to use, in subsequent references.
University of Illinois Board of Trustees: Capitalize all principal words. In subsequent references, use the board (lowercase).
University of Illinois Foundation: Spell out the full name on first reference. It is acceptable to use the foundation (lowercase) in subsequent references. Find the foundation online at www.uif.uillinois.edu. The corresponding department at UIC is the Office of Development.
University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago: Use the full name in first or formal references, always including at Chicago. Because the context will then be clear, subsequent references may be abbreviated as the medical center (lowercase), the hospital (lowercase) or UIC. Do not refer to it as UIC Hospital or by any acronym, such as UIMCC. Separating University of Illinois from at Chicago in the formal name applies only to the medical center and related clinics. All health sciences colleges remain the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Dentistry, etc. Bear in mind that teaching and research are activities of the colleges only, not the medical center.
Full UIC Identity Standards Document
Formatting Your Content
Headers
This image shows how the headings should be used in the context of a page on the site and an article asset. The same hierarchy should be used on all the site pages and with any WebGUI asset. This is important to ensure our site meets accessibility requirements: screen readers rely upon the correct nesting of the heading elements to convey the structure of a Web page to visually disabled users.
- font.tif: webgui header fonts
Please capitalize words in your headers according to standard title capitalization:
Phone Numbers
Format phone numbers as: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email Addresses
Use lower case letters (e.g. lib-cref@uic.edu).
Do not add "mailto:" links, as this practice increases spam to library email accounts.
Linking to PDF and Word document files
Always identify file type of a linked document: (.pdf), (.doc), (.xml) immediately after the link.
-- Main.val66 - 05 May 2010
