One glossary term, multiple definitions

[navoff]

One of the unfortunate things I have to deal with in the industry where I work is using the same three letter acronym to mean several different things. Within the same document I need to have separate definitions for an acronym depending on where and how it's being used. I had initially tried using the automated feature to convert the first occurrence of a term but found, too often that the acronym was linking to a definition that was not correct in that context. If I create multiple entries for a glossary term in the glossary file, I get a warning message of duplicate entries. I'm also concerned that Flare won't know which version of the glossary term matches to the one in my topic.

Anyone have a suggestion on how to work around this "feature" of Flare?

[carolynmwallace]

You definitely don't want to create duplicate entries because it would indeed confuse Flare.

Would it be possible to combine your definitions under one glossary term, with the most commonly used definition first? For example, if I created the glossary term "ERA," my definition might read "Earned Run Average (baseball). Also stands for "Equal Rights Amendment," "Electronic Research Administration," and "Ecological Risk Assessment."

[navoff]

You definitely don't want to create duplicate entries because it would indeed confuse Flare.

Would it be possible to combine your definitions under one glossary term, with the most commonly used definition first? For example, if I created the glossary term "ERA," my definition might read "Earned Run Average (baseball). Also stands for "Equal Rights Amendment," "Electronic Research Administration," and "Ecological Risk Assessment."

That's something I've considered but then how does the user know which one applies in that context? I've often had to go ask engineers which acronym applies in which context because their meanings are such that it's not evident from the context in which it appears.

[carolynmwallace]

Urgh...that's definitely a problem.

I'm hoping better minds than mine will see this thread and post, because the only other thing I can think of is never using the acronym alone and spelling out the terms each time--as in "ERA (Earned Run Average)."

[navoff]

For now, at least, I guess the only "solution" is to include the term that's used most in the glossary and spelling out the others every time they're used. I've submitted an enhancement request to Madcap to allow for multiple term entries that can be selected from when applying the Glossary Term Link in a topic.

[Andrew Heard]

When citing references where there are multiple entries for a given year, you suffix (a), (b), etc.

That sort of thing would work, surely?

I'd also be interested to find out if there is a convention for such duplicates.

Andrew

[navoff]

When citing references where there are multiple entries for a given year, you suffix (a), (b), etc.

That sort of thing would work, surely?

I'd also be interested to find out if there is a convention for such duplicates.

Andrew

The problem is that the term has to be exactly the same as the glossary entry. We don't have anything that would distinguish one version of a term from another. There is no "year" and no suffix. The term is the same. The only difference is the definition.

[NorthEast]

That's something I've considered but then how does the user know which one applies in that context? I've often had to go ask engineers which acronym applies in which context because their meanings are such that it's not evident from the context in which it appears.

If it's confusing for you then it'll be worse for your readers.

If the context doesn't give a clue, then perhaps there's more reason to spell it out; e.g. say 'Three Letter Acronym (TLA)' the first time it's used in the topic, then just use 'TLA' afterwards inside that topic. You could have a glossary link for 'Three Letter Acronym (TLA)' if it needed a definition.
If you use two identical terms in the same topic, then obviously avoid acronyms in that topic altogether.

Also, could having multiple glossary definitions make it harder for the reader? Say I read the definition for 'TLA' in one topic, would I not then assume that all other references to 'TLA' in other topics would be for the same thing, and not realise there were multiple definitions? I would have to click on each term to discover which particular version of 'TLA' was being used in each context. In that scenario, spelling it out would avoid that confusion.

[KevinDAmery]

For now, at least, I guess the only "solution" is to include the term that's used most in the glossary and spelling out the others every time they're used. I've submitted an enhancement request to Madcap to allow for multiple term entries that can be selected from when applying the Glossary Term Link in a topic.

I think I would do a variation on this. Generally, it isn't helpful to include the glossary link more than once in a topic -- after the first time, the reader gets it, and from then on the link formatting just makes the topic look like a ransom note. So what I would do is attach the glossary entry to text that includes both the full name and the acronym as you suggest, but only use that form the first time the acronym is used in the topic. All subsequent times in the topic that it occurs, just use the acronym. This way they automatic glossary linking will only pick up that first usage.

[navoff]

For now, at least, I guess the only "solution" is to include the term that's used most in the glossary and spelling out the others every time they're used. I've submitted an enhancement request to Madcap to allow for multiple term entries that can be selected from when applying the Glossary Term Link in a topic.

I think I would do a variation on this. Generally, it isn't helpful to include the glossary link more than once in a topic -- after the first time, the reader gets it, and from then on the link formatting just makes the topic look like a ransom note. So what I would do is attach the glossary entry to text that includes both the full name and the acronym as you suggest, but only use that form the first time the acronym is used in the topic. All subsequent times in the topic that it occurs, just use the acronym. This way they automatic glossary linking will only pick up that first usage.

And that's what I do. The problem is that in another topic, the same term can have a different definition. I've never had an instance where a term is used in the same topic with different meanings, just within the same project.

[KevinDAmery]

For now, at least, I guess the only "solution" is to include the term that's used most in the glossary and spelling out the others every time they're used. I've submitted an enhancement request to Madcap to allow for multiple term entries that can be selected from when applying the Glossary Term Link in a topic.

I think I would do a variation on this. Generally, it isn't helpful to include the glossary link more than once in a topic -- after the first time, the reader gets it, and from then on the link formatting just makes the topic look like a ransom note. So what I would do is attach the glossary entry to text that includes both the full name and the acronym as you suggest, but only use that form the first time the acronym is used in the topic. All subsequent times in the topic that it occurs, just use the acronym. This way they automatic glossary linking will only pick up that first usage.

And that's what I do. The problem is that in another topic, the same term can have a different definition. I've never had an instance where a term is used in the same topic with different meanings, just within the same project.

But it wouldn't have the same full name, would it? i.e. only the acronym is common across different meanings, right? So, if you set the definition to attach to "Earned Run Average (ERA)" and use that the first time it shows up, then it will not get mixed up with "Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)". Then for the remainder of the topic you just use "ERA" and you should be good.

[navoff]

For now, at least, I guess the only "solution" is to include the term that's used most in the glossary and spelling out the others every time they're used. I've submitted an enhancement request to Madcap to allow for multiple term entries that can be selected from when applying the Glossary Term Link in a topic.

I think I would do a variation on this. Generally, it isn't helpful to include the glossary link more than once in a topic -- after the first time, the reader gets it, and from then on the link formatting just makes the topic look like a ransom note. So what I would do is attach the glossary entry to text that includes both the full name and the acronym as you suggest, but only use that form the first time the acronym is used in the topic. All subsequent times in the topic that it occurs, just use the acronym. This way they automatic glossary linking will only pick up that first usage.

And that's what I do. The problem is that in another topic, the same term can have a different definition. I've never had an instance where a term is used in the same topic with different meanings, just within the same project.

But it wouldn't have the same full name, would it? i.e. only the acronym is common across different meanings, right? So, if you set the definition to attach to "Earned Run Average (ERA)" and use that the first time it shows up, then it will not get mixed up with "Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)". Then for the remainder of the topic you just use "ERA" and you should be good.

The point being that the glossary can only support one of the definitions. If I'm going to bother spelling out the term for the first occurrence in the topic then linking it to the glossary is superfluous. I might as well just spell out the first occurrence of every term and not bother with any linking what so ever so I never have to deal with the issue. Or, Madcap can add a feature that allows users to have multiple versions of the same glossary term with different definitions and you choose which one to link to, kind of like the way cross references work.

[KevinDAmery]

Ahh, I see - so your definitions consist solely of the long name? I was assuming you were providing more detail than that. (For example, "Earned Run Average (ERA) - the average number of runs a pitcher gives up in 9 innings.")