Volume 18 Number 3 December 2011

Chair’s Chatter

IN THIS ISSUE

Dear PEGgers

Chair's Chatter

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This issue of PEGboard is a bit of a mixed bag, despite a recent decision to try for a slightly more defined focus for each of the three issues each year! A clearer emphasis will be visible in our first two issues for 2012, which will take a closer look (respectively) at what is currently happening in educational publishing in South Africa and at the editing of digital publications.

Update on the Derrick Hurlin Mentoring Award

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Book Reviews

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In this issue we have ended up with a somewhat unexpected focus on Australia, thanks to two excellent books written for editors in that country and to recent developments regarding two documents many of us are familiar with the content of – the Australian Standards for Editing Practice and the Guidelines on Editing Research Theses. In line with the content of recent issues, PEGboard’s emphasis remains on writing that makes you think; aspects of language; sound advice; excellent resources; and PEG activities past and future.

Introduction to Selections from Working Words 8 Current Revision of Australian Standards for Editing Practice

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Forthcoming Events to look forward to

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Potent Analyses of Plain Language

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The Future of Language: South African English in Zoo City

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Some Plain Language Resources

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Close to all our hearts is the desire to sustain and grow the skills and professionalism of all PEG members, and to this effect we are honoured to bring you extracts from Working Words by Elizabeth Manning Murphy, one of the Australian texts reviewed. This issue covers the first two of the six extracts we have received permission to reproduce, as they clearly belong together.

PEGboard’s emphasis remains on writing that makes you think; aspects of language; sound advice; excellent resources; and PEG activities past and future.

Speaking of people who are great mentors, I would like to draw your attention to the article on the Derrick Hurlin Mentoring Award. I would also like to pay special tribute to all our mentors and to say a special thank you to Irene Stotko, who continues to run this aspect of PEG efficiently and unobtrusively (now aided in the Western Cape by Derrick Morton-Achmad).

references on the subject, as I would like to put together a truly comprehensive list for inclusion in the Resources section of our new website.

Also close to many of us is the issue of Plain Language. The workshop we held on the topic in Pretoria in June has been more than ably reported on by John Linnegar, in the article ‘Potent Analyses at Plain Language Workshop’. Since the workshop I have done a fair amount of research on suitable resources on the topic of Plain language and share some of them with you in this issue. Please contact me if you are able to provide other

Recently, some of the participants on our Chat Group have been sharing useful addresses on general and more specific on-line resources with other group members. I hope that this trend continues. I would also like someone to keep track of such information, and am asking for a volunteer for this task to step forward. PEGboard would also welcome more contributions in languages other than English in the new year. On behalf of Exco, I wish you all good health and (at least some) wealth in 2012. Isabelle

Newsletter of the Professional Editors’ Group • December 2011

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Update on the Derrick Hurlin Mentoring Award Isabelle Delvare As announced at this year’s AGM, PEG has launched an award to recognise excellence in mentoring. This is in line with our drive to boost our organisation’s professional standing. The award is dedicated to the memory of Derrick Hurlin, whose family has kindly paid for a floating trophy to be used for this purpose. Derrick was always ready to provide generous assistance to both fledgling and more experienced editors, and he is remembered with enormous respect and fondness by many PEG members. Besides the name of the award, the trophy will bear the words ‘You have outdone yourself’, a vote of confidence often heard on Derrick’s lips! The Exco has since decided that the awarding of the trophy each year should be accompanied by the presentation of a book voucher. The value of this prize will depend on how much money we are able to raise from PEG members/other interested persons, but we are hoping to receive sufficient funds to afford a yearly amount that is more than nominal. Thus far we have raised R2 400 from among PEG portfolio holders (made up of one donation of R2 000 and two donations of R200 each). We are now encouraging other PEG members to make donations (of any size) in order to take this amount to R5 000. The award will be made largely based on feedback received from mentees for mentorship undertaken in the course of the previous year. A request for feedback will be sent out to mentees in April of every year and the awardee announced at the AGM in June. The first award will take place at the 2012 AGM, assuming we receive nominees for it. While the award will be aimed mostly at mentors who undertake formal mentoring (eg through formal mentoring sessions and feedback on work done), individuals who play an exceptional role by providing regular useful feedback on the PEG Chat Group will also be eligible.

Besides the name of the award, the trophy will bear the words ‘You have outdone yourself’, a vote of confidence often heard on Derrick’s lips!

Newsletter of the Professional Editors’ Group ISSN 1815-3607 PO Box 1847, North Riding 2162 Email: [email protected] Views expressed are not necessarily shared by the editor or the publishers. Guest editors: Isabelle Delvare and John Linnegar

Subeditors and proofreaders: Norman Blight, Hester van der Walt, Ken McGillivray Layout: Lesley Price

PEG Administration

Administrator: Ellyn Barry ([email protected])

PEG National Executive

Chair: Isabelle Delvare ([email protected])

Vice-Chair: Carin Thirion ([email protected]) National Secretary: Kathy Gibbs ([email protected]) Treasurer: Linda Pretorius ([email protected]) Marketing Coordinator: John Linnegar ([email protected]) Publications Coordinator: Jenny de Wet ([email protected]) CPD Coordinator: John Linnegar ([email protected]) National Events Coordinator: Isabelle Delvare ([email protected]) E-groups Coordinator: Kathy Gibbs ([email protected])

Gauteng Chapter Committee

Chair/Events Coordinator: Lia Marus ([email protected]) Vice-Chair: Norman Blight ([email protected]) Secretary/Treasurer: Linda Pretorius ([email protected])

Donations should be made into the PEG national account: Account name: Professional Editors’ Group Bank: Absa, Hyde Park Branch no.: 632005 Account no.: 9045286642 Please provide your initials and surname plus ‘DH Award’ as reference, and email proof of your payment to Ellyn Barry at [email protected].

Cape Town Chapter Committee

Chair: John Linnegar ([email protected])

Vice-chair, Secretary and Member Liaison: Marlene Rose ([email protected]) Treasurer: Graham Townshend ([email protected]) Events Coordinator: Ken McGillivray ([email protected]) Mentorship Coordinator/New Members: Derrick Morton-Achmad ([email protected])

Newsletter of the Professional Editors’ Group • December 2011

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Book Reviews This issue of PEGboard reviews two Australian books, The Editor’s Companion (second, revised edition) by Janet Mackenzie and Working Words by Elizabeth Manning Murphy and, both published in the second half of 2011; and Teksredaksie, written by WAM Carstens and Kris van de Poel, which was published in South Africa late in 2010 and which a number of our members already own and use.

Review 1:

Isabelle Delvare

A book still worthy of its name – The Editor’s Companion (2nd edition) Editors have been compared to midwives, surgeons and even chameleons, but the most apt simile is inorganic: ‘Good editors may be likened to those crystal-clear prisms which form a vital part of a pair of binoculars. They are not there to alter the view or change the scene, but to make it clearer and closer.’ (The Editor’s Companion, 2nd ed, p 1)

Background In 2005, when Marion Boers reviewed the first edition of Janet Mackenzie’s The Editor’s Companion, she correctly praised it for its comprehensive coverage of the craft of editing. Over the years I have frequently prescribed this thorough and often entertaining work for my students in the Proofreading and Editing Module of the Wits Honours Course in Publishing Studies. Recently, however, I was unable to do so because it had become outdated despite having been published only in 2004 – a sign of how quickly the editor’s role is changing within the changing context of the publishing world (more of that later). I was thus greatly pleased to find out about the new edition and quickly ascertained that Cambridge University Press in Cape Town had copies in stock. The overall structure of The Editor’s Companion has remained the same, because the book is governed by a clear and sound logic. Firstly, it seeks to translate the Australian Government’s Style Manual, a large and revered tome now in its sixth edition, into practical editing tasks and to offer advice on both systematic methods of working and ‘on the puzzles that arise in daily work’. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly

Newsletter of the Professional Editors’ Group • December 2011

for PEG members, it attempts to answer editors’ questions on applying the Australian Standards for Editing Practice to their work (see the update on that document on page 15). The author, who has more than 40 years’ experience in the profession and has taught editing at every level, has this to say about one of her aims in writing the book, and her words are a faithful description of what is on offer: As in-house training declines and more editors freelance, editing can be a lonely business. The Companion replaces, to some extent, the friendly guidance and reassurance that were once provided by mentors and colleagues. The book’s first chapter describes the profession of editing. Chapters 2 to 8 track the divisions of the Standards, as follows: (A) The publishing process: conventions and industry practice; (B) Management and liaison; (C) Substance and structure; (D) Language and illustrations; and (E) Completeness and consistency. In these seven chapters, the Standards are fleshed …/4 >

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out and their application is made tangible. Chapters 9 and 10 discuss traditional and modern editing methods and techniques, while Chapter 11 provides outstanding advice on the freelance life – the type of advice you ignore at your peril if you want to remain solvent and sane when you make your living entirely (or even partly) from freelance work.

What about the title is new or improved? The author is keenly aware that ‘the publishing world is in a state of commercial and technical upheaval that bewilders those who try to earn their living in it’. A comparison of the first and second editions shows the following new content: • a very good, up-to-date diagram of the roles in a typical publishing house; • an excellent and extensive list of what to check for during the proofreading process; • a section on digital rights; • a very comprehensive discussion of text structuring on screen and also in single-source publishing; • information on dealing with illustrations on screen; • sections on what to check when (1) proofreading on screen (digital) and (2) proofreading screen publications; • a fuller guide to proof correction and text mark-up symbols; and • a major section, under editing methods, on creating a screen publication. The material on resources for on-screen editing contains revised content on Microsoft Word and an added section, ‘Beyond MS Word’. The book also features a very useful glossary that not only defines many traditional publishing terms but also features more ‘outlandish’ (to some) vocabulary such as ASCII, Cascading Style Sheets, FAQs, HTML, PURL and XML.

Cambridge University Press (Australia) has created a companion website developed especially for bona fide students who have purchased the book. This offers editing exercises, expert tips and essential web links.

In conclusion This is a great book for editors who find themselves with one foot in the past and the other in the future (i.e. most of us). It helps practitioners to perfect the traditional skills of editing, but also gives them pointers on the road of the future (and strongly suggests that we take a good, brave look in that direction). Does the fact that this is an Australian book detract from its usefulness for South African editors? As with the first edition, Mackenzie’s intended editor–reader is clearly Australian. My personal view is that this is not necessarily a big drawback: it is interesting to read about the Australian publishing scene and to note some of the overlaps in the development of the publishing industry in both that country and South Africa; and some of the examples used by the author are all the more interesting for being exotic. There are sections, however, where one longs for South African content and context, with several of the sections in the chapter on language being a case in point. Nevertheless, the overall principles remain applicable to all editors working in English and I have placed The Editor’s Companion as a welcome addition to the teaching and editing reference works on my shelf. Book details Title: The Editor’s Companion (Second edition) Author: Janet Mackenzie ISBN: 9781107402188 Pages: 255 Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Melbourne Publication date: 2011 Format: Paperback

Special offer! CUP Cape Town have kindly offered PEG members a reduction of 20% off the price of Janet Mackenzie’s The Editor’s Companion, second edition. This translates into the special price of R320. This offer is valid until 29 February 2012. Please contact Marché Cowling, Academic Marketing Coordinator, in the New Year to order your copy. Her details are [email protected] and 021 412 7815. Our administrator, Ellyn Barry, will liaise with OUP and confirm your status as a PEG member.

Newsletter of the Professional Editors’ Group • December 2011

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Wilna Liebenberg Geakkrediteerde vertaler en redigeerder (SAVI)

Review 2:

Resensie van Teksredaksie – WAM Carstens en Kris van de Poel As vryskutvertaler en -redigeerder (ekskuus: -teksredakteur!) wat in die praktyk moes leer om te vertaal en redigeer, het ek baie uitgesien na hierdie boek, want daar bestaan ’n geweldige leemte aan so ’n bron. Aan die skrywers en hulle medewerkers dus baie dankie vir al julle harde werk. Glo my, dit was nie tevergeefs nie! Wat my betref, is hierdie boek ’n noodsaaklike aanvulling vir enige taalwerker se boekery, enersyds ter bevestiging van wat jy weet as jy reeds ’n paar jaar in die beroep is, en andersyds as ’n goeie leerskool van wat jy NIE weet nie – weer eens as jy reeds ’n paar jaar in die beroep is! En as jy die beroep eers onlangs betree het, kan jy die boek gebruik om jou te help om die toekoms makliker te maak. Dit is wel hoofsaaklik as opleidingshulpmiddel saamgestel, maar is op die praktyk gerig en dus uiters waardevol. Skema 14: Grade van teksredaksie LIGTE REDIGERING

MEDIUM REDIGERING

SWAAR REDIGERING

Na my mening moet enigiemand wat hom- of haarself as teksredakteur beskou, Teksredaksie ten minste een keer deeglik deurwerk. Baie vrae word beantwoord, en baie “gewoontetjies” waarvan die oorsprong al vergete is, word skielik weer bevestig. Die modelle wat bespreek word, is uiters nuttig. Die lyste en skemas, byvoorbeeld die skema met grade van teksredaksie (Skema 14, p. 172 – sien hieronder), kan baie sielewroeging vir die praktisyn uitskakel en geld vir enige teksredakteur, ongeag die taal waarin daar gewerk word. Dit verskaf ’n vertrekpunt waarop die teksredakteur wat reeds in die praktyk staan, heelwat “intuïtiewe” oordele kan grond, en almal wat wel in die praktyk staan, weet dat daardie ekstra sintuig wat die teksredakteur moet inspan, êrens op feite gegrond is, al is dit so ver terug in die verlede dat dit al deel van die wese geword het! …/6 >

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Kontroleer spelling in die algemeen Kontroleer interpunksie Kontroleer opvallende grammatika (sintaksis, morfologie) Kontroleer verwysings Kontroleer algemene styl (voorkom byvoorbeeld seksismes, kru taal waar ter sprake) Kontroleer basiese tipografie en uitleg (opskrifte en subopskrifte, nommering van tabelle, diagramme, illustrasies, spasiëring)

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Kontroleer spelling in die besonder Kontroleer afkortings Kontroleer woordafbreking Kontroleer interpunksie Kontroleer grammatika (sintaksis, morfologie) Kontroleer betekenisgebruik van woorde en uitdrukkings Kontroleer verwysings Kontroleer styl Kontroleer voorkoms van seksismes, kru taal, korrekte register Kontroleer tipografie in meer detail (bladspieël) Kontroleer opskrifte en subopskrifte Kontroleer nommering van tabelle, diagramme, illustrasies Kontroleer inhoudsopgawe Kontroleer bibliografie, bibliografiese verwyse in teks Kontroleer voet- en/of eindnote Kontroleer vir inkonsekwenthede rakende spelling, interpunksie, grammatika, styl, woordegebruik, tipografie

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Ligte redigering Medium redigering Kontroleer grammatika in detail Kontroleer lompheid, oortolligheid, foutiewe metafore Verseker koherensie en logiese vloei van teks Verseker korrektheid van totale tipografie in teks Kontroleer argumentstrukture Kontroleer konsekwentheid in totale manuskrip Kontroleer fokus van teks

Newsletter of the Professional Editors’ Group • December 2011

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legally binding documents with which the

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