Hi Charles, While I can't comment on the Chicago Manual of Style, I can certainly give you the titles of a few books I've found useful. And most of these style guides are a bit cheaper than the CMS... Writing in Plain English, by Robert D Eagleson http://www.seekbooks.com.au/featuredbook1.asp?StoreUrl=default_au&bookid=064 4068485&db=au Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications (free online download) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&familyid=b494 d46b-073f-46b0-b12f-39c8e870517a Style Manual: For Authors, Editors and Printers (6th Ed.) (Standard Govt. Style Guide) http://www.dymocks.com.au/ContentDynamic/Full_Details.asp?ISBN=0701636483 HCi Style Guide (useful tech writing style guide - free online download) http://www.documentation.com.au/hcisite2/products/HCi%20Style%20Guide.pdf The Professional Writing Guide: Writing Well and Knowing Why, Durham and Petelin http://www.bookworm.com.au/cgi-bin/bookmall/bookworm/returndetail.tam?cart=0 3H04whj.veh&lpg=%2Fbookworm%2Fresult%2Etam&lpt=1059979384&xax=248974&item%2E ctx=WL01960&query%2Ectx=Petelin%2C%20Roslyn%20%2F%20Durham%2C%20Marsha&searc htype%2Ectx=author&boolean%2Ectx=and And put these on your wish list... Managing your Documentation Projects, Joann T Hackos http://www.seekbooks.com.au/featuredbook1.asp?StoreUrl=default_au&bookid=047 1590991&db=au The Elements of Style, Strunk and White http://www.abbeys.com.au/items.asp?id=43813 The Copywriter's Handbook, Robert Bly (very useful if you venture into the Marketing dept.) http://www.seekbooks.com.au/featuredbook1.asp?StoreUrl=default_au&bookid=080 5011943&db=us Designing Web Usability, Jakob Nielsen (very useful if designing websites is part of your job) http://www.bookworm.com.au/cgi-bin/bookmall/bookworm/returndetail.tam?cart=0 3H04wcj.rch&lpg=%2Fbookworm%2Fresult%2Etam&lpt=1059979077&xax=355540&item%2E ctx=PH000358&query%2Ectx=Nielsen%2C%20Jakob&searchtype%2Ectx=author&boolean% 2Ectx=and To continue the bad rap for Dymocks... when comparing these books using www.getonce.com.au, Dymocks is by far the most expensive option! Cheers, Craig Craig Bligh Technical Writer, Product Development MXL Consolidated Pty Ltd Level 3, 62 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 Phone +61 2 8249 0000 Fax +61 2 8249 0099 Email craig.bligh@xxxxxxx www.mxl.com MXL: Wise Software Solutions for the Global Education Market -----Original Message----- From: Charles Cave [mailto:charles_cave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, 4 August 2003 4:17 PM To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [austechwriter] How useful is the Chicago Manual of Style for Australian conditions? Hello, I was wondering if you could comment on the usefulness of the Chicago Manual for Style for Australian conditions. I have done some tech writing for software companies in my role of Support Engineer, and looking to do further work as a technical writer. A related question would be "What books do you consider ESSENTIAL in the tech writer's personal library?". Thanks Charles ************************************************** To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field. To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. To search the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelist.org/archives/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ************************************************** ************************************************** To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field. To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. To search the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelist.org/archives/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **************************************************