| Acronym Immersion 101: Again
January 14, 2003 By Bruce F. Molnia bmolnia@erols.com or bmolnia@usgs.gov Acronym - A word (as radar or snafu) formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term. - Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary In 1992, [The] Washington Report printed a list of acronyms that would allow readers to navigate their way through the alphabet soup of the earth sciences community and through publications originating from many diverse sources in Washington, D.C. This Washington Report (January 2003) presents more than 1,000 acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms (more than twice the size of the 1992 listing) pertaining to U.S. and international federal agencies, international and domestic earth science organizations and societies, organizations of the National Academy of Sciences and its international counterparts, selected Earth Observing System (EOS) instruments, and a smattering of other sources. Generally, acronyms for geographic locations and for corporate and university entities are not included. The list is far from inclusive. Clearly visible is my bias as a Quaternary and high-latitude investigator. International entries focus on International Council of Scientific Unions member councils and affiliates, the International Union of Geological Sciences, the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics societies, and the International Arctic Science Committee. |