Wiki me what?
Ahhh, the internet is a wonderful thing. As a relative newcomer to transcription (i.e. I learned my job on a computer instead of a Selectric and never had to pay my dues in triplicate with carbon paper and Liquid Paper), I can't imagine doing this job without the web. As a book lover, I know there's nothing like a hard copy to validate an obscure term, but have to admit it's been ages since I've cracked that tower of reference materials hovering over my workspace. Having honed my online research skills, it's infinitely faster to simply hop on Google and zip to one of the countless trusted reference sites I've bookmarked. Every time a dictator says, "Oops--go back to where I said this and change it to such and such," I thank my lucky stars it's only a minor annoyance and not a real work-stopping event. You just tack things in as needed and off you go.
The internet pretty much provides all you need in terms of terminology, you can find tons of sample reports, message boards to pick the brains of you peers for that occasional obscure instrument, and now, the web has finally caught up with an MT Style Guide. For those of us who believe our so-called professional organization has devolved past its usefulness, this seems to be the final thing to render it obsolete, once it bulks up a bit and gains recognition.
So what the heck is a wiki? If you're familiar with Wikipedia, you probably understand the basic concept. A wiki is simply an online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively, regardless of their browser or platform. You don't have to register to use the information, but you do to be a main contributor. Unlike Wikipedia, where just anyone can add information (or disinformation, as the case may be), this wiki is moderated in the sense that only approved users are able to add the main content and are generally very experienced MTs, MTSOs, and/or editors with that extra helping of anal retentiveness to make them perfect for the job. Any user can leave comments on a page, but the main content is entered by volunteer staff. If you're a veteran with a good working knowledge of style, you're free to volunteer for a section and leave your legacy.
It's been pretty much universally accepted that the official AAMT Book of Style is a counterintuitive mess, regardless of all the hype that comes with each new edition. I have to admit there are still few things I can look up in it easily. Nothing is where I expect it should be and it rarely goes into enough detail to answer my specific question. Theoretically, this should've been simplified for those buying the CD version, but noooo. . . the CD isn't searchable unless you knock yourself out making your own .pdf archive. To highlight the mismanagement of the official BOS, the third edition not only does not come with a CD, but they've failed to recognize the current state of technology and have no plans to offer it as an eBook, either. (We work digitally--how unreasonable is it to expect our references to be as accessible as everything else we do?) Not only that, but the new edition is rife with errors. Oops! Those were placeholders from the 2nd edition and they meant to go back and fix them. . . The capper is that having shipped the new book, they've immediately recalled them because there was some brouhaha about the cover and they have to have them redone. Hardly what I'd expect from anyone else who's declared themselves the ultimate professionals. (Yes, I'm still carrying a grudge over their Jan. 2006 edition of Plexus, which was devoted to the concept that AAMT members were professional and the bitter, unaffiliated miscreants loitering around MT message boards were so obviously not to be recognized as their peers. . .) To add insult to injury, we're talking about the "low, low price" of $70 for the privilege of owning this mess. Rather than actually improve the 2nd edition, they've simply repackaged it, leaving cynics like myself to assume it's more about stoking the cash cow than actually creating something worthwhile.
Of course, the official BOS is considered the default reference for many, if not most, employers. When a client's account specifications don't address something, this is what you use. Obviously, this online style guide needs to gain recognition before it can supplant the BOS. I'm doing my part to get the word out and I know there are countless grande dames of MT who are enthusiastically contributing. I know there are thousands of working MTs who have divorced themselves from AHDI and will probably be happy to embrace an open source style guide, as well.
As an entertaining sidebar to bolster my disdain for these people who seem to have no clue what they're talking about, I leave you with this: The AHDI I Love My Career contest. Heh. After promoting all the things that have rendered MT a piecemeal sweatshop, I guess they're a little confused about what "career" means. or maybe they're hoping if we'll all just put on our rose-colored glasses and say it enough times, we'll all believe it to be true. You almost have to admire them for their tenacity, no matter how silly reality makes them look.