LOGO
GUIDE TO
WRITTEN STYLE
First issued 1990
Revised 1996
Version 3 – 2003
Prepared by Publications Manager
Revised 2020
Darling Harbour
CONTENTS
1 Introduction p 3
Hyphens and en dashes
2 References p 3 3 The ANMM name & logo p 4
Brackets
Full title
13 Capitals p 16
Shortened title
In correspondence
Institutions
For short
Capital letters
Titles
Where?
4 Type style and layout p 5
Don’t overdo it ...
Standard type face
National Maritime Collection, Foundation
Text layout
etc
Space between sentences
Galleries
Numbering
Titles of works
Tables and tabs
Trade names
5 Plain English p 6
Aborigines/Aboriginal/Indigenous
Be concise
14 Italics p 18
Be active
Vessel names
Be direct
Titles
Be positive
Can’t print italics
6 Letters p 8
Non-English words
7 Addresses p 8
15 Spelling p 19
8 Council Papers p 9
References
9 Numerals p 11
Multiple spellings
Digits or spelled out?
Migrants
Decimals
One word or two?
Thousands
Historic or Historical?
Roman numerals
16 Companies, crews p 20
10 Times and dates p 12
17 Forms of address, titles p 20
Time
Where placed
Dates
Sir, Dame, Lady
Circa (c)
Order of decorations
Keep on one line
Honourables
11 Abbreviations p 13
Addressing women
Names, titles, awards
Addressing the Chair
The USA Gallery
18 References and bibliographies p 22
12 Punctuation p 14
Books
No full stop or comma
Journals
Apostrophes
Textual references
Inverted commas
19 Collection items, works of art p 23
Long quotations
20 Acknowledgments p 24
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
2
Origin
25 Metric style p 30
Authorship
26 Metric conversion p 31
Ownership COPYRIGHT VS
27 Nauticalia p 32
OWNERSHIP
Vessel names
21 Proofreading and corrections p 25
Navy
22 Text about Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people and culture
Nautical miles and knots
23 Non-discriminatory language p 26
Details of vessels
General requirements
Weight or capacity
Gender neutral terms
Auxiliaries
Gender of vessels
In or on ships?
Related cases
Not many ropes
24 Maritime metrics p 28
Not much wood
Metrics are a must!
28 Index p 36
Exceptions
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
3
1 INTRODUCTION
This manual was produced to help staff of the Australian National Maritime Museum create written work that is
consistent and up to date in style and usage. Doing this will enhance the professionalism and credibility of the
museum and its staff.
Staff are asked to adhere to the standards set out here.
The manual deals with
•
everyday style and conventions for correspondence, reports, working papers, submissions, publications
etc
•
special cases of language, spelling and technicalities (including metric notation) that relate to maritime
subjects.
In general, simplified styles of typing, punctuation and format have been adopted. Some areas of writing within
the museum have special requirements, such as exhibition texts, or use specialist language, such as
conservation. Some of these are outside the scope of this manual. Nonetheless, all museum writing should follow
the conventions outlined here.
Detailed
Contents (above) and
Index (page 36) are provided to help use this guide.
Language evolves. Often there is no one correct form of language, although many people will tell you that there
is. All staff are invited to help determine the best styles for this museum. This manual will be corrected, updated
and added to with your assistance.
2 REFERENCES
Style manual For authors, editors and printers 2002, sixth edition, John Wiley & Sons, Australia.
Generally known as the Commonwealth (or AGPS) Style Manual, this is the standard reference. Most points of
style mentioned in this museum’s Guide to Written Style are amplified in the Commonwealth Style Manual, which
also covers finer point of style not mentioned here.
Fowler’s Modern English Usage 1965, second edition, Oxford University Press
Also useful for understanding the trickier points of the English language, grammar and meaning.
It can be difficult to use if you’re not familiar with it.
Writing in Plain English Robert Eagleson 1991, AGPS Press, Canberra
One of this author’s many guides to plain, clear, direct, simple, obfuscation-free writing, which should be our aim
at all times.
The Macquarie Dictionary and
The Oxford English Dictionary
These are the standard references for spelling. Favour
Macquarie for most purposes, including Australian
spellings and idiom.
Macquarie is the standard for label writing.
The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea 1988, Oxford University Press
An invaluable quick desktop reference to nautical terms and seamanship, vessel types, brief maritime history:
what’s a futtock, a cut splice or a hermaphrodite brig? What ships sailed on Cook’s second circumnavigation?
When did Dampier visit our shores?
The Ocean Almanac Robert Hendrickson 1984, Doubleday New York
Covering much more than ships and seafaring, it embraces sea creatures, monsters, superstitions and strange
customs, and all kinds of trivia and statistics. Can be opened at any page and read for fun.
3 THE MUSEUM NAME AND LOGO
3.1 FULL TITLE
The
Australian National Maritime Museum Act 1990 defines this cultural institution as the Australian National
Maritime Museum. This full title and logo are used on formal office letterhead and documents such as annual
reports and strategic plans, and in official publications such as the museum’s quarterly journal
Signals.
3.2 SHORTENED TITLE
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
4
In day-to-day use the ful title is unwieldy and it’s difficult to get people who aren’t used to it to remember and
reproduce it correctly in full. The shortened form National Maritime Museum or Maritime Museum can be used for
convenience. This is the form you will see used in most advertisements and promotions, media releases and
some signage. It can be used for answering the phone or when being interviewed or speaking about the
museum.
Until late 2019 ‘ANMM’ was used as an abbreviated form, but in the 2019 rebrand, this usage was dropped. The
only exception is in image credits in
Signals and other publications such as the Annual Report, where the longer
form is unwieldy.
The distinction of being a national museum, funded by the national government and representing the history and
heritage of the nation as a whole, should be promoted at all opportunities. Including the word ‘national’ in the title
helps us achieve this aim.
Confusion still exists between ANMM and Sydney Heritage Fleet, still remembered by many people as the
Sydney Maritime Museum. Be aware of this possible ambiguity and choose wording that avoids it.
3.3 CORRESPONDENCE
It’s acceptable to use the shortened form of the museum title in correspondence text, as the full title appears in
the letterhead logo. But use the full title wherever there may be confusion with other national maritime museums
(such as the one in Greenwich, England).
3.4 CAPITAL M FOR MUSEUM?
When referring to our organisation by the single word, ‘museum’, we no longer use the capital M (although we did
for many years).
Similarly, we no longer use a capital G for ‘government’ when it’s short for the full titles Australian Government or
NSW State Government. This has also been extended to many job titles which formerly took initial capitals, such
as an organisation’s president, chairman and director. This is one example of the rationalising, simplifying and
democratising trend of English language style and usage today. See page 16 for more on capital letters.
3.5 WHERE?
If your audience may not be familiar with the museum, include its whereabouts in your first reference to it:
The Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney, is ...
The National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney, is ...
4 TYPE STYLE AND LAYOUT
These styles should be applied to correspondence, reports and other work documents you prepare, including
work to be typeset and laid out by a graphic designer in a quite different format. By presenting your copy in a
consistent format you will make the designer or desktop publisher’s job easier.
4.1 STANDARD TYPE FACE
Using a consistent type face for correspondence and work documents supports our professional corporate
image. The standard is now xxxxxxxxxxxxx (the type face used for this document). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is often
chosen for the museum’s published material as wel . Although a fascinating variety of type faces, sizes and styles
exist on your computer, their successful use requires some typesetting and design skills. Misused, they look
amateur and can distract the reader from the information contained in a document. Except for special cases (eg
page 9) please stick to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!
The type size can be varied to suit the job. Ten- or 12- point type is a good all-round choice. Custom sizes can be
specified in the tool bar or Format Font menu.
4.2 TEXT LAYOUT
Headings and text are blocked (justified) to the left margin, unjustified or ragged on the right margin. Use single
line spacing for most purposes. Double line spacing is essential for documents that must be extensively edited
and marked up.
Paragraphs are indicated by space above and below, not by indenting the first word. Set the space between
paragraphs to appear automatically on keying ENTER, rather than using two ENTER keystrokes. Automatic
paragraph spacing is controlled in the Format Paragraph menu by entering the desired value for Spacing-After
(set to 7 point on this page).
4.3 SPACE BETWEEN SENTENCES
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
5
A single letter space (one press of the space bar) separates the full stop and the beginning of the next sentence.
Many people with stenographic training learned to put in two spaces between sentences. This was OK on
typewriters but creates unsightly gaps and ‘rivers’ in a block of computer-set or typeset text.
4.4 NUMBERING
Do not number page 1 of letters or other documents on museum letterhead. Museum letterhead is used for the
first page of letters, subsequent pages plain.
4.4.2 Paragraphs can be numbered for ease of reference in submissions, attachments and reports. Use Arabic
numerals and full stops like the example given at the beginning of this paragraph. Do not mix letters and Roman
numerals in the numbering system eg 3(i)b.
• Dot or dash points should be indented like this, along with the text that accompanies them. You can set up a
‘hanging indent’ on the ruler at the head of your word processing document so that each subsequent line
indents automatically, like this paragraph.
4.5 TABLES AND TABS
Use MS Word’s Table menu to create tables, or set up customised tabs using the ruler at the head of the page to
line up columns of text or figures. DO NOT use repeated tab and space bar strokes to line up text or figures. If
you have to pass on your document to a graphic designer or typesetter, or if it needs to be incorporated in a web
page, such ad-hoc ‘tables’ wil collapse and need laborious reformatting.
5 PLAIN ENGLISH
Do you want your audience to read the document you have put so much work into? Then keep it short and keep
it simple!
We all suffer from information overload. Which are you more likely to read to the end − page after page of long-
winded sentences full of long words, that take forever to get to the point? Or a few clear, direct paragraphs?
It seems obvious ... and yet it’s so easy to lapse into language that’s wordy, ponderous and obscure. We want to
be authoritative, professional, knowledgeable ... and yet so often we end up being just plain dull!
It’s hard to go wrong if your writing is concise, active, direct and positive.
5.1 BE CONCISE (it saves time, paper and toner)
Why use five words when you can use one? Part of the answer lies in the way we write. We unconsciously add
superfluous words that just seem to go with an idea, or that have crept into our work language and pop up
automatical y. And we instinctively believe that using the longer, ‘harder’ version of a word will make us seem
more knowledgeable or credible:
At this point in time it is museum policy, in respect of any acquisition of objects, for an authorised officer
of the museum to make an assessment of the condition of the object in question and its component
parts, with a view to issuing the appropriate recommendation about its acquisition.
Instead, why not write:
It is museum policy for a curator to assess any object’s condition before recommending its acquisition.
Look at the alternatives:
at this point in time − Why not use ‘now’? Or just the present tense ‘is’?
in respect of − Usually just means ‘about’ or ‘on’ (if it means anything). Should almost never be used!
acquisition of objects − ‘In respect of any acquisition of objects’ is redundant because ‘objects’ and
‘acquisition’ appear elsewhere in the sentence.
authorised officer − Would an unauthorised officer be allowed to do it? Leave out ‘authorised’!
officer of the museum − Say exactly who will be responsible: the curator.
to make an assessment – to assess
the condition of that object − Try an apostrophe: ‘the object’s condition’.
in question − Usually adds nothing to the meaning. Leave it out!
component parts – components or parts would do (or leave it out; the object clearly includes its parts).
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
6
with a view to − This merely says you’re going to do the thing you’re meant to be doing. Leave it out!
issuing a recommendation − recommend
appropriate − Would a museum professional make anything but an appropriate recommendation? Leave
it out!
5.2 BE ACTIVE (most of the time)
Favour the active voice rather than the passive voice.
Passive: Your sponsorship proposal was discussed but a decision has been deferred.
Active: We discussed your sponsorship proposal but deferred a decision.
The active version is more direct and easier to follow. In the passive version the reader can’t be sure who
discussed the proposal, or even if it was the same person(s) who deferred a decision about it. Readers like to
know who they’re dealing with. To create an active sentence, put the ‘doer’ or agent first, then the verb, then the
thing acted upon:
Muriel Binney
painted this mural
agent
verb
thing acted upon
It’s not always best to use the active voice. Sometimes the agent is unknown or irrelevant, or you want to
highlight the thing acted upon, and then it’s simpler to use the passive:
Couta boats were built only in Victoria (It would sound odd to say ‘Only Victorians built couta boats’.)
5.3 BE DIRECT (but friendly)
Compare the following two sentences:
This form must be completed by the researcher. When the request has been assessed by the relevant
member of staff, the researcher will receive notification ...
Please complete the form. A librarian will assess your request and notify you...
The direct, personal version (addressing ‘you’ instead of ‘the researcher’) is easier to fol ow. The reader doesn’t
have to work out who ‘the researcher’ is. Note how active voice and direct language shortens the sentence.
Another way to make your writing more direct is to use simple verbs instead of turning them into nouns. ‘Notify’ is
preferable to ‘receive notification’ in the examples above. Turning verbs to nouns does not make your writing
more authoritative, it just makes it harder to read. Watch out for nouns ending in ...tion, ...ation, ...ment, ...ance,
and go for the verb instead:
provide assistance= assist
make acquisition of = acquire
give consideration to = consider
undertake an assessment of = assess
5.4 BE POSITIVE
It is easier to understand positive language than negative language or multiple negatives. Which of the following
is harder to understand, less effective, less motivating and much longer?
Applicants will not be considered if they do not provide full documentation of their project proposals.
Project proposals must be fully documented.
But note that sometimes negative is more effective:
Don’t stand on the hatches
is more specific and effective than
Walk only on the deck planking
6 LETTER STYLE
8 May 2003 File No. P03/0423
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
7
Mr John Futtock
17 Wharf Road
PORT ENNUI NT 5780
Dear Mr Futtock
HEADING HERE (IF REQUIRED) IN BOLD CAPITALS, NO UNDERLINE
Thank you for submitting your manuscript, A Brief History of the Chinese Discovery of Australia by the Three-
Jewelled Eunuch, 1421.
While your thesis is both lively and original, a work of 150,000 words is beyond the scope of our modest
publishing program. I have enclosed a copy of our Guidelines for Contributors, which may help you if you submit
your work to another publisher. Please note that it is essential to cite your sources, and that manuscripts mustbe
typed and double-spaced.
Once again thank you for your interest and best wishes for your work.
Yours sincerely,
J Person
Publications Manager
NOTE: ‘Yours faithfully’ is only used where the salutation is impersonal (Dear Sir, Dear Madam)
7 ADDRESSES
Blocked left with no punctuation. Note capitals and additional letter spaces between town, state and
postcode. ‘Road’, ‘Circuit’, ‘Parade’, ‘Avenue’ etc are spel ed out in ful .
9 NUMERALS
9.1 DIGITS OR SPELLED OUT?
Numerals and ordinals are spelled out from one to nine. Use digits from 10 and up:
The first and second powerboats were separated by less than five metres at first, but by the 12th lap this
had stretched to 100 metres.
Very large numbers can be excepted from this rule, where the rows of zeros would become too cumbersome:
a gift of US$5 million.
Unspecified hundreds, thousands and millions are spelled out:
The collection quickly grew from hundreds to thousands of objects, of which over 2,000 were on
display.
Note that the usage ‘1,000s’, used to mean ‘thousands’, is common but always wrong.
Numerals and ordinals are spelled out when they begin a sentence:
Three hundred yachts started in the 50th Sydney-Hobart yacht race.
Twentieth-century ships grew rapidly in displacement and power.
Time, dates, temperatures and percentages should always be in figures, however, even if they are smaller than
10:
9.00 am
2 May
5° 8%
In references, notes and lists, where space and layout are a consideration, figures can be used for
numbers less than 10:
7th and 8th editions
3rd-century AD shipwreck
9.2 DECIMALS
Always use a zero before a decimal point ($0.23, 0.5 litres)
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
8
9.3 THOUSANDS
Thousands (000) are best indicated by a comma, not by a space:
1,000 $212,345.00 2,000,000 not
1 000 $212 245.00 2 000 000
(If you get into the habit of using a space instead of a comma, as some authorities advocate, you run into trouble
when you type numbers into spreadsheet cells which recognise 3 456 789 as three distinct numbers!)
9.4 ROMAN NUMERALS
Roman numerals are still used to refer to monarchs and ships eg King George III,
Australia II. An exception to
this comes from Cunard, which uses an Arabic numeral for SS
Queen Elizabeth 2 (shortened form
QE2).
The British term Mark (used to designate the model of a weapon or other equipment, usually military) also uses
Roman numerals eg a Mark IBofors gun.
For consistency the World Wars should use Roman numerals (World War II, not World War Two). Likewise if
shortened (WWII, not WW2).
10 TIME AND DATES
10.1 TIME
If using the 12-hour system, leave a space between numbers and letters. Use zero digits for whole hours.
Separate hours and minutes with a full stop, but no full stops in am and pm:
11 am 2.08 pm
10.29 pm
There is no need to indicate ‘.00’, eg 11 am not 11.00 am.
The 24-hour system always uses four digits:
0045(12.45 am) 0715 (7.15 am) 1700 (5.00 pm)
The 24-hour system is precise and is used by nautical, military and civil authorities. Used in some museum
contexts it will be appropriate, but in other contexts will appear overly regimented and a bit anal-retentive. Judge
for yourself. Certainly, use the 12-hour system when the audience includes anyone who may not understand the
24-hour clock.
10.2 DATES
Dates are written out in this order:
Wednesday 12 March 2003
Don’t use the numerals-only form 12/03/2003 form if North Americans are likely to be among your audience. To
them 12/03/2003 means 3 December 2001.
Note the following:
the 1930s not the 1930’s, the ’30s, the ’thirties (NO apostrophe)
ninth century or 18th century (use lower case ‘c’)
not C9th, C18 or 18th Century (not that superscript numbers, eg 18th century, are not used)
put AD and BC after the year: 1990 AD, 250 BC
Radio-carbon dating results are often given as BP (before present). Scholars often use BCE (before common or
christian era) and CE (common or christian era) instead of BC (before Christ) and AD (anno domini [the year of
our Lord]). BP, BC and BPE should not be used without explanation in texts for general audiences, as they are
not widely understood.
10.3 RANGES OF TIME AND DATE
Use an en-dash and not a hyphen to indicate a range of times. No letter spaces either side of the en-dash:
10–11 am
12 May–11 June Monday–Friday
10.4 ABOUT/CIRCA
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
9
About 1920 is as acceptable as circa 1920 or c1920, which some readers do not understand.
10.5 KEEP ON ONE LINE
Avoid splitting times, dates, measurements and names over two lines. A non-breaking space can be inserted
before words or numerals you wish to keep together by pressing Ctrl + space bar (DOS) or function-key + space
bar (Macintosh), which would prevent the following untidy situation:
The sailing time, according to Mr
Futtock, would be precisely 1400 hrs on
the auspicious date of 24 September
2007. His replica is 34
metres overall.
11 ABBREVIATIONS
In general, full stops have been deleted from abbreviations, including names:
Mr J R M Futtock
Note the following common abbreviations used in text and addresses without full stops:
Mr
Mrs
Ms
Miss
Messrs Jnr
Esq
The Hon
The Rt Hon
and these common abbreviations, always spelled with capitals and no full stops:
ANMM AO
DSC
NSW RAN
HMAS
USA
EEO
DP[displaced person]
No full stops either for these commonly understood abbreviations derived from Latin:
am (ante meridian)
pm (post meridian)
ie (id est – that is)
cf (confer – compare)
etc (et cetera – and so on)
et al (et alia – and all the rest)
eg (exempli gratia – for example)
ibid (ibidem – in the same book or passage)
op cit (opere citato – in the work cited)
loc cit (loco citato – in the place cited)
Note that the spaces, as well as full stops, are deleted from some abbreviations:
DipEd DipMus PhD
Plurals of most shortened terms are formed by adding a lower case s with no apostrophe:
VIPs
MPs
vols
Spell out the word ‘and’ in ordinary writing. Save the ampersand [&] for abbreviated lists and some exhibition or
corporate titles where its use is accepted:
Sharks – Predator & Prey P&O
Futtock & Sons Pty Ltd
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
10
For abbreviations of metric terms, see section 24 Metric Style.
11.1 UNITED STATES
In general usage US is acceptable as an adjectival form only:
The US Bicentennial Gift to Australia was called the USA Gallery.
Note that as of 2019 the USA Gallery is now defunct. See also item 13.32 on page 16.
12 PUNCTUATION
12.1 NO FULL STOP OR COMMA NEEDED
Short lines of text that are not complete sentences don’t need a full stop, and commas should be
kept to a minimum (eg in short exhibition texts or captions, lists etc):
Barbara Martin ‘Miss Bondi’ 1952
Limit of 35 places. Booking required
Our preference is not to use the comma between a name and following initials:
Phillip Cox AO (not Phillip Cox, AO)
Joan Person PhD (NOTE: either Dr J Person or J Person PhD)
12.2 APOSTROPHES
Apostrophes show ownership (with the famous exception of its) or contraction:
the ship’s logbook (but its logbook)
can’t won’t shouldn’t
See 15.2 Multiple spellings for comment on fo’c’sle and bo’s’n.
There is no apostrophe before the letter s in the abbreviated plural forms eg 1940s, VIPs.
No apostrophe with plural nouns or plural acronyms (a common misconception):
INCORRECT: Boating DVD’s on Special! CORRECT: Boating DVDs on special!
12.3 INVERTED COMMAS OR QUOTATION MARKS
Single quotation marks are used for direct speech, double for quotes within quotes:
‘When I gave the order,’ lamented Lieutenant Cook, ‘that scoundrel Matra cried “I’ll
be damned if I do, sir!”and turned his back to me.’
Single quotation marks are used for fragmentary or partial quotes:
The lone yachtswoman reported ‘a wonderful sense of peace and serenity’.
Avoid the indiscriminate use of inverted commas around single words or very short phrases. This is often
overdone to indicate the use of slang, jargon or unfamiliar words, to give special emphasis to words, or to
distance writers from some cliché they have just used:
The crew ‘overhauled’ the ship’s gear.
There will be a ‘happy hour’ on Friday.
Don’t miss these ‘give-away’ prices.
None of these examples needs inverted commas. Only occasionally are quotation marks needed for a word or
short phrase, usually where a term that is unusual or inappropriate has been used by someone other than the
writer, or when it is important to underline that the indicated word was used by someone else:
Coleridge’s ‘Marinere ’is the most haunting sailor of 19th-century literature.
If you really want to draw attention to someone else’s way of saying things, with the implication that you would
never use that expression, the Latin term for thus within square brackets – [sic] – indicates that you’re reporting it
exactly the way it was expressed:
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
11
Villiers puts it quite plainly: ‘The ship, in all her [sic] grandeur, is the most magnificent creation of
mankind [sic].’
12.4 LONG QUOTATIONS
Quotations of over 25 words (roughly) are blocked in an indented paragraph, without inverted
commas:
For additional insurance you might try this prayer specified for use during storms at sea, found in the
Book of Common Prayer of 1662:
O send Thy word of command to rebuke the raging winds, and the roaring sea, that we being
delivered from this distress may live to serve Thee, and to glorify Thy name all the days of our
lives ...
12.5 HYPHENS
Hyphens should be used to distinguish similar words where confusion may result, eg re-creation and recreation:
His recreation was the re-creation of period costumes.
Hyphens should always be used with adjectival compounds, ie two or more words that together describe, define
or modify something (for example where a noun is preceded by a quantity). Note where the same words need no
hyphen (ie aren’t adjectival).
A writer who lived in the 19th century is a 19th-century writer
A boat whose waterline measures nine metres has a nine-metre waterline
an 18-foot skiff and in its shortened, colloquial form an 18-footer
21-gun salute
eight-year-old Scotch
double-ended hull
12.6 EN-DASHES
For parenthetical clarifications, including exhibition subtitles, use an en-dash instead of the longer em-dash or
hyphens:
Gapu Monuk Saltwater – Journey to Sea Country
Insert a letter space either side of the en-dash:
He seized a naval hanger – a short sword – and slashed through the halyard.
12.7 BRACKETS
The hierarchy of brackets is normally parentheses, then square brackets: ( [ ] ).
By contrast the ship’s longboat (with a keel of 18 feet [5.48 m] length between uprights)was a relatively
roomy vessel.
In the unlikely event that brackets within brackets within brackets were required, braces {} are called for.
Square brackets used by themselves indicate that the editor is commenting, clarifying or adding to another
writer’s text:
Flinders’ log records that the ship was anchored ‘two cables [400 yards or 366
metres] off the beach with but three fathom [18 feet or 5.48 metres] twixt coral and
keel’.
13 CAPITALS
13.1 INSTITUTIONS
Use initial capitals for both forms of the museum’s title, Australian National Maritime Museum or
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
12
National Maritime Museum, and for other institutions eg Opera Australia or the Museum of Sydney.
Revert to lower case for abbreviations of titles, or generic uses:
Visit our maritime museum in Darling Harbour
Which government? The government of New South Wales.
13.2 TITLES
If a person is formally identified by rank or office, as part of their name, use an initial capital for the
rank, but not where it appears generically:
Needless to say, Captain Smith saluted the rear admiral when they met.
The captain paid his respects to Rear-Admiral Ramsbotham.
‘Yes, Rear Admiral?’ said Smith as Ramsbotham summoned him.
Many job titles that formerly took initial capitals, such as an organisation or company’s president, chairman and
director, no longer do so when they occur within a sentence:
The director and chairman of the museum met in the board room.
The director, Joan Person, was talking to the filing clerk and the cleaner.
To confuse things, though, job titles CAN take initial capitals for typographic consistency when they appear
outside of sentence structures, for example in lists or an address
J Jones, Director…………..9111 1234
ATTENTION: Ms M Nguyen
M Nguyen, Asst Director…9111 1233
Assistant Director S Haryono
Filing Clerk…..9111 1232
It appears that most style authorities and newspapers still award the privilege of initial capitals to the very top
jobs, however, so on balance perhaps we should too:
The Prime Minister and his Minister of Defence met the Queen of England
13.3 DEPARTMENTS, COLLECTIONS, FOUNDATIONS, BRANCHES, GALLERIES
The Department of Defence BUT the department
The National Maritime Collection, ANMM Collection BUT the collection
The Australian National Maritime Foundation BUT … the foundation is …
The Membership section, the Conservation department (eg sections of this museum)
The Nortel Networks Gallery BUT the gallery
13.3.2 ADIGRESSION ABOUT GALLERIES &EXHIBITIONS ...
The museum’s ‘core’ exhibitions – that’s to say, the ones that have a life of many years, such as
Actions Stations and
xxxxxxx – are cal ed exhibitions, not galleries. Don’t use the term ‘Navy gallery’,
for example. And do refer to the sponsor names of sponsored galleries:
… our Navy exhibition is located in the ANZ Tal Gallery …
… Secrets of the Sea was mounted in the Nortel Networks Gallery …
The galleries without a naming-rights sponsor have geographical descriptors – north, south, Tasman Light etc.
Because a sponsored gallery has a formal title requiring initial capital letters, we should use capitals for all
galleries (and other museum spaces), to be consistent.
North Gallery
South Gallery
Tasman Light
Ben Lexcen Terrace
Lighthouse Gallery
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
13
13.4 DON’T OVERDO IT...
Initial capitals are for proper nouns. Avoid the common overuse of capitals by asking yourself if it really is a
formal title. The underlined capitalisations are wrong:
The migrants landed in a Displaced Persons Camp.
ANMM has many Visitor Programs each month.
They left the Wheelhouse and climbed down to the Engine Room.
13.5 TITLES OF WORKS
In a long title (eg book or essay), articles, prepositions and conjunctions use lower case:
Katayama Kunio wrote ‘The Expansion of Japanese Shipping into Southeast Asia before World War I’
for the Australian journal of maritime history
The Great Circle.
13.6 TRADE NAMES
Things identified by a trade name or registered trade mark should begin with a capital letter:
The boat was made of Kevlar and carbon fibre laminates.
The old map was kept between protective Mylar covers.
13.8 INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
The capital letter is to be used for Aborigine (singular noun; although this usage is now considered pejorative),
Aborigines (plural noun), Aboriginal (adjective) and Indigenous in the case of Australia.
Use lower case for the initial letter if referring to original inhabitants of other countries:
The Tierra del Fuegans were aboriginal or indigenous to Patagonia ...
‘Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’ is the most precise and inclusive collective reference for
all Indigenous Australians.
The Commonwealth Style Manual gives extensive guidance (page 56 ff) on non-discriminatory language when
describing Australia’s original inhabitants. Several terms are preferred because they recognise the ethnic
diversity of the original inhabitants of Australia, who were not and are not a single, homogenous people:
Australian Aborigine(s)
Aboriginal people(s) of Australia
Torres Strait Islander
Torres Strait Islander people
Note that someone can be Aboriginal OR Torres Strait Islander OR both.
The current edition of the Commonwealth Style Manual reports and supports ATSIC’s preference for Australian
Aboriginals, even though previous editions urged writers not to use the adjectival form as a noun. Preferences
change, however, and any text relating to Australian Indigenous people should be reviewed by members of the
museum’s Indigenous team before being published.
The following terms are among many used by Aboriginal people to describe themselves and others. They are
regional but each encompasses a variety of language or cultural groups.
Yolngu – Arnhem region, Northern Territory
Murri – Queensland
Goorie – South-east Queensland
Koorie – South-eastern Australia
Nunga – South Australia
Nyoongah orNyungar – South-west Western Australia
Anangnu – Central Australia
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
14
Palawa – Tasmania
14 ITALICS
14.1 VESSEL NAMES
Names of vessels are in italics, upper and lower case. The prefix HMAS, SS, MV, MY etc is not italic:
HMAS
Vampire
HMB
Endeavour
MV
Krait
SY
Ena
See 26.1 Nauticalia for details.
14.2 TITLES
Exhibition titles, the titles of paintings, engravings, photographs, books, journals, newspapers, films
and Acts of Parliament, are italicised:
Next week
Whales – Giants of the Deep opens in Queensland.
The museum has acquired Joshua Reynolds’ 1773 masterpiece,
Portrait of Joseph
Banks.
Prints of Max Dupain’s
The Sunbather are on sale at the museum.
Kurlansky, Mark 2002,
Salt, A World History, Jonathon Cape, London
The Shipping News starred Kevin Spacey as Quoyle.
Sir/Madam, your comments on the
Copyright Act 1969 in last Tuesday’s
Sydney Morning Herald will not
go unanswered.
An article or chapter within a publication should not be italicised. Single inverted commas can be
used for clarity.
I highly recommend Joy Damousi’s ‘Chaos and Order: gender, space and sexuality on female convict
ships’ in the April 1995 issue of
Australian Historical Studies.
14.3 CAN’T PRINT ITALICS?
If you can’t print italics, instead underline the word to be italicised instead:
HM Bark Endeavour
Some printers cannot output bold italics. If this is the case, revert to normal italics for the term that should be in
bold italics:
Report on John Louis reconstruction
14.4 NON-ENGLISH WORDS
Museum policy is not to italicise non-English language words that are well accepted in the language:
bêche-de-mer
vis-a-vis ibid
fin de siecle
sic
It can, however be useful to italicise unusual non-English words to highlight them:
The Arnhem land
na-riyarrkuor bark canoe in National Maritime Collection
Our vessel
Sekar Aman is a type of boat called a
perahu lete from Raas
15 SPELLING
15.1 REFERENCES
Macquarie Dictionary (for preference) or
Oxford English Dictionary are the references.
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
15
15.2 MULTIPLE SPELLINGS
A few terms have more than one acceptable form. ANMM conventions are a historic not an historic: note that
such cases depend on whether the h is aspirated: an hour, an heir but a horse, a hamper.
See also 15.5 below.
amid not amidst
among not amongst
archaeology not archeology
artefact not artifact
coamings not combings
coordinate not co-ordinate, coördinate
enquiries not inquiries
halyard not halliard
program not programme
realise not realize (ditto other s/z words) wharves notwharfs
while not whilst
Note also:
boatswain (pronounced ‘bosun’) not bo’s’n, bo’sun
forecastle (pronounced ‘folk-sl’) not fo’c’sle
15.3 MIGRANTS
Note the different spellings of the following:
emigrants – those leaving a country
immigrants – those arriving in a country
migrants – both of the above
15.4 ONE WORD OR TWO?
Following the
Macquarie Dictionary, we use one word, not two, for these:
boatyard shipyard
boatbuilder
shipbuilder
boatrace
speedboat
surfboat
seachest
lifeboat
lifebuoy lifebelt
lifeline
lifesaver lifesaving
However, the style adopted by an organisation for its own particular title is always followed:
The Yamba Surf Life SavingClub
Futtock’s Boat Yard & Chandlery
Note these instances where words are separate:
wreck site NOT wrecksite, wreck-site
life jacket, life raft NOT lifejacket, liferaft
15.5 HISTORIC OR HISTORICAL?
Historic: well-known or important or recorded in history. Historical: relating to or dealing with past events;
pertaining to or of the nature of history as opposed to fiction or legend.
historic scenes and events
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
16
the historical evidence is slim …
historic Port Arthur
The historical Admiral Cochrane differs from Patrick O’Brien’s Jack Aubrey in several important
respects …
16 COMPANIES, CORPORATIONS, TEAMS (AND CREWS)
A company, institution or partnership is a singular corporate entity, regardless of the number of people who work
for it or are represented in its name. Parts of speech relating to companies should
also be singular:
Speedo Australia subsidises the museum.
Stannard and Sons is an original museum sponsor.
not
Speedo Australia subsidise the museum.
Stannard and Sons are an original museum sponsor.
Most modern sports writers are unable to distinguish between the singularity of a team and the many players
which comprise it (‘Australia thrash India’) but their sloppy writing shouldn’t influence ours.
If the urge to think of a company or team as a plural number is irresistible, just mentally insert the type of
description given in brackets in these examples :
[The company] Stannard and Sons is an original museum sponsor.
[The legal firm] Helmsley, Helmsley, Helmsley and Binnacle was quick to offer its advice on the issue.
Australia [the Australian team] thrashes India.
Likewise a crew is a singular entity comprising many hands:
The Australian crew demonstrates superior sail handling
not
The Australian crew demonstrate superior sail handling
17. FORMS OF ADDRESS,TITLES AND AWARDS
17.1 WHERE TITLES ARE PLACED
Titles of rank and status (Sir, Doctor) stand before a person’s name and after honorific terms of
address (The Honourable). Vice-regal, clerical and armed services prefixes usually precede all others.
Some examples:
His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir Zelman Cowen AK
The Very Reverend Doctor Vaughan Vaughn
Admiral the Honourable Sir John Futtock KCB AO DSC
17.2. SIR, DAME AND LADY
Persons entitled to the prefixes Sir and Dame should be addressed with the given name before the
surname, as in:
Sir John Futtock
Dame Leonie Kramer
Usually the wife of a knight is entitled to the prefix Lady, but it is not customary to employ her given
name before the surname:
Sir John and Lady Futtock
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
17
unless necessary. Then it is placed in parentheses to avoid confusion with another person with the same
surname:
Sir John and Lady (Shirley) Futtock
17.3 ORDER OF DECORATIONS, DEGREES ETC
Initials indicating orders, decorations, degrees and so forth always follow the surname in descending order of
rank with the highest honour closest to the surname. Honours granted by the Sovereign precede all others and
special eminence is given to the Victoria Cross, the George Cross and the Cross of Valour. These three
decorations precede all others. Thus the order of precedence is as follows:
VC, GC and CV
Privy Council (PC)
Orders (AK, AC, AO, AM)
Decorations (DSO)
Medals
Civil distinctions
University degrees (BA, PhD)
Membership of associations and societies (MIPA)
Membership of Parliament (MP, MLA)
17.4 HONOURABLES
The Commonwealth Style Guide has a lengthy appendix on honourables, right honourables and other honours
and honorifics (page 345 ff); for exhaustive detail consult
Joel’s Protocol (Joel, Sir Asher 1988, Australian
Protocol and Procedures, Angus & Robertson, Sydney).
17.5 ADDRESSING WOMEN
The prefix Ms can be used regardless of marital status, and is in most cases the acceptable form where marital
status is unknown. It must not be used where a preference for Miss or Mrs has been expressed.
Madam remains acceptable regardless of marital status, as in ‘Dear Madam’.
Where the gender of the addressee is unknown, their name, position or Sir/Madam can appear in the salutation:
Dear J Futtock Dear Editor
Dear Madam/Sir or Sir/Madam
17.6 ADDRESSING THE CHAIR
Chairperson is used as a generic term or where the gender of the officeholder is unknown or unknowable (for
example the Australian National Maritime Museum Act 1990 refers to the appointment of a chairperson, who
could be either gender). In general use chairman for male and chairwoman for female holders of that office.
Observe the officeholder’s preference in any case. Miss Kay Cottee AO wished to be known as chairman of this
museum while she held that position (1995–2001).
18 REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Specialist writers and authors of detailed technical or scholarly work should refer to the exhaustive
list of conventions in the Commonwealth Style Manual.
For most purposes, where providing a reading list or bibliography, orreferring to other sources or
using numbered footnotes, use the Author-Date (Harvard) system.
18.1 BOOKS
Reference or reading lists and bibliographies follow this sequence (minimum required information
appears in bold):
• Author [surname first if several authors are listed alphabetically]
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
18
• year of publication,
• title of publication,
• title of series,
• volume number or numbers,
• edition,
• editor, reviser, compiler or translator other than author,
• publisher,
• place of publication,
• page number(s)
After the date, use a comma after each new categoryof information. Basic and detailed examples:
Futtock, John 1995, The Chinese Discovery of Australia, Darwin
Lee Soon Li 1965, Voyages of the Three-Jewelled Eunuch, Vol 2, 2nd edn, trans J
Futtock, Academic Press, London, pp 345–72
18.2 JOURNALS
Information follows this order (minimum required information in bold):
• author’s name
• year of publication,
• ‘title of article’,
• title of journal or periodical,
• title of series,
• place of publication,
• volume then issue number (or other identifier),
• page number(s)
Same punctuation as 14.1 above. Basic example:
Burningham N B 1995, ‘Aboriginal nauticalart: a record of the Makassans and
the pearling industry in northern Australia’, The Great Circle, Vol 16 No 2, pp
139–151.
An alternative system, the Vancouver system, puts the date before the page number and compresses
the volume/issue number. The above examples would appear as follows:
Author. Book title. Where published 1965:345–372
Author. Article title. Periodical name 1995;16(2):139–151
23
ANMM Written Style Manual 23
18.3 TEXTUAL REFERENCES
Instead of numbered footnotes, the author’s name and publication date can appear in the text, when
referring to a work that is listed in an attached reference list or bibliography. There a various ways of
achieving this:
The theory of an early Chinese discovery of Australia (Futtock 1995)has not
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
19
gained support
Futtock(1995)made unprovable claims.
If no reference list or bibliographyis to follow, be sure to provide enough information for the reader to
locate the work following the principles in 18.1 and 18.2:
John Futtock’s Chinese Discovery of Australia(1995, Futtock Desktop Publishing
Co Darwin)repeats this outlandish theory.
The Weekend Australian (3–4 June 1995, p 17)reported ...
19 COLLECTION ITEMS, WORKS OF ART ETC
Museum exhibition labels give an abbreviated description of title, artist, date, material and no
dimensions. The full description of an item or work of art, for example for the purposes of a detailed
entry in a catalogue, is:
Title of work
Date
Artist/Author
Artist/Author’s nationality
Derivation
Medium
Dimensions
Source
Acknowledgment
Location
Collection number eg:
South Sea Whale Fishery1834 E Duncan, British (after W J Huggins, London, 1834)
Coloured acquatint 411 mm x 640 mm. Purchased from USA Bicentennial Gift Fund.
ANMM Collection Reg No 8283
Fish on Poles1988 Arthur Koo’ekka Pambegan, Wik-Mungkan language group North
Queensland. Ochres on milkwood 1400 mmx 2165 mm. ANMM Collection Reg No
8283
Use the minimum punctuation required for clarity. A shorter description will suffice in many cases,
depending on the purposes eg a photo caption or label:
Ship William H Connor1879 J P Sweetster Oil on canvas
The order of information categories can be adapted to suit prose:
... our wonderful colour poster Australian Surf Club (Gert Sellheim, about 1936)is part of the
exhibition ...
24
ANMM Written Style Manual 24
20 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
20.1 ORIGIN
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
20
For captions, labels or in more general use when describing the status of an object, photograph etc,
these wordings for acknowledgments of source are used:
ANMM Collection
Gift from ...
Lent by ...
Transferred to ANMM from ...
Purchased from US Gift Fund
Purchased with the assistance of …
eg:
... the death-mask of Commodore Goodenough(transferred to ANMM from the Naval
Historical Collection)was a centrepiece of the Navyexhibition
Admiral Edmond-Francois Pâris’ Essai sur la Construction Navale des Peuples ExtraEuropéens, published Paris
1843,was purchased with the assistance of the Louis Vuitton
Fund.
Where a collection was acquired on the condition that it will be known by its former title:
Rice Collection Purchased by ANMM
d’Alpuget Collection Gift from Lou d’Alpuget
20.2 AUTHORSHIP
Authorship of a work being referred to, for example in a caption, should include as a minimum the
author, date and where it’s to be found:
Photographer David Moore 1945 ANMM Collection
18th-century engraving, artist unknown, from Bold In Her Breeches, The woman pirate
across the ages, Pandora 1995.
20.3 OWNERSHIP
Where it’s necessary to acknowledge a copyright holder or owner of a work which has been made
available to ANMM, use ‘… courtesy of ...’
Reproduced courtesy of the State Library of NSW Image Library
Reproduced courtesy of the estate of Percy Trompf
Orcadesand streamers, Darling HarbourDavid Moore 1948Reproduced courtesy of the
photographer
but note
Reproduced by GraciousPermission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II!!
25
ANMM Written Style Manual 25
21 PROOFREADING AND CORRECTIONS
Many staff are called on to proofread work and mark up corrections which have to be handed back to
the author or to a designer, whoever is to make the changes. Using uniform proofreading marks
makes the job easier all around. The following proofreading marks come from the Commonwealth
Style Manual(which can be consulted for more detailed notations by enthusiastic editors).
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
21
The mark in the text defines where the change is totake place. The mark in the margin directs what
the change is to be.
26
ANMM Written Style Manual 26
22 NON-DISCRIMINATORY LANGUAGE
22.1 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
The comments in this section concern work produced by the museum. Quoted historical material
which does not accord with modern practice should not be altered, although it should be made clear
what its source is.
Language use is discriminatory when it makes people invisible; when it excludes them
or highlights only one characteristic to the exclusion of other, often more relevant ones;
when it stereotypes people; treats people asymmetrically; and denigrates or insults
people.
Commonwealth Style Manual1994, 5th ed p 122
Conventions have been developed to avoid bias and stereotyping on the basis of race, gender, ability
or age in writing and speech. These can be referred to in great detail in the Commonwealth Style
Manual where the principles of inclusive language(eg humanityinstead of mankind) and avoiding
gender-specific language (eg theirinstead of his/her) are set out. The following examples relate only
to the special requirements of maritime language, in which the distinctive experience and culture of
seafaring is preserved.
See also other sections of this ANMM Guide to Written Stylefor terms for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people section 13.8, and addressing women section 17. 5.
Section 17.6on chairman/chairwoman/chairperson can be applied to all professions.
22.2 GENDER-NEUTRAL TERMS
Today women go to sea, professionally and recreationally, far more than they did at virtually any time
in the past. For example, women work on the trawlers of the northern Australian prawn fisheries,
skipper and crew offshore racing yachts and serve in many capacities in ships of the Royal Australian
Navy. Non-exclusive equivalents for most terms exist and should be used where it is likely that
women are involved:
seamen: mariners, sailors, seafarers
fishermen : fishermen and women, fishermen and fisherwomen, fishery workers,
fishers, or the colloquial fishos
yachtsmen: yachtsmen and yachtswomen, yacht racers, yachtiesor sailors
manned: crewed, operated
unmanned: uncrewed
It is, however, historically accurate and acceptable to say:
The seamenof Endeavour mannedthe pumps
If the person’s identity is clear then the gender-specific term is preferable:
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
22
the yachtsmanSir James Hardy the yachtswomanKay Cottee.
Museum staff should be sensitive to the fact that some people, both women and men, object to being
described by recently coined terms such as yachtperson or fisherperson, which they see as foreign to
the maritime communities with which they identify.
The term midshipmanhas not been changed by the RAN, although women hold that rank.
Satisfactory gender-neutral substitutes for the terms seamanshipand craftsmanshiphave yet to
develop. They will be included here when and if they do.
27
ANMM Written Style Manual 27
22.3 GENDER OF VESSELS
A label in one of this museum’s temporary exhibitions summed up what has been the subject of
vigorous debate on the widespread custom of personifying vessels in the feminine gender by use of
pronouns ‘she’ and ‘her’:
For centuries ships have been cal ed ‘she’ in the English language. Opinions differ
about its use today.
There are those who believe this term is a poetic tribute to the beauty of ships and
the bond sailors feel to them. Others believe that this term, likening a woman to a
ship, suggests that women are possessions to be owned and controlled by men.
1995 What About Women? Our place in maritime history
ANMM Council has taken an interest in this issue and ‘encourages ... the use of ‘she’ and ‘her’ in
contexts where this is a relevant part of a particular maritime culture, orto emphasise the strong
personal identification of a sailorwith a vessel’ (Meeting No 36, 3/10/90 Item 1 Matters Arising [i i]).
This Council motion neither compelspeople to use this type of language in their speech or writing if
they do not feel happy about doing so, nor does it authorise them to insist that other people refrain
from using the terms.
22.4 RELATED CASES
All metaphoric allusions to gender should not automatically be construed as sexist.
Sister-shipor the related terms sister-blockor sistering– the shipwright’s practice of reinforcing a
structural timber by fixing another piece alongside it – use sisters as a symbol of affinity and
solidarity.
Terms such as the merchantmanor man o’ warof previous centuries havean established context.
While alternative terms may exist (merchant ship, warship) these may not do full justice to the
particular era and culture which the museum is trying to convey.
Once again, ANMM Council notes that ‘it will be appropriate for much of the material in the ANMM to
require the use of gender-specific terminology. Thiswould take priority over other considerations
where fidelity to the historical or cultural recorddemands it’ (Meeting No 36, 3/10/90 Item 1 Matters
Arising [iii]).
22.5 FURTHER READING
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
23
Mellefont J R 2000,‘Heirlooms and Teatowels: Views of Ships’ Gender in the Modern Maritime
Museum’ in The Great Circle, Journal of the Australian Association for Maritime HistoryVol 22 No 1
pp. 5–16
28
ANMM Written Style Manual 28
23 MARITIME METRICS
23.1 METRICS ARE A MUST!
In the interest of efficiency and consistency, the Commonwealth Government has committed
Australia to metrication. It is the museum’s obligation in accordance with the Metric Conversion Act
1970to refer to most quantities and measurements in the International System of Units or Système
international d’unités (SI or metric system for short). Younger generations of Australians, and most
Asian and European visitors, have little (if any) understanding of non-metric units.
Note that some boats and engines in production today were often designed with reference to their
size in round numbers of feet (eg Cavalier 30 yacht) or horsepower (Mercury 100 outboard). Metric
conversions to metres and kilowatts would have resulted in messy fractions [Cavalier 9.144, Mercury
74.6] and they are still marketed and spoken of as ‘Cav30s’ and ‘Merc 100s’, which helps keep the
old measures alive among mariners.
Metric units should be given primacy. Non-metric equivalents can be added in brackets.
In principle this applies even to the measurements of vessels, engines etc built before metrication or
in non-metric countries:
Cook’s Endeavour at 33.3 metres overall(109' 3")was shorter than a modern
Manly ferry
The equivalent in brackets can be used to emphasise the pre-metric origin of a vessel or to
accommodate people who have difficulties with metrics (eg people from the USA, older Australians,
many sailors).
23.2 EXCEPTIONS
There are a few exceptions to the general requirement to give precedence to metrics.
23.2.1 If quoting from historical sources, the original unit of measurement has primacy. Metric
equivalents should then be supplied for clarification.
‘And the Lord said unto Noah, “Build ye an Ark 300 cubits [168 metres]long and
50 cubits [28 metres]broad.”’
John Louis’ certificate of register gives the lugger’s overall length as 65' 9" (20.04
metres).
23.2.2 Original measurement systems should be retained and if appropriate given primacy
where they are conceptually important to the design or structure:
This popular skiff class measured 18 feet (5.49 m)from stem to transom.
The frames were two inches (50.8 mm)square on six-inch (15.24 cm) centres.
John Louis’ certificate of register gives the lugger’s overall length as 65' 9",or
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
24
20.04 metres, but when the lines were taken in 1988 it was found to be exactly
21/2" (6.35 cm)longer.
29
ANMM Written Style Manual 29
23.2.3 Following from 22.2.2, measurements contained in the names of things should not be
changed:
12-inchturret gun .50 calibreBrowning
60-poundercannon 12-Metreyacht
Cavalier 30yacht Mercury 100outboard
6, 12, 14, 16and 18-footskiffs
The sixty-milersplied the Newcastle run
Akaranawas designed to race as a five-tonner
Firefly IIraced in the 91-cubic-inchhydroplane class
For examples like the last one the value of adding explanatory measurements is clear:
Firefly IIraced in the 91-cubic-inch (1,491 cc)hydroplane class
Some quantities cannot be converted to metrics.
One example is the measure of a vessel, Register Tonnage(Grossor Nett). This was until recently a
formula based on the volume of cargo-carrying spaces, and was thus an expression of capacity
(space) rather than weight. It should be left as given, because it is meaningless to try to convert the
figure in tons to tonnes. See also 26.5 – Weight/capacity.
Care must be taken when converting horsepowerto kilowatts, as there are several types of
horsepower quoted for marine engines and they don’t all measure the same thing. Some measures of
horsepower, such as the brake horsepower(bhp) of a diesel, the shaft horsepower(shp) of a steam
turbine and the indicated horsepower(ihp) of a reciprocating steam engine, are suitable for
conversion to kilowatts because all were measuresof power output – although ihp should not be
directly compared to shp or bhp because it was measured in a way that did not take account of the
power lost to friction in the engine.
In the 19th century and into the 20th century the horsepower recorded for a ship was likely to be a
nominalor registered horsepower, calculated from cylinder dimensions by formulae that the
registering authorities changed from time to time. Like the rated horsepowerof some petrol marine
engines, these were a measure of engine size rather than power and thus cannot meaningfully be
converted to kilowatts.
See also 26.3 – Nautical miles and knots
30
0
24 POINTS OF STYLE FOR METRIC NOTATION
24.1Use a space between numbers and the metric unit names or symbols, eg:
12 metres or 12 m, not12metres or12m
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
25
The exceptions are the symbols for degrees (º), minutes (') and seconds ("), eg:
17ºC S 33º 45' 59"
24.2If you are spelling out metric units, use all lower-case letters (except for 'C' in degree Celsius),
eg:
watt hectare kilometre millilitre
24.3The abbreviated symbols for metric units also take lower-case letters eg:
cubic centimetre ccmetre m kilometre kmhectare ha
except for litre (L), degree Celsius (ºC) and units named after people:
litre Lwatt W kilowatt kWhertz Hz
24.4Spelled-out metric units take the plural form only if the quantity is greater than
one, eg:
0.3 litre but 30 litres.
24.5Metric symbols never take plural form or full stops, eg:
kg notkg.
23 km not23 kms
24.6Don’t mix spelled-out units with symbols,and don’t mix per with the slash (/):
kilometres per hour or km/h
notkilometres/hour orkm/hour or km per h
31
1
25 COMMON IMPERIAL-TO-METRIC UNITS & CONVERSIONS
To convert from Imperial to metric units, multiplyby the conversion factor.
To convert from metric to Imperial units, divideby the conversion factor.
quantity imperial unit metric unit conversion
length foot (ft) metre (m) 0.3048
inches (in) millimetres (mm) 25.4
depth fathom (fthm/fm) metre (m) 1.8288
distance statute mile kilometre (km) 1.609344
nautical mile (nm) kilometre (km) 1.852
velocity miles per hour (mph) metres per second (m/s) 0.45
knots (kn) kilometres (km/h) 1.852
mass pound (lb) kilogram (kg) 0.4535924
ounces (oz) gram (g) 28. 349523 ton tonne (t) 1.016
area square foot (sq ft) square metre (m2) 0.092903
square yard (sq yd) square metre (m2) 0.836127
acre (ac) hectare (ha) 0.405
square mile square kilometres (km2) 2.589988
volume cubic yard (cu yd) cubic metre (m3) 0.7645549
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
26
cubic inch (cu in) cubic centimetre (cc) 16.387064 cubic inch (cu in) litre (L) 0.016387
UK gallon (gal) litre (L) 4.54609
power horsepower (hp) kilowatt (kW) 0.745.7
pressure inch of mercury (inHg) millibar (mb) 33.9
pound force per
square inch (lbf/in2) kilopascal (kPa) 6.89
frequency cycle per second (c/s) hertz (Hz) 1 c/s = 1 Hz
To convert temperature(ºF to ºC): ºC = 5/9(ºF-32)
For more units see Commonwealth Style Manualpage 178 ff. For more conversions see
Commonwealth Style Manual page 519. Or go online eg http://www.onlineconversion.com.
32
2
26 NAUTICALIA
26.1 VESSEL NAMES
Vessel names are written in italics:
the yacht Akarana
The abbreviated naval or typological description that is part of a vessel name is not italicised:
HM Bark Endeavour [His Majesty’s Bark]
HMAS Vampire [Her Majesty’s Australian Ship] SS Titanic [steam ship] SY Ena [steam yacht] If a passage is
already italicised (for example in the title of a painting), a vessel name reverts to
roman (ordinary) type, eg:
The Bark Endeavourattacked by Savage Patagonians
Be judicious about use of the definite article thewith vessel names. It works some times, eg with
commercial vessels …
The master of the Tampawas commended for his humanity and courage
… but can seem awkward with others, eg yachts.
Akarana was built in 1888
or
The yacht Akaranawas built in 1888
but avoid
The Akaranawas built in 1888.
26.2 NAVY
When referring to the Royal Australian Navy, the acronym is RAN.
RAN vessels have the prefix HMAS (Her/His Majesty’s Australian Ship) only when they are stil
commissioned in the Navy. Hence the museum’s patrol boat was HMAS Advancebut, strictly
speaking, is now just Advance. An alternative could be ‘the former HMAS Advance’ or ‘the ex-HMAS
Advance’. If writing to the Navy this protocol should be followed but for the general public it should be
used with care, as it can be clumsy and confusing.
Plural forms are HMASS Advance and Attack or HMA Ships Advance and Attack
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
27
26.3 NAUTICAL MILES AND KNOTS
Nautical mile(also known as the International Sea Mile, agreed by convention in 1929 as 1,852
metres and commonly abbreviated to nmor n mile) is used for distance at sea. It is part of neither
the metric nor the Imperial systems of measure. A nautical mile is based on the distance on the
earth’s surface subtended by one minute (a 60th of a degree) of Latitude. It is an essential unit of
navigation.
A knoton the other hand is a measure of speed – ‘the distance in nautical miles travelled in one
hour’. Never use the tautology ‘knots per hour’.
The speed of a vessel is properlyexpressed in knots (abbreviation kn). A major exception historically
has been the speed of smaller, fast powerboats. For example speed records have usually been given
in km/h or mph.
33
3
However, as nautical miles and knots are unfamiliar to most people, the metric equivalent should
also be supplied in brackets where nautical miles and knots are cited (see 21. Metric conversion
tablefor conversions.):
Endeavour, just managing four knots (7.4 km/h), was covering
96 nautical miles (178 km)a day.
26.4 DETAILS OF VESSELS
Details of museum vessels will frequently be required by the publicand others. The description of a
vessel should be given in the following order. These descriptions can be varied from a minimum
number of dimensions (left column) to the completedescription (right column) according to available
data, need, etc. Dimensions are to be given in metric units, with imperial equivalents following in
brackets if required. (In the following table explanatory notes appear in italics; terms in square
brackets may be cited if available or required.)
Length: specify type Designer:
Breadth: maximum Builder:
Draught or Moulded Depth: Launched: date and/or place
Displacement or Tonnage: Commissioned: date and/or place
Length overall:
Length on deck:
Length between uprights:
Length on waterline[laden or unladen]:
Breadth: maximum
Draught[laden or unladen]
Moulded depth: distance from sheerline at
maximum beam to top of keelRegister tonnage: [Gross, Nett]
Deadweight tonnage:
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
28
Displacement: [empty, laden etc]
Fuel and/or Water: volume or weight
Ballast: material and/or weight
Construction: method, materials
Hull form: configuration
Keel & rudder: configuration
Rig: type
Sail area: [working or maximum]
Propulsion: type
Power:
Speed: [cruising or maximum]
Range: [@ maximum or cruising speed]
Armament:
Crew:
34
4
26.5 WEIGHT/CAPACITY
Take care when citing tonnage as a measure of a museum vessel. This is because of the large variety
of tonnage measures that have been used to describe different vessels at different times. It is not
always appropriate to convert these measures to metric.
Displacement: actual weight of the ship measured by the volume of water displaced when afloat.
Used for naval vessels, recreational and some commercial vessels. Tonnes or kilograms should be
used for displacement. As the metric tonne is only1.6% less than the avoirdupois ton, shipowners
have sometimes simply exchanged the term tonnes for tons, to avoid expensive re-registration.
Deadweight tonnage: number of ton(ne)s of cargo a vessel can carry when trimmed to its Plimsoll
marks. Used by merchant vessels.
Tunnageor burthen: original y the ship’s capacity measuredby the number of wine-barrels called
‘tuns’ that it could stow. A tun had a capacity oftwo pipes, or four hogsheads, or 252 old wine
gallons. The term ‘burthen’ was later applied to tonnage calculated on volume; the term is now
archaic.
Register tonnage: This measure was calculated on hull volume with one ton = 100 cubic feet. Gross
tonnage was volume below the upper deck. Nett tonnage was gross tonnage less the volume of
tanks, crew, stores and engine spaces. It was used by merchant vessels. Register tonnage affected
the cost of running a ship as these figures were the basis on which port dues were levied. A ship
might be described as ‘2,000 tons Gross Register Tonnage’. Such a figure intons should never be
converted to metric tonnes because it is an expression of volume, not weight; the result would be
meaningless.
This system changed under the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement (1969) which
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
29
removed the unit ‘tons’ so that a ship would be designated as, for example, ‘Gross Tonnage 2,000’ or
‘Net Tonnage 1,000’. These ‘dimensionless values’ are now determinedby a separate mathematical
formula for each. This replaced the previous systemof laborious physical measurement of the actual
vessel and its spaces, which was the subject of interpretation, controversy and abuse.
The changes finally became effective 18 July1995, and all ships are being assigned new
dimensionless tonnages which will not be relative to the previous gross and nett tonnages. For our
purposes, only ships that have been assigned a dimensionless register tonnage need be described
this way. It is neither practical nor particularly meaningful to convert the old system using units of
‘tons’ to the modern system, for ships that no longer exist. (Thanks to Volunteer Alex Books for advice
on this issue.)
Builder’s Measure and other tonnages: When small sailing boats raced (yachts and the working craft
– fishing and pilot boats – from which they often developed) the principle handicapping method was
a tonnage worked out as a formula involving various measurement factors. In Victoria and NSW
yachts first raced in tonnage classes based on the English Builder’s Measure used by many British
yacht clubs. Over the 19th century this was modified several times. Akaranawas built as a five-tonner
under one set of rules but was rated at 6.5 tons in Australia under a later rule, and had to race at a
disadvantage against 10-tonners. For details of Builder’s Measure, Thames Measure, and Length &
Sail Area Rule, see p 67 ff in Akarana(Daina Fletcher 1991, Beagle Press & ANMM, Sydney)
35
5
26.6 AUXILIARIES
Auxiliary rig: where engine is the main form of propulsion.
Auxiliary engine: where sail is the main form of propulsion.
Thus: The pearling lugger John Louishas an auxiliary ketch rig, but the yachtFirst Ladyhas an
auxiliary diesel. CSS Shenandoah, primarily sail-driven, was an auxiliary steamer.
26.7 IN OR ON SHIPS?
The RAN uses inrather than onfor service on boarda particular vessel:
They served in the museum’s Daring Class destroyer Vampire
In other contexts it’s equally acceptable to travel or serve inor ona ship.
26.8 NOT MANY ROPES
There are said to be only seven ropes on a ship: bell rope, bolt rope, buoy rope, foot rope, hand rope,
head rope and man rope. All the rest – halyards, lifts, braces, guys, sheets, warps, hawsers, etc etc –
are known collectively and generically as lines.
26.9 NOT MUCH WOOD
Ships and boats may be wooden but the individual planks, ribs, floors, stringers, knees, futtocks, etc
etc, are known as timbers and not aspieces of wood.
36
6
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
30
27 INDEX
12-hour system 12
12-Metre 29
18-footer 15
24-hour clock 12
24-hour system 12
—A—
abbreviations 13
ability
discrimination on basis of26
Aboriginal 17
Aborigine
spelling 17
terms for 17
acknowledgement 23, 24
acre 31
active voice 7
Acts of Parliament 18
AD 12
address 8
addressing women 21
adjectival compounds 15
Admiral 20
age
discrimination on basis of26
agreements 11
am 13
among 19
Anangu 17
ANMM 4
ANMM Collection 16
AO 13, 14
apostrophe 14
Arabic numerals 5
archaeology 19
artefact 19
attribution 24
Australian National
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
31
Maritime Museum 4
Australian National
Maritime Museum Act
19904
Author-Date system 22
authorship 24
auxiliary 35
—B—
ballast 33
BC 12
bibliography 22, 23
bo’s’n 19
boatbuilder 19
boatrace 19
boatyard 19
bold type 25
books
citation of 22
title in italics 18
braces 15
brackets 15
breadth 33
builder 33
—C—
calibre 29
capacity 34
capital letters 4, 13, 16, 25
captain 16
caption 23
cc 30
Celsius 30
century 12
cf 13
Chair
...man 21
...person 21
...woman 21
circa 12
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
32
civil distinctions 21
clear writing 6
cliches 14
close up 25
coamings 19
collection number 23
comma
excessive use of 14
in citations 22
in numerals 11
inverted 14
not needed 14
Commonwealth Style
Manual
3, 21, 25, 26, 31 companies 20
compiler 22
consistency 3
contact officer 10
contractions 14
contracts 11
conversion
metric 28, 31
coordinate 19
copyright
acknowledgement 24
corporations 20
corrections 25
correspondence 4, 8
Council papers 9
addenda 9
cover page 9
document number 9
layout 10
craftsmanship 26
crew
gender-neutral 26
singular number 20
cubic
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
33
centimetre 30, 31
inch 31
metre 31
yard 31
cubits 28
37
7
—D—
Dame 20
dash points 5
dates 11, 12
deadweight tonnage 33, 34
Dear Madam 8
Dear Sir 8
decimal 11
decorations 20
definite article 32
degrees
Celcius 30, 31
fahrenheit 31
of arc 30
university 21
delete 25
designer 33
dimensions 23. Seevessels
direct language 7
director 16
discrimination 26
displacement 33, 34
doctor 20
dot points 5
draught 33
—E—
edition 22
editor 22
eg 13
emigrant 19
English Seeplain English
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
34
English Builder’s Measure34
engravings 18
enquiries 19
et al 13
etc 13
exhibition text 3, 23
exhibition titles 18
exhibitions vs galleries 16
—F—
fathom 31
file number 8
fishermen 26
fishers 26
fisherwomen 26
fishery workers 26
fishos 26
fo’c’sle 19
foot 31
footnotes 22
foreign wordsSeenon-English
Fowler's Modern English
Usage3
full stop
in abbreviations 13
in paragraph numbering 5
in time 12
not in metric symbols 30
not with page numbers 5
simplified puctuatuon 14
—G—
Galleries vs exhibitionts 16
gallon 31
gender 21, 26, 27
gender-specific language 26
gift from 24
Goorie 17
government 16
gram 31
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
35
Gross Register Tonnage29, 33, 34
—H—
hanging indent 5
Harvard system 22
headings 5
hectare 30, 31
her
gender of ships 27
hertz 30
His Excellency 20
his/her 26
historic/historical 19
HMAS 13, 32
Hon 13
honorific 20
horsepower 31
brake 29
nominal or registered 29
rated 29
shaft 29
hours and minutes 12
hundreds 11
hyphen 15, 25
—I—
ibid 13, 18
ie 13
immigrant 19
in or on ships 35
inches 31
indent
paragraphs 5
proof mark 25
indirect language 7
insert
character 25
punctuation 25
space 25
International Convention on
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
36
Tonnage Measurement 34
International Sea Mile 32
International System of
Units 28
inverted commas 14
issue 22
italics 18, 25, 32
—J—
jargon 14
journals
citation of 22
titles of 18
justified text 5
—K—
Kevlar 16
kilogram 31
kilometre 30, 31
kilowatt 29, 31
knots 31, 32
Koorie 17
—L—
labels Seeexhibition text
Lady 20
latitude 32
length 33
lent by 24
letter space 5
letter styleSeecorrespondence
letterhead 5
life
belt 19
boat 19
saver 19
line spacing 5
lines 35
lists 11
litre 30, 31
loans 24
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
37
lower case 16, 25
—M—
Macquarie Dictionary3, 19
Madam 8, 21
maiden voyage 27
38
8
man o’ war 27
manned
gender-neutral alternative26
margin
subediting mark in 25
mariners 26
maritime language 26
Mark 11
mark up 25
medals 21
medium
description of art work 23
Members of Parliament 21
merchantman 27
metres 30, 31
metric
conversion 31
conversions 28
notation 30
style 30
symbols 30
Metric Conversion Act 197028
metrics 28
midshipman 26
migrant 19
mile 31
millibar 31
millilitre 30
millimetres 31
millions 11
minutes 12, 30
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
38
Miss 13, 21
misspelling Seespelling
MLA 21
moulded depth 33
MP 13, 21
mph 31
Mr 13
Mrs 13, 21
Ms 13, 21
multiple spellings 19
Murri 17
museum 16
Mylar 16
—N—
national 4
National Maritime Collection16
National Maritime Museum4
nautical mile 31, 32
negative language 7
Nett Register Tonnage29, 33
Nett tonnage 34
newspapers 18
non-breaking space 12
non-discriminatory language26
Non-English words 18
nouns 7
NumberingSeepage, paragraph
numerals 11, 12
Nunga 17
—O—
office 16
on or in ships 35
Order 20
ordinals 11
ounces 31
overseas correspondence 4
ownership
acknowledgment 24
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
39
Oxford Companion to Ships
and the Sea3
Oxford English Dictionary3, 19
—P—
P&O 13
page
numbering 5
numbers in citations 22
paintings 18
paragraph 5
format 5
indented 15
new 25
numbering 5
spacing 5
parentheses 15
partial quotes Seequotes
passive voice 7
percentages 11
PhD 13, 14
photo caption 23
photographs 18
plain English 3, 6
plural 14
pm 13
positive language 7
pound 31
power 33
Privy Council 21
program 19
proofreading marks 25
proper nouns 16
publication
citation of 22
year of 22
publisher 22
punctuation 14
purchased from 24
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
40
—Q—
quotation marks 14
quotations 14, 15
quotes
partial 14
—R—
race
discriminationon on basis
of 26
RAN 13, 26, 32
rank 16
realise 19
redundancy 6
references 11, 22, 23
Register Tonnage 29, 33, 34
Reverend 20
rig 33
Right Honourable 13, 20
Roman numerals 5, 11
roman type 25
ropes 35
Royal Australian Navy 32
—S—
sail area 33
sailors 26
salutation 8, 21
seafarers 26
seamanship 26
seamen 26
seconds 30
series 22
she
gender of ships 27
shipbuilder 19
shipyard 19
sic 14, 18
simple verbs 7
singular 20
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
41
Sir 8, 20, 21
Sister
...ing 27
block 27
ship 27
sixty-milers 29
slang 14
space bar 5
speed 32, 33
39
9
speedboat 19
spelled out 11
spelling 19, 25
square
foot 31
kilometres 31
metre 31
yard 31
square brackets 15
standard type face 5
standards 3
stereotyping 26
stet 25
Style Manual
See Commonwealth Style Manual
superfluous words 6
surf lifesaving 19
surfboat 19
surname 20
Système international
d’unités 28
—T—
tables 5
tabs 5
team 20
technical label Seevessels
temperatures 11
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
42
text
subediting mark in 25
text layout 5
textual references 23
Thames Measure 34
the 32
their 26
thousands 11
thus 14
timbers 35
time 11, 12
Times New Roman 5
titles 16, 18
tonnage 33
tonne 31
Torres Strait Islander 17
trade name 16
transferred to 24
translator 22
transpose 25
type faceSeestandard type face
—U—
unjustified text 5
unmanned 26
USA
Bicentennial gift 13
Gallery 13
punctuation 13
—V—
Vancouver system 22
VC 21
vessels
gender of 27
in italics 18
name 18, 32
on or in 35
technical details 33
Vice-regal 20
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
43
VIP 13
volume number 22
—W—
watt 30
wharves 19
wood 35
work of art
description of 23
World Wars 11
Writing in Plain English3
—Y—
yachties 26
yachtsmen 26
yachtswomen 26
Yours faithfully 8
Yours sincerely 8
—Z—
zero 11
40
ANMM Written Style Manual 40
Australian National Maritime Museum Written Style Manual
44
