Editor's Corner

Instead of using Grammar Girl’s example for today’s topic (capitalization of department names) I’m providing you with information from the Chicago Manual of Style. This portion ofthe CMOS reviews groups, companies, department names, and other entities that are named using similar rules—the same rules we use here (at least at the Symitar branch of JHA).

The full names of institutions, groups, and companies and the names of their departments, and often the shortened forms of such names (e.g., the Art Institute), are capitalized. A the preceding a name, even when part of the official title, is lowercased in running text. Such generic terms as company and university are usually lowercased when used alone (though they are routinely capitalized in promotional materials, business documents, and the like).

Examples:

· the University of Chicago; the university

· the Department of History; the department

· the University of Chicago Press; the press

· the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago; the board of trustees; the board

· the Art Institute of Chicago; the Art Institute

· the Beach Boys; the Beatles; the Grateful Dead, the Dead; the Who (but Tha Eastsidaz)

· Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band; the band

· the Cleveland Orchestra; the orchestra

· the General Foods Corporation; General Foods; the corporation

· the Green Bay Packers; the Packers

· the Hudson’s Bay Company; the company

· the Illinois Central Railroad; the Illinois Central; the railroad

· the Library of Congress; the library

· the Manuscripts Division of the library

· the Museum of Modern Art; MOMA; the museum

· the New York Stock Exchange; the stock exchange

· Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; SOM; the architectural firm

· the Smithsonian Institution; the Smithsonian

· Miguel Juarez Middle School; the middle school

Kara Church

Senior Technical Editor