Take Our W-O-R-D For It

By Cindy Reid

This column interprets a variety of words, phrases and acronyms encountered in technical communications. Learn and laugh as your peers provide real-world and sometimes cheeky definitions.

This issue’s definitions are provided courtesy of various Web sites, and a fellow Willamette Valley Chapter member.

Intranet:

Interconnected
Navigational
Tool that
Reaches
And
Networks
Entire
Teams
— Tysa Fennern

Usually lowercased. While there is one Internet, there are many intranets within companies, organizations, government agencies and other computer networks. When naming the unique internal computer network of an organization, intranet may be capitalized: The Queens County Intranet is well-liked by employees.

Though not always possible, avoid using the Web or, especially, World Wide Web when writing about an intranet. An intranet page or intranet site can look like an Internet page or site, but it's not on the World Wide Web.

— http://garbl.home.comcast.net/stylemanual/ithruj.htm#intranet

WBT:

Web-based training (sometimes called e-learning) is anywhere, any-time instruction delivered over the Internet or a corporate intranet to browser-equipped learners. There are two primary models of Web-based instruction: synchronous (instructor-facilitated) and asynchronous (self-directed, self-paced). Instruction can be delivered by a combination of static methods (learning portals, hyperlinked pages, screen cam tutorials, streaming audio/video, and live Web broadcasts) and interactive methods (threaded discussions, chats, and desk-top video conferencing).—http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci332239,00.html