U-Z: Glossary of Terms and Recommended Usage

Ultraseek OUTDATED -- CUinfo's search engine [Google is the current - 2005 - search engine]

university Lowercase even when used to mean Cornell University. (In some legal documents, you may see "University" instead. Note that the University Policy Office's style is lowercase for policy documents.)

University Telephone Directory the paper phone book

UNIX operating system. Pronounced "YOU-nicks"

uPortal multi-university collaboration to develop web portal technology specifically for higher education. Our site is always "uPortal.Cornell" never just "uPortal"

UPS uninterruptible power supply

up-to-date phrasal adjectives nearly always include hyphens (Chicago Manual of Style, 5.92)

URL Universal Resource Locator The term is rarely used (use "web address" instead) and never spelled out. But, in terms of formatting:
-- If you are referring to the main home page for a site: www.cornell.edu (no slash at the end)
-- If you are referring to a sub-directory, DO end with a slash: www.cornell.edu/limnology/archives/
-- If you are referring to a specific page, do not put a slash at the end, but be sure to use the file extension: www.cornell.edu/bees/sting.html
-- If the URL does NOT use "www," include "http://" at the beginning: http://webmail.cornell.edu

US Robotics OUTDATED -- current name is 3Com/US Robotics (Cornell's recommended modem manufacturer)

USB universal serial bus. Don't spell out.

Usenet global collection of bulletin boards (newsgroups)

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Vantive integrated database system; six modules: HelpDesk, VanWeb, Quality, Field Service, Support, Sales

Verizon Wireless university's cellular service provider as of spring 2000. Pronounced "vur-EYE-zun" (rhymes with "horizon").

vice president for information technologies university administration position held by Polley McClure. Note that the group she oversees is the Office of Information Technologies.

video broadcasting . . .TV-quality real-time audio and video feeds from a special event to one or more public locations (such as overflow crowds for a popular speaker)

videoconferencing . . .real-time audio and video communication between two or more sites. Typically compressed for faster transmission at the expense of quality

Virtual PC software that enables a Macintosh to run any PC operating system
-- by Connectix

Visor brand of handheld computer manufactured by Handspring

VM part of the mainframe

voice mail Cornell's voice mail system is AUDIX

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want OR wish "want" is preferred

web Note that most style authorities are still using "Web."

web address In print, use italics (Chronicle uses angle brackets instead). In CIT publications, do not include the "http://" portion of the address.

webcasting also called audio/video streaming. Compressed audio and video delivered to a user's computer, either as a live feed or archived (if archived, the user requests it when it is wanted)

WebEmail obsolete

webmaster

WebMail a web-based e-mail client (based on SquirrelMail) supported by CIT

web page single, self-contained ".html" (or .htm) page

web site collection of web pages

which OR that
-- "that" if the information is essential to understanding the point of the sentence (it restricts the scope of the noun)
-- "which" if the information provides additional but nonessential detail in the sense of "by the way"; put a comma before "which"

Here's an illustration that might make this clearer. Let's say we're looking at a bunch of piglets. I want to direct your attention to a specific piglet. I might say, "Look at the piglet that has brown spots." In this case, "brown spots" helps you find the piglet I'm talking about -- it restricts the noun (piglet). Next I might say, "This bin, which I got at a farm sale, lets all the piglets eat together." In this case, it doesn't really matter where I got the bin -- that information is not necessary to understanding that the piglets enjoy communal dining.

Who I Am Bear Access service that enables users to set e-mail preferences and update directory information

Wi-Fi certified wireless fidelity certified; trademarked standard based on IEEE 802.11b, a set of specifications for wireless LANs

Windows 95 -- no longer be supported by CIT

Windows 98, Windows Me acceptable to combine as Windows 95/98/Me
"Me" stands for "Millennium Edition." no longer be supported by CIT

Windows NT, Windows 2000 acceptable to combine as Windows NT/2000; no longer be supported by CIT

Windows XP

winter Don't capitalize; for example, "winter 2001."

WinVN Windows newsreader provided through Bear Access

WinZip Windows file decompression utility provided through Bear Access

wish OR want "want" is preferred

workstation OR computer OR machine
-- "computer" for desktops and laptops
-- "workstation" or "machine" for high-end systems

World Wide Web

WS_FTP Windows file transfer application provided through Bear Access

WWW World Wide Web. Instead of the abbreviation, use "web."

WYSIWYG what you see is what you get. Pronounced "wizzy-wig."

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XML Extensible Markup Language

XSL Extensible Stylesheet Language

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Y2K (Year 2000)

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Zip drive, Zip disk

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