The latest edition of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) became part of my home library today. This brand-new fourth edition has more than 2,000 pages crammed with words and color pictures. Most interesting to me are the 10,000 words and definitions that have been added since the previous edition six years ago, a time when electronic mail and the World Wide Web were a part of the vocabulary of only a relatively small percentage of genealogists.

Most of us can recall our days in elementary school when we pored over our spelling books and took part in spelling bees. By the time we had graduated from high school, we had learned to spell most of the words we would need to get by in the world of genealogy (except, strangely enough, the word "genealogy" itself). But we were not prepared for the onslaught of new technologies that would bring with them new words—words that seemed to change their spelling every year. Today, with my new dictionary at hand, I want to take a look at some of the words that must be a part of the vocabulary of every digital genealogist.

The more often a word needs to be used, the shorter that word seems to become. The three-syllable "telephone" became the one-syllable "phone"; the four-syllable "automobile" became the one-syllable "car"; and the five-syllable "television set" became the two-syllable "TV." Not surprisingly, the three-syllable "Internet" has become the one-syllable "Net." We now use the shorter word to combine with other words to form such new ideas as "netiquette" (the proper etiquette for communicating via the Internet) and "netizen" (a "Net citizen," in other words, a person who spends enough time on the Internet that we could almost claim he or she "resides" there).

The two most popular uses of the Internet (in the world of computers, we would refer to them as "applications") are electronic mail and the World Wide Web. Because they have become so common, they are also referred to by much shorter names. Electronic mail is now "e-mail." The American Heritage Dictionary suggests that the hyphen is on its way out, but for now, I'm quite happy with the current form. You will also find those who like to capitalize the "e," but personally I don't see the need. The "e-" is now popping up in other new terms, such as "e-commerce" and "e-business." The AHD points out that most of these new uses have to do with business in some way.

Years ago, the word "watch" would immediately bring to mind the kind of small, portable timepiece that dangled from a chain. When custom shifted to wearing them on the wrist, the word "wristwatch" came into use. As watches were worn more and more on the wrist, the term "pocket watch" had to be used in order to refer to the once-common type. In the same way, the term "snail mail" has entered vocabulary in order to refer to what we once merely had to call "mail," so that our listeners won't think of "e-mail."

Just as the Internet has become "the Net," the World Wide Web has become "the Web." The capital "w" reminds us that we are talking about one specific network. However, it is probably becoming a lost cause for us to try to preserve the capital "w" when it combines with other words to form new terms, such as "webmaster." Today's "Web page" and "Web site" will no doubt be tomorrow's "webpage" and "website" (for many people, this change has already happened).

As these technological ideas become more and more a part of our everyday lives, the words we use to describe them will lose their spaces, their hyphens, and their capitalization. Who knows? Perhaps "webmaster" will soon be a part of your grandchildren's spelling books!

Drew Smith is an instructor with the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He is also a regular contributor to the quarterly journal Genealogical Computing, where he writes the "Cybrarian" column. He can be reached at drewsmith@aol.com.