Alphabetizing Question

[Betty Dawn Hamilton <bhamilt@TENET.EDU>]

O.K., Group, I'm about to admit my ignorance here.  When I learned
alphabetizing, I was told to spell out in my mind any abbreviated form
(dr. would be placed with "doctor," mc would be with "mac" etc.)  Now,
however with the advent of electronic databases, I notice that "mc" is with
"mc" and not with "mac."  I'm still doing the directory alphabetizing by
"cut and paste" method because that's the way I started and it seems to
be faster than re-keying all of the information into a database.
 
To you who have been in school more recently than I, please tell me what
is being taught now.
 
Another question concerning electronic-initiated changes that I have is
one about paragraph indentation.  I have been seeing publications where
the "straight block" method is used ... no indentations, no double
spacing after paragraphs.  A paragraph may end with a short sentence and
that's it ... the next paragraph begins on the next line without an
indentation.  This drives me crazy!!!  Is it just a matter
of a publication's style or is there a new rule that I haven't read yet?
 
Thanks for enlightening me!
 
Betty
 
Betty Dawn Hamilton
<bhamilt@tenet.edu>
Brownfield, Texas 79316