Dear Colleagues,
The time has come for me to vent about a habit many of us have developed:
the use of the word UTILIZE. Use and Utilize do not mean the same thing.
As educators, librarians, information masters, we should know this and take
care. I especially like the following explanation:
(from http://www.agcom.purdue.edu/AgCom/library/ontarget/archive/ot5_99.html)
Grammar Trap: Use vs. Utilize
One difference between these two verbs is a relatively subtle, semantic
one. Another has to do with style.
"Use" means to employ something for its intended or appropriate purpose.
Example: I often use suggestions from readers to determine "Grammar Trap"
topics.
"Utilize" means to employ something for a new or unintended purpose, or to
make do with an item meant for something else.
Examples: I often utilize the manuscripts I edit as sources of "Grammar
Trap" topics. I didn't have a screw driver handy, so I utilized a knife.
So much for the semantic difference between the two words.
The style difference?
Many people seem to have gotten the idea that "utilize" is a classier, more
formal version of "use." It isn't. It's just longer. And, because it's
longer, it's to be avoided.
This is especially true when you're trying to reach a lay audience with
material that's unfamiliar and perhaps already difficult for them to
understand. Why make them work any harder than they have to? Why make your
material seem more difficult than it is?
Tip: Don't write "utilize" when "use" will do. And it almost always will.
Marcy Neth
Reader Services Librarian
John M. Flaxman Library
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