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All,
I've been asked to look into using a consolidated index for our
documentation. That is, each manual in a set of documentation (Reference
Manual, User Manual, Installation Manual) would contain the same index,
which would contain every index entry in every manual. It would look
something like this:
server, RM 303, UM 538
installing IM 19, IM 28, IM 37
setting up UM 542, IM 48
This would help users find information throughout the documentation rather
than searching every manual's index. For example, we could then put the
glossary in only one manual, such as the reference manual, and users could
instantly look up where it's located from any other manual.
I think I can overcome the technical aspects of accomplishing this in MS
Word (I've got some promising leads from several list serves), but I'm not
sure it's a good idea in the first place. What do you think? Is it too
confusing? Are RM, UM, and IM too obscure and lengthy? (Remember, they would
precede every single index entry.) Any other concerns I haven't thought of?
