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Subject:re: How Short is so short that No TOC is Needed? From:Mark Levinson <MarkL -at- gilian -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 1 Dec 2000 11:43:18 +0200
I've heard ten pages, I've heard twenty pages, but I think that
the real question is "how short a TOC is so short that it isn't
needed?"
If your eight-page document is packed with headings signalling
dozens of distinct topics and your reader may want to jump to one
of them while in the middle of a hot discussion, I'd say use a
table of contents.
If your fifty-page document is a picture book distributed
as a souvenir of the company outing, maybe you don't need a TOC.
The correct rule of thumb, I think, depends not on how long
your document is, but what your TOC would look like. Ridiculously
short and scant? Don't use it. But over half a dozen lines, I'd
say include it if it's helpful.
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