Re: Is a bad index better than no index?

[Fred Brown <fred -dot- brown -at- allegrotechindexing -dot- com>]

David, would your management expect a user to spend much effort on reading 
a manual that's poorly written. Or, would they expect a user to return to 
such a manual a second time?

One of the biggest issues in creating an index, or any other tool that 
assists users find information, is that the user will often describe the 
problem with different words from those used in the text itself.

What value would your users and your company receive from the documentation 
if the users are unable to find the specific information they need? And 
then what? Do they call customer support, share their frustrations with 
their colleagues, or look at other possible solutions?

A good index should pay for itself. And if your management is concerned 
about cost, you can simply ask some professional indexers for a quote.

Can you get away with a poor index? Well, maybe the best judges would your 
users.

Fred Brown

At 02:53 PM 5/22/2001 -0700, you wrote: