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Subject:Is a bad index better than no index? From:"Damien Braniff" <dbraniff -at- amphion -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 23 May 2001 08:45:49 +0100
David,
Just because you're not up on indexing doesn't mean it will be a bad index, just that it may not be the world's BEST index. Having said that, indexing is an art, not a science. I went on a course a couple of years ago and one of this was one of the things highlighted. No two indexers will produce the same index (though hopefully both should cover the main topics). I've looked at indexing tools and have yet to come across a better way than doing it manually.
Generally I'll find some quiet time and sit down with a hard copy of the manual and a highlighter pen and go through it (takes time!). Hopefully I'll have the knowledge of the product (especially if I wrote the manual/was involved in the project) and knowledge of the intended audience. I can then highlight WHAT they're likely to want to know about. I should also hopefully come up with all (well most - nobody's perfect!) the variations on names/terminologies and note that the widget is also called a thingy-ma-gig etc. While this may not produce a earth shattering index it should produce a perfectly serviceable one. So yes, it's worth the effort.
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