Indexing: use of plural or singular?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Johanne Cadorette wonders: <<I'm having trouble deciding between the use of
the plural or singular for index entries. For example, one of the entries is
"entries.">>

I tend to prefer the plural, because it's always possible to have more than
one value; even when there is only a single field labeled (in your example)
"operator entry", there's usually more than one value possible for that
field. I don't think that using the singular would be a problem, provided
that the subentries are clear. For example:

<<In most cases, "entries" are referred to in the plural in our
documentation ("testing transfers to entries," "creating entries," "checking
available entries" and so on). But once in a while, there's an exception,
like "operator entry." There is only ever one operator entry.>>

Yet that might still have multiple values: one might be Johanne, and the
other might be Geoff, for example. If you use a plural main entry, try
something like the following for a singular subentry: Entries, how to handle
singular entries
Alternatively, if the field is labeled "operator entry", then use that as
the main index keyword: Operator entry, why this is only singular

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html

"Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but  an
accumulation of facts is no more science than a heap of stones is a
house"--Jules-Henri Poincarré 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.