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Subject:Re: Chapter summaries at start of doc: yes/no? From:Peter Sturgeon <prsturgeon -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:Sarah Bouchier <Sarah -dot- Bouchier -at- exony -dot- com>, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Tue, 24 Oct 2006 08:23:30 -0700 (PDT)
1. The TOC isn't enough in many cases. It's typically point form, and lacks the connective tissue that a brief summary can provide.
2. Don't know how the index tells me what's in a chapter.
3. If the summary isn't being updated, update it to reflect the changes that got made to the rest of the chapter rather than ditching the summary.
There may be documents where a summary makes less sens than others, depending on the number of sub-topics in the chapter and the complexity of the material.
Experienced readers will skip over them, and novices will be greatful. (They'll just never thank you.)
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