RE: Indexes in the PDF era

["Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com>]

> From:  Erika Yanovich

> 
> Hi Whirlers,
> Before starting an initiative to improve our indexes, I consulted with
> the team leaders and to my surprise, one of the possibilities 
> mentioned
> was to not provide indexes at all. The claim was that people 
> are now so
> used to search for everything (google effect) that using 
> indexes became
> somewhat archaic. 



I totally disagree, because a good index will have terms that are *not*
found in the book but that refer readers to the appropriate place for what
they are *really* looking for . Many people don't *know* the product at all
and will not know the right words to look for. An indexer thinks like both
an experienced product user and a totally clueless new user. 

Besides, PDFs are frequently printed out and used, so what then? Unless
there's a fantastically detailed TOC, how happy would anyone be with no
index in a hard-copy PDF?

Bonnie Granat
http://www.GranatEdit.com


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include single source authoring, team authoring,
Web-based technology, and PDF output. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

Now shipping: Help & Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor,
full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up
to 106 languages with Help & Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.