Word for Mac

[Janet Attard <j -dot- attard -at- GENIE -dot- GEIS -dot- COM>]

I use Word on a Mac.. Personally, I don't think the index function
of any word processing program is good enough for indexing anything as
important as a manual or books of any length. While they are OK for
indexing brief reports, the indexing features in word processors can't
pick up concepts. All they can do is record where specific words or phrases
occur.   When I have had to index my own books in the past (currentit
publisher hires an indexer), I've used a database program, sorted the fields,
then output the data  and used it in a word
processor.  It's been a while since I did this, but I think  I used a
merge on the output to put it into word processor format, then searched for
and eliminated the page breaks. If you don't want
to use a database, you could probably accomplish almost the same thing
using Word's table function as a down and dirty database. I don;t think
you'd have the ability to easily do multiple sorts, but at least it would
organize the material. You could then go in and sort subtopics and
page numbers by hand if need be.

    -- Janet Attard -----------------
    Author, the Home Office and Small Business Answer Book
    Sysop, Home Office/Small Business RoundTable on GEnie