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Re: To index, or not to index, that is the question.
Subject:Re: To index, or not to index, that is the question. From:Gabe Goldberg <gabe -at- CPCUG -dot- DIGEX -dot- NET> Date:Sat, 15 Oct 1994 17:02:39 GMT
Romay Jean Sitze (rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu) wrote:
: This is why I was astounded when the owner of the company for which a do a
: bit of technical writing decided that an index was not an authorized
: addition to our manuals. He seems to feel that it is not cost effective.
: I'd love some more evidence to relay as to the desirability of keeping the
: index feature in our manuals. (Our market is primarily government
: contractors, not the general public.)
I agree. The owner has it backwards: It's a waste of money to produce a
manual or technical book *without* an index. Has he ever used any
product similar to whatever his company markets? I *hate* knowing a
facility exists but being unable to find it in manual or on-line Help.
Indexing is no fun and indexing well takes a lot of iterative effort,
but it's more than the icing on the cake; it's what makes the cake
edible and nourishing.
--
Gabriel Goldberg, Computers and Publishing, Inc. ** New email addresses **
13382 Brookfield Court, Chantilly, VA 22021-2618 Internet: gabe -at- cpcug -dot- org
Voice: (703) 968-5738 FAX: (703) 502-0673 Alternate: gabe -at- acm -dot- org
