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Subject:Re: Too short for a TOC From:Laura Bean Warner <laura -dot- bean -at- DELTEC -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 10 Jun 1997 12:53:52 -0500
Methinks I have been misunderstood. I'll clarify. I was advocating
using a TOC in most cases, except if the document is very short and the
information is sequential or the order is very intuitive. Using a TOC
or not, in that case, depends on the information. If the document is
short and the information is not sequential or the order is not very
intuitive, then I would use a TOC.
Laura
(laura -dot- bean -at- deltec -dot- com)
>----------
>From: Ridder, Fred
>
>Hmmm...
>I think I may actually hold the exact opposite view from Laura. It
>seems to me that if a document is long enough to have structured headings
>(chapters/sections/sub-sections, numbered or not), it's long enough to
>have a TOC. Even in case of a short document, the TOC provides a
>useful overview of what information is contained in the guide.
>
>Fred Ridder (f -dot- ridder -at- dialogic -dot- com)
>Senior Technical Writer
>Dialogic Coproration, Parsippany, NJ
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Laura Bean Warner [SMTP:laura -dot- bean -at- DELTEC -dot- COM]
>>Sent: Monday, June 09, 1997 3:17 PM
>>Subject: Re: Too short for a TOC
>>
>>I think it depends on the nature of the information and how often the
>>user will be referencing it. If the information is somehow sequential
>>or otherwise logically ordered, then the TOC may not be necessary. (Of
>>course that means it is logical to someone who is less familiar with the
>>information than you :-) But, if the information more of a general
>>collection of stuff one might need to know, I would probably use a TOC.
>>I, personally, prefer opening up a manual to the correct page rather
>>than having to page through to find the information I want, especially
>>if I reference the manual frequently.
>>
>>Laura
>>
>
>
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