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In the midst of this interesting thread, let's not forget that John
asked for our input on some specific questions.
>(1) Is it best to use dot leaders in the table of contents? The Chicago
>Manual of Style says don't use them.
My department uses leaders in our TOCs because it's too easy for your
eye to skip down a line to the wrong page number without those little
dots to guide you. Of course, we also have all our page numbers aligned
on the right side of the page, not immediately following the title, like
CMS does. I just took a brief look at all the manuals on my desk, and
90% of them use dot leaders.
>(2) What information is most useful in headers? Is it useful to put the
>title of a manual in the header?
IMO, the header is most useful for variable information, such as chapter
and section titles, because the eye naturally goes to the top of a page
first. I think document titles are better in footers.
>(3) If one uses both chapter and section titles in the header, what should
>be their position on alternate pages?
There are lots of variations. If you don't want your headers to look too
busy, maybe do the chapter title on the left-hand page and the section
title on the right hand page.
>
>(4) On what pages should headers be omitted? The Chicago Manual of
>Style says don't put them on first pages of a chapter or major section, or
>on pages where a table or figure takes up the whole page.
Makes sense to me.
>
>(5) What information is most useful in footers?
We put the page number and the document title in our footers.
Hope this is useful,
Cindy
cmetzger -at- dukane -dot- com
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