FW: indexing (fwd)

["Robert E. Garland" <robert -at- JTAN -dot- COM>]

Chuck Holst wrote (on the RoboHelp list):
>
> I was told in an indexing class last year that there is no such thing
[as good indexing software].
> The reason is that indexing software typically creates an index based   only
> on the words that exist in a document, whereas a good index must   include
> concepts and synonyms as well. There's no substitute for a   thorough
> knowledge of both the material and the reader.

I know from my own experience indexing system software manuals and such
that whenever I did an index, it seemed so much better than the indexes
I tried to use in work done by others.  Some of that surely must be ego.
 However, remembering from bad experience that I could never find an
item unless I used the single magic word the indexer used, I did my own
indexing by listing every term I could think of that meant the same
thing, then putting in cross-references to the term used in the manual.
The end users really appreciated it.  They could find the information
they were seeking with much greater ease.  This was a case where a
comprehensive, useful index won out over a short, less useful one.

>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: Dimiter Simov [mailto:dsimov -at- code -dot- bg]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 1998 1:59 PM
> To: robolist
> Subject: indexing
>
>
> Can someone suggest a small, and good if possible, indexing software?
>
> Thanks
>
> Dimiter Simov
> dsimov -at- code -dot- bg

--
     Robert Garland                          Amateur Radio Station NX3S
     Hilltown Township Bucks County                         Grid FN20ii
     Pennsylvania USA                                   robert -at- jtan -dot- com