TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: When to Index? From:Barry Kieffer <barry -dot- kieffer -at- EXGATE -dot- TEK -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:28:19 -0700
> Kalpana asks:
> When is the best time
> to create an Index....should it be once I have completed the manual or
> can I start creating an Index right now when I am 80% through with the
> manual?
>
Kalpana, there are two schools of thought on this question.
School A: If you create the Index as you go, it can be a lot less work at
the end - so to speak.
School B: If you do all of your indexing after you complete the document,
you can concentrate on the task. this makes it easier for two and three
level indexing using common words and cross indexing.
Me, I like to index as I go. Why? Well, indexing is not that much fun to me.
And I like to have a print out of the current index as I work so I can
easily cross index. And, truth be told, I can be a bit lazy, and indexing is
hard work, it takes a fair amount of concentration. My cubicle is quite
noisy, so concentration is not easy.
Try it both ways and develop your own preference.
And if you do not already have it, purchase Larry Bonura's excellent book
"The Art of Indexing", I learned much from reading this book.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Barry Kieffer
Senior Technical Writer
Tektronix, Inc.
* Phone: 503.627.4079
* Email: barry -dot- kieffer -at- tek -dot- com
