I've built a small number of indexes (indices). I would say for some products or for a certain audience an index might not make sense. If the manual is arranged in an order that makes sense to the reader, a table of contents (TOC) might be adequate. Some audiences would never think to look into an index or even know how to use one. Some very short manuals wouldn't benefit from an index. I would say anything under a dozen pages could be flipped through quickly enough that an index would be a waste.
Having said that, spending a couple days to a week to build an index could be very beneficial to some readers. Even with the best audience analysis, you'll undoubtedly have people that don't fit the mold and would be the first person to want to dive into the index. With a program like Frame, building an index isn't too difficult. In environments where documents are mostly in a maintenance or evolutionary mode, I'd certainly consider adding an index. In environments where you're producing a majority of all-new materials on a regular basis, it would be harder to include an index. Of course, if you're doing indexes on a regular basis, you'd get much faster at it as you go. Actually, I really enjoyed building my first index so much that I thought about specializing in that type of work. I think I'm glad I didn't, but I'd think about it for extra income. Thomas Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lisa M. Bronson (TCP) Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [TCP] Indexing How many of you do indexing as a part of your job? Where I work, we unfortunately do not index our manuals. My predecessor told me that we have such a detailed Table of Contents that we don't need one. Now, I disagree with that idea, but am faced with the reality that in the 8 years I've worked here, there has only been one time that I haven't been swamped with just keeping up with day-to-day work. What about the rest of you? Do you index your manuals? Have a great week! Lisa B. ______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com -- your 3D documentation community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
