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Subject:RE: To Index OR not to index From:"Colin Ramsden" <colin -at- ramsden -dot- info> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 6 May 2004 00:50:07 +1000
Dear Dan.
It's a matter of usability.
I'm particularly happy to hear that you're intending to include indexes in
your manuals, however, I do have reservations that you're doing for all the
wrong reasons.
Don't do it because you think you should, or because we think you should,
even by minority vote. Do it because you have identified your user's
requirements and only when or if providing an index meets those
requirements.
Colin Ramsden.
Senior Technical Author.
----Original Message-----
Hi fellow whirlers,
Thank you folks, for constantly reminding us that we always need to prove
our worth to our employers (you know who you are, & may I say you must look
maaahvelous).
I am very grateful to Lucy, Tom, Lisa, Cheryl, Dick, Rene & Sue for your
replies. You all put me on the right track and I'll save those messages for
reference. I think it would be wise to put an index in the back of my books.
But *I* would like to do the indexes though. There's no way the bosses would
sub this out. They'd be thinking "and we pay Dan for what?". Heck I'll learn
whatever it takes to do it right. Contrary to what some believe, I think I
have good tools (Mac & Quark), I'm not an idiot (no matter what they say)
;-) so why not?
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