RE: Indexes in the PDF era

["Gordon McLean" <Gordon -dot- McLean -at- GrahamTechnology -dot- com>]

I think you should have indexes AND make sure your PDFs are web-searchable.
Cater for multiple access points, allow the reader to find information
however THEY choose too.

Just my tuppence,

Gordon McLean 

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+gordon -dot- mclean=grahamtechnology -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+gordon -dot- mclean=grahamtechnology -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
om] On Behalf Of Erika Yanovich
Sent: 19 February 2007 09:31
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Indexes in the PDF era

Hi Whirlers,
Before starting an initiative to improve our indexes, I consulted with the
team leaders and to my surprise, one of the possibilities mentioned was to
not provide indexes at all. The claim was that people are now so used to
search for everything (google effect) that using indexes became somewhat
archaic. It is true that search results are often too many and useless, but
one can search within the search results and refine the search criteria - a
process that people are familiar with. Even if a small percentage of
old-timers still use them, preparing indexes might not be cost-effective.
Took me a while to 'digest' the idea (and perhaps realize that I'm an old
timer myself), so what's you take on this?
Opinions appreciated.
Erika
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