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Subject:Re: Contents at a Glance From:WandaJane Phillips <wjp -at- WRITELIVELIHOOD -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 16 Jul 1997 08:17:33 -0400
John Glenn wrote:
>Salan asked: Are two TOCs useful?
>
>For /ME/, a tech manual's TOC usually is a waste of paper.
>When I want something from a manual, I start with the index.
>The only time I refer to a TOC is when navigating an
>electronic document.
I usually start with the index, but sometimes the index is (uh, politeness
hat on) not useful. Then I move the TOC.
When I'm in a hurry, a long TOC is a pain. But I don't think I really like
the cascading TOC (high level, lower level). If a high level TOC and the
index don't get me what I want, I usually begin screaming, but then when I'm
done I will try scanning different sections for *hits* on my list of keywords.
I don't mind more detailed TOCs at the beginning of a section that contains
several chapters, but I don't really need individual TOCs for each chapter.
A bit of overkill. If the chapter is so huge that the reader needs a TOC to
navigate, the chapter is too big.
WandaJane
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