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Subject:Re: need information on use of indexes From:Janice Gelb <janiceg -at- MARVIN -dot- ENG -dot- SUN -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 9 Jun 1998 15:04:05 -0700
Marsha Finley wrote:
>
> A small group of misfits in my company, including myself, would like to
> disprove the notion that users of online documentation rarely consult
> indexes.
>
> The party-line (based on rather suspect usability studies) is
> that users prefer to use search. On this basis, our management has
> suggested that we stop devoting valuable time to indexing.
>
> Does anyone know of any studies that show how users find information in
> online documentation? If you could point me to any information of this
> type, I'd be most grateful.
>
We are trying to convince our own online documentation team that
indexes are still worthwhile online, despite the availability of full
text search, and I was pleased to hear at a few sessions at the STC
conference this year some information to back this up.
From a session I went to by Jared Pool:
* Indexes are still necessary online, since full text searches depend
on what the author included in the document (he said a search of
Smithsonian Magazine archives for "dinosaur" turned up an article
on the American steel industry but not one on tyrannasaurus rex).
Also, for web delivery, what about alternate spellings (like the
British "authorisation")?
There was also a session from someone from Work Write who said her
overheads would be available on the web but so far haven't shown up.
The presenter made some very good points about why online indexes are
necessary even with full text search capability (for example, that an
index can indicate the significance of a topic). She also discussed key
differences between online and print indexes:
* Online topics are usually retrieved rather than scanned.
* The index goes to the relevant topic rather than pointing to it.
* Readers usually access the index to solve a problem rather than to
learn a topic.
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Janice Gelb | The only connection Sun has with this
janice -dot- gelb -at- eng -dot- sun -dot- com | message is the return address. http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8018/index.html
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