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Subject:Re: an indexing question From:Dave Whelan <dwhelan -at- PANGEA -dot- CA> Date:Sun, 14 Jun 1998 19:48:06 -0500
Mark asks for advice about presenting database selection information in an
index:
It depends how you structure the indexing information. If you make it easy
to find the characteristics of an item under the heading for the item, why
list characteristics in the index at all?
Let's say someone is looking for a red three-tined fork, the thing they are
looking for is a fork, so include that in the index. When they have found
the forks section, they will want to select one with special
characteristics(three tines). When they have found the three-tined fork
section, they will want to select one with common characteristics (red). I
would keep the index for the main item, then make it easy to find the
special modifiers within that item's section, then finally, I would make it
easy to find the common modifiers within that item's special characteristics
section.
It sounds as if it might be a bit difficult to navigate through your special
modifiers. If you present the common modifiers last, and in a standard way
throughout the book, your customer will make their final selection based on
a known and eventually intuitive method. This should make the last part of
the selection process easy. If your customers find the last thing they have
to do easy, they are more likely to remember this instead of the possibly
frustrating navigation through special modifiers. If so, they are more
likely to be satisfied with your indexing method.
Regards,
Dave.
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David P. Whelan,
Whelan Technical Services (204) 334-1339 mailto:dwhelan -at- ieee -dot- org http://www.pangea.ca/~dwhelan
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