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--- Jan Henning <henning -at- r-l -dot- de> wrote:
>
> IMHO, chapter-specific numbering is a holdover from the days where we
> didn't have automatic page numbering. It made it easier to make small
> revisions in large documents, as you had to renumber only a few pages up
> to the start of the next chapter, not everything up to the end of the
> document.
>
> So, it made things easier for the publisher but not for the reader. Since
> page renumbering is no longer an issue - with FrameMaker even handling
> cross-references automatically - chapter-specific numbering seems obsolete.
Jan, I used to feel the same way. I once argued an organization out of using
chapter-page numbering. It was a long, tough fight, but I won.
Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that the users lost. Not only were the
users accustomed to the chapter-page numbering, they managed to convince me,
after we'd done a few documents, that they could actually find information more
quickly using chapter-page numbering than they could using continuous
numbering.
The lesson for me was check with the users first. Do user testing first. If you
can't convince the users that you are right, perhaps you are not. If we're
really writing for those who will use the documents, they have to be involved
in any changes.
=====
Tom Murrell mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/index.html Last Updated 03/14/02
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