RE: Chapter summaries at start of doc: yes/no?

["Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>]

Sarah Bouchier wrote: 
 
> I'm actually talking about summaries of all the chapters at 
> the beginning of the document.  The ones right before the 
> chapter begins tend to be updated, because they're more noticeable.

Ah, I see. I misunderstood -- sorry! 

What you're describing is something I might be persuaded to ditch -- but
first I'd ponder the purpose and how much pushback you might get. How
detailed are these summaries? What value do they add? Is it possible to
<gasp> ask users what they think? ;-) 

Here's another thought: If the descriptions that start each chapter are
kept up-to-date, can you use the same text for the front-of-book
descriptions? And automate it? 

For instance, in FrameMaker you could build the front-of-book summaries
from cross-references using the <$paratext> building block, so the
entire pgf (or two or three) that introduces the chapter is copied
automatically to the summary doc. Once these cross-references are in
place, any changes to the source pgfs will be reflected in the
front-of-book summaries as soon as the xrefs get updated. 

Something similar can probably be done in Word using field codes, but
it's been a long time since I did any serious work in Word. :-} 

HTH!
Richard


------
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------




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