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Subject:Re: Are chapter numbes a thing of the past? From:Mike Starr <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com> To:'techwr-l List' <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:10:38 -0500
As with many other questions, the answer begins with "It depends..."
If your corporate style guide calls for them and you don't control the corporate style guide then you're stuck with 'em.
However, if your corporate style guide is under review, the most important question then becomes "does this add value for the reader?"
The next question might be "if we decide to eliminate chapter numbering, how much is it going to cost us to update our legacy documents to remove them?"
Another question might be "are there regulatory issues that might mandate chapter numbering?"
All things considered, if I'm in control of the corporate style guide, I think they're no longer necessary but if I inherit a substantial number of documents where they're already in place, I'd have to evaluate how much grief it'd be to get rid of them (including pushback from stodgy types within the organization who can't imagine documents without chapter numbers).
Mike
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Saunders, Ian wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Do the chapters/appendices in User Guides, etc. have to have numbers and letters? I was taught that they do, but understand that there a trend to move away from them. Is this true?
>
> Regards
>
> Ian Saunders
> Documentation Manager (UK)
> Syntellect Limited
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