Re: Indexing Online Books: Cost Effective?

[Mark Hagen <mahagen -at- MTU -dot- EDU>]

Chuck,

>I find indexes to be great time savers when using a document or help
>system.  And with such tools as FrameMaker 4.0, which can automatically
>build hyperlinks from a generated index to the document, time during
>spent linking an index and a document are greatly reduced.  For a small
>increase in development time, I and my users get the benefit of an
>automated index.


Unfortunately, I think we are dealing with two different concepts of a
"hypertext".  (And I will admit that it could be my error.)  It sounds to
me like you are working with links within a linear electronic document.
(Though, because I have not experienced the joy of Framemaker 4.0, I really
don't know for sure.)  Indexes are valuable in linear documents, presumebly
even electronic ones.  The beauty of true hypertext (or my concept thereof)
is the fact that there is no linear underlying document;  There are only
pieces of text (or graphics, video, sound, etc. in hypermedia)  with the
only connection in the form of links.  You certainly can't have a standard
TOC or index in the format in which they exist in printed works, because
you don't have page numbers. (There are no pages.)  An itemized list of
information contained in the hyperte4xt becomes merely an extensive
entry-point selection device, and a problematic one at that.  With no page
numbers, how could you possibly deal with multiple references?  Indexes and
hypertext don't mix.

Though I could be wrong .  .  .

Mark A. Hagen
Michigan Technological University
(mahagen -at- mtu -dot- edu)