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Subject:Re: Subjects You Missed (Long Post) From:Lori Lathrop <76620 -dot- 456 -at- COMPUSERVE -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 14 Mar 1995 08:03:53 EST
In response to Ellen Adams (INTERNET:ellena -at- TOLSTOY -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM):
Ellen -- I didn't respond to your original posting. However, after
reading your proposed curricula, which looks quite good, I would suggest
that you find a way to include indexing technical documentation.
Unfortunately, most technical writers (even those who have degrees in
technical communication) do not learn how to index what they write until
they're on the job. And then, of course, they learn by the seat of their
pants, and the indexes they produce are usually not *quality* indexes.
BTW, indexes can be a real help in usability testing because they can
show:
- organization problems, when information is scattered
throughout the document
- imbalances in the way topics of the same weight and
importance are discussed in the text
- inconsistencies in terminology.
I teach a two-day Indexing Skills Workshop for Technical Communicators at
client sites throughout the U.S. and Canada, and I've allowed some of the
information from my 72-page Participant's Workbook to be placed on STC's
FTP site at ftp.clark.net.
Also, if you want a good textbook on indexing, I'd recommend _Indexing
Books_ by Nancy Mulvany, published by the University of Chicago Press.
Lori Lathrop ----------> INTERNET:76620 -dot- 456 -at- compuserve -dot- com
