TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I don't remember ever having used a table of
figures or tables to find anything... being a
decidedly text-based life form, I've always found
the subject or topic that was appropriate in a
table of contents or index, flipped to that
section, and skimmed the section until the figure
or table jumped out at me. Nonetheless, I've met
enough folks (economists particularly) who really
like these tables of contents that I consider them
a good idea.
But here's a problem: how do you index figures
that have no formal captions without going back
and adding (often unnecessary) titles to each
figure? Best I can come up with is a visual index:
provide a thumbnail sketch of each figure on the
pages following the text table of contents. Any
better suggestions?
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one
of our reports, it don't represent FERIC's
opinion.
