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Re: Indexes and page counts -- how low is too low?
Subject:Re: Indexes and page counts -- how low is too low? From:Esther Wheeler <esther -at- AZURE-TECH -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 16 Jul 1999 09:58:01 -0400
Dear Anon -
I first read your numbers as "For the 740-page book I found a
> 15-page index" and thought wow, fifteen sounds about right.
Then when you said you expected at least a dozen pages I
went back.
A page and a half is completely unacceptable for a book that
long. I have a 150-page Users Guide that has a four-page, double-
column index and I plan to beef it up. I think you've taken the
right approach by going to the contractor directly first. I don't
think you'd be out of line just telling your boss that you're
meeting with him/her to improve the index. You can be more
forceful later, if needed.
And I definitely agree that good indexes are the key to making
online help useful.
- Esther
Esther Wheeler, Technical Publications
esther -at- gnnettest -dot- com
GN Nettest
63 South Street
Hopkinton, MA 01748
U.S.A.
