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What Makes a Good Index?
A good index makes the difference between a book and a very good book.
- A good index adds "perceived value" to a book which in turn increases book sales.
Successful authors recognize that readers prefer to buy books with well written
and organized indexes, written by professional indexers.
- A good index is a mark of a serious book: written to generally accepted indexing
standards: it performs flawlessly. Readers find what they are looking for and
don't give the index a second thought. If on the other hand, the index is poorly
written, readers become frustrated and will very likely move on the the next book.
- A good index anticipates how readers will search for information; The index
provides
immediate access to the important terms, concepts and names scattered throughout
the book, quickly and efficiently;
- The index has headings and subheadings that are concise, accurate and unambiguous,
reflecting the contents and terminology used in the text;
- The index has enough cross-references to connect related terms; appropriate
alphabetization and page references format to assist with reading the index;
and
is the right length;
- The index reveals the interrelationships of topics, concepts and names so that
readers need not read the whole index to find what they are looking for;
- The index also provides terminology that may not be used in the text, but which the
reader will use for searching through the index;
- Indexes are written for people. Indexes requires human intelligence for their creation.
A
"concordance", produced by automatic indexing software, is of limited usefulness
and is a far cry from an index written by a professional indexer.
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"The index and figures of this book are indeed alone worth its whole price,
because they make it much easier to use...so that everybody who wants to
quickly find something that is contained in this little book can find it."
Quotation from book published in 1465
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