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Creating Usable Indexes: Editing Indexes for Quality and Usability
This presentation was designed for:
- Editors who evaluate indexes prepared by others
- Writers who inherit indexes and want to know whether the quality is up to par
- Those who work in a shop that publishes periodic releases of a set of manuals
- People who analyze the state of their indexes
The material presented examples from real-world technical indexes that illustrate common flaws. Participants did not leave knowing everything there is to know about indexing, butwere better able to review an index and identify common errors without ever having to read the indexed material.
During this session, participants learned, among other things:
- Proper formation of entries
- Correct use of cross references
- Providing multiple access points to information
- Drawbacks of computer-generated indexes
- Logical organization of topics
About the Speaker
Richard (Dick) Evans has over thirty years experience in the computer industry. He has been, at various times, a computer operator, programmer, systems analyst, technical writer, and human factors engineer. In that last role he became interested in indexing while conducting usability tests on indexes for telecommunications manuals, though he contends that his interest goes back much farther, to his earliest computer experiences when he struggled to find critical information buried in volumes of computer manuals.
Evans retired from corporate life in 1992 and started Infodex Indexing Services, Inc. Now he specializes in indexing computer books for both corporate clients and publishing houses, as well as providing workshops that teach technical writers about indexing.
Dick, a senior member of the Carolina Chapter of STC, received the Distinguished Chapter Service award in 1999. He is a past president of the American Society of Indexers (ASI) at both the chapter and national levels.
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