Chapter 3 - Indexing guidelines

Abstract

This chapter provides detailed guidelines to indexing everything from acronyms to master indexes to “see also” tags. The chapter covers indexing guidelines on abbreviations, acronyms, articles, back matter, capitalization, cross-references, front matter, interface components, keyboard shortcuts, master indexing, nesting, page ranges, prepositions, procedures, product names, scheduling, “see” references, “see also” references, system messages, tools, and topics. Positive and negative examples are provided for each guideline. There are three kinds of abbreviations—common abbreviations, common abbreviations, and uncommon abbreviations. The best strategy for indexing abbreviations is to index the abbreviations and the words they abbreviate. Articles are essential to sentences because they indicate whether the nouns are specific things or just a group of similar things. Articles clarify the meaning of sentences and make reading easier. Although they are essential to sentences, articles are deadly to indexes because they take up physical space without adding any real value. Master indexes are what result when two or more indexes are combined. Normally a master index is created only for books that are sold together as a reference set. These reference set indexes are extremely valuable to users who are looking for an answer to a specific question but don't know which book in the reference set contains the answer.