Is an index necessary?
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"The absence of an index ... is surely a lamentable failure on the part of the publisher and one that will hamper its use" (anon - reviewer of theology book)
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Short answer - yes.
Slightly longer answer - are you kidding me?
How many books have you read in your life? How many have you gone back to again and again in the course of your search for enlightenment? And how many of those had an index - good or bad? How many that didn't have an index did you reject as useless?
All non-fiction publications need an index. An index is a map to the knowledge locked into the pages of a publication - electronic or paper. In this world of information overload, how are we to break it down, bring the reader to the information they seek? How will they know the nugget of enlightenment that you have buried within your creation?
All non-fiction publications deserve an index. Without one, its life and use is limited. Those seeking to be enlightened will be put off by not having an easy way back into your text. They may not even pick it up in the first place if there is no index. Without looking at the index there is no way of finding out what is contained in the text.
Detailed contents page? True, but can a detailed contents page pin-point a particular fact, person, subject that is not in the title of the chapter or section or paragraph?
Do your readers and yourself, as an author or editor, a favour and commission an index for your work, however long or short, general or specialised it is.
Slightly longer answer - are you kidding me?
How many books have you read in your life? How many have you gone back to again and again in the course of your search for enlightenment? And how many of those had an index - good or bad? How many that didn't have an index did you reject as useless?
All non-fiction publications need an index. An index is a map to the knowledge locked into the pages of a publication - electronic or paper. In this world of information overload, how are we to break it down, bring the reader to the information they seek? How will they know the nugget of enlightenment that you have buried within your creation?
All non-fiction publications deserve an index. Without one, its life and use is limited. Those seeking to be enlightened will be put off by not having an easy way back into your text. They may not even pick it up in the first place if there is no index. Without looking at the index there is no way of finding out what is contained in the text.
Detailed contents page? True, but can a detailed contents page pin-point a particular fact, person, subject that is not in the title of the chapter or section or paragraph?
Do your readers and yourself, as an author or editor, a favour and commission an index for your work, however long or short, general or specialised it is.