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Subject: RE: [dita] Groups - DITA 1.1 Issue #45: Add See, See Also indexing elements (IssueNumber45.html) uploaded
Hi Paul and Chris,
I have been writing this the last few days. I was going to add more but
I'll send it out now.
JoAnn
Indexing use case:
Basic index structure:
Primary term
Secondary term
Tertiary term
A basic index requires three levels of terms: Primary, secondary,
tertiary. Some indexes may consist of more than three levels but that is
not recommended as a best practice.
"see" index structure:
A "see" index reference is designed to refer the reader for the
controlled vocabulary term used in the text. Typically the index term is
a synonym or is otherwise equivalent to the controlled vocabulary term.
The index typically does not list a page number for the synonym but
refers the reader to the controlled term for the correct page number.
"see also" index structure:
A "see also" index reference is designed to suggest an additional
controlled term in relationship to the target controlled term. The
target controlled term does include a page reference. Typically you
don't mix see and see also structures. The see also reference should
occur with the target index term rather than with the synonym.
"page range" index structure:
Indexers use page ranges to indicate that an important, high-level topic
is covered over a number of pages. Page ranges are applicable to books
rather than HTML or help systems that refer to topics rather than
sections of books. This requirements may be difficult to implement
through a range of topics in a map or a bookmap.
"index sort":
Index sort sequences may vary and cause problems with translations. Many
indexes in languages other than English tend to be incorrectly sorted
because of characters that do not occur in English. The tendency is to
misplace these characters at the end of the sort rather than where they
belong in the minds of the readers of the target language.
"index term linking"
We can look at this in two ways, which reflect best practices in some of
the more sophisticated index tools. First, as an index is being edited,
a best practice is to link the index term and a single page number back
to the actual index term embedded in the text. The reason is to find and
correct the index term (spelling, change level, etc). Second, for an
automated index, you want to be able to go from the index term in the
final rendering to the page in which the indexed content occurs. In help
indexes, that index items go to the topic level but in PDF indexes, the
link should go to the paragraph level or as close to the actual index
term placement as possible.
JoAnn T. Hackos, PhD
President
Comtech Services, Inc.
710 Kipling Street, Suite 400
Denver CO 80215
303-232-7586
joann.hackos@comtech-serv.com