#10734
If you're like most technical writers, you have had little (if any) training in creating indexes for the documents you produce. Even technical writers who graduate from Technical Communication degree programs receive little or no training in writing indexes. Consequently, most technical writers learn indexing 'by the seat of their pants ' and, unfortunately, many of the indexes they produce fall short of readers' needs.
Lathrop, Lori M. Boulder Writers Alliance (1997). Articles>Indexing
#10735
Consideration in Indexing Online Documents
Printed indexes were the precursors to hypertext links. If you have good indexing skills, you can apply those skills to writing indexes for either printed books or online documents. Although locator systems are different in electronic media than in printed books, the basic principles of indexing apply to both online documents and back-of-the-book (b-o-b) indexes. Most online indexes look very much like b-o-b indexes; however, because online information is not linear, the biggest difference is that hypertext links in online documents serve the same purpose as See and See also cross-references in b-o-b indexes. Another difference is that most indexes for online documents use just one or, at the most, two levels of index entries--that is, main headings and subentries, but no sub-subentries.
Lathrop, Lori M. Boulder Writers Alliance (1996). Articles>Indexing>Online
#23654
Usability is like beauty. It is in the eye of the beholder. In other words, much of it is purely subjective. For example, what seems useful to you today might not seem as useful to you tomorrow or next week or next month. With those thoughts in mind, I designed a usability test questionnaire for one of my corporate clients. Since then, I have used the questionnaire in consulting with other corporate clients to help them evaluate their existing indexes. Also, I have made it available on my Web site – http://www.indexingskills.com/usabhtml.html - and I have given several other corporations and publishers permission to use it.
Lathrop, Lori M. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Indexing>Usability
#14647
Lathrop identifies the red flags that might indicate an uncooperative client.
Lathrop, Lori M. Intercom (2000). Careers>Freelance
#14353
Quality and Usability in Indexes 
Indexes are essentially user interfaces for product documentation and trade books. Determining the quality and usability of indexes requires many of the same considerations as determining the quality and usability of user interfaces for software products. The time and resources spent on indexing represent the most cost-effective investments companies and publishers can make. Unfortunately, the truth is that very few companies and publishers devote a sufficient amount of time and resources to developing indexes.
Lathrop, Lori M., Peg Mauer and L. Pilar Wyman. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Indexing>Usability
