atw: Re: page numbering - which style to use

There are lots of things people don't do that were once standard. 

Most people do not even know what was once considered "quality". They wont 
criticise you. They don't even know.

I always understood that the header on the left page was the name of the 
book and the header on the right page bore the name of the chapter. But 
everyone knows the name of the book, so why put it in the left page 
header? Then again if you photocopy a page the name of the book title is 
handy on the even pages.

This dual header set up is still done in some books but we can make much 
better use of the headers on pages as findability aids so why stick with 
tradition? 

I HATE pdfs with roman numeral intro pages. But then again I hate free 
pdfs as extracts of books but the pdf I print out  doesn't give me the 
name and author of the source of the pages. What a stupid way of promoting 
your book that is.

We need to rethink lots of things based on (surprise surprise) how our 
users use our products. 

Irene Wong
Publishing Manager
Office of Corporate Affairs, Sydney
Australian Securities & Investments Commission
02 9911 2601   (internally dial 22601)



 




*** 
This email message has been processed by MIMEsweeper 
*** 
This may not help your argument and you're probably already aware of it, 
but the AGPS Style manual opts for A:
"It is conventional to number the preliminary pages of a book with 
lower-case roman numerals.  This practice allows extra material to be 
added before printing without having to change the page numbering of the 
main text.  For aesthetic reasons, the roman page numbers are not printed 
on some of the preliminary pages."
 
My gut reaction is to be scared of moving away from convention, but now 
that you've made me question it I can't see why we shouldn't do B instead. 
 Especially if you have control over what you are printing and are 
unlikely to insert extra front matter.
 
It could be a bold new move in publishing Bob - go where no man has gone 
before!
 
The only argument I could think of for A was that people expect to see it 
and your materials might be seen as less professional if they don't 
conform to convention?  As always, it depends on your audience.  If they 
don't read a lot of books they may not care one way or another.

From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Trussler
Sent: Thursday, 23 November 2006 9:48 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: page numbering - which style to use

There is a debate raging in my tech writer team about what numbering style 
we should use in our documents.  We are developing new standards.
 
We currently have two choices, shown below.  Does anyone have support for 
the modern way of using Arabic numbering throughout?  I reckon that Roman 
for front matter followed by Arabic for the content comes from the olden 
days of hand publishing when the content was assembled THEN the Table of 
Contents was assembled later, so why do we need to maintain this style? 
 
(A) Keep the front matter separate from main content:
- Front matter uses lower-case Roman  with the Title page and Copyright 
unnumbered
- Rest of the doc in sequential Arabic, starting at 1.
(B) Number the whole doc in sequential Arabic:
- Whole doc including the front matter in sequential Arabic.  Numbering 
begins at 1 on the title page
- Title page and Copyright with no number displayed.
 
Thanks in advance.
Bob Trussler

NOTICE
This e-mail and any attachments are intended for the addressee(s) only and may 
be confidential.  They may contain legally privileged or copyright material.  
You should not read, copy, use or disclose them without authorisation.  If you 
are not the intended recipient please contact the sender as soon as possible by 
return e-mail and then please delete both messages.  This notice should not be 
removed.

Other related posts: