[mso] Re: Alphabetizing table of contents- how??
- From: "Anne Robson" <anne.robson@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2009 21:07:56 +0000
I think some of the confusion has arisen because of the differences between
UK English and US English added to the terms that Microsoft use to describe
certain features. In the UK we often use "table of contents" and "index"
interchangeably, whereas Microsoft assigns specific uses to them. And as
it's a "one size fits all" solution for all types of application we have
legal terms, word processing terms, desktop publishing terms etc etc and
heaven help us if we don't know which is the right term for what we
intrinsically know we want to do!
It often comes down to which starting point we came to Office from as to how
we learn it. I was a trained secretary originally and it pains me at times
to see things over complicated by folk who are computer people first and
foremost! Ultimately a book is just a very long essay In the old days we
would have typed it out manually, numbered it manually and indexed it
manually. Now we make a whole process out of what should be a quicker job.
There is often a simpler solution than what we use. the trick is to find
the simpler one at the outset!
:)
2009/1/7 James S. Huggins (mso) <MicrosoftOffice@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> ===========================
> I've hesitated about coming in on this one as I didn't want to throw a cat
> among the pigeons. But my route would have been not to start in Word at
> all, but create the info in Excel and then sort on my chosen fields before
> doing a Word mailmerge to a catalog using the Excel file as my data source.
> I've done this for years with a lot of success, so long as the field
> lengths
> don't exceed Excel's capacity (if I recall in 2000 they may have been more
> limited than more recent versions). It's a really good way to handle lots
> of data, including text (Excel is really good at handling text not just
> numbers!) and getting a professional version at the end of it. You can
> then
> set the item you want to create your index on each page with an index mark
> or link to a paragraph style that achieves the same result.
> And just to mix the metaphors, this may be a total red herring!
> ===========================
>
> Not a red herring at all. A good idea. "Database publishing" which is what
> you are describing, creates printed material out of a database, in your
> case, the Excel spreadsheet functioning as a simple database. It's a
> perfectly acceptable approach.
>
> For me, the subject of this whole discussion threw me from the beginning.
> Why? Because Tables of Contents are "by definition" not alphabetized. They
> do "by definition" appear in "page order". Indexes are "by definition"
> alphabetized.
>
> To me, the need for an alphabetized table of contents shows the need for an
> alphabetized book. You would not, for example, create a dictionary with
> words in random order, then provide an alphabetical index to find the
> words.
> Just put the information in the most natural order to begin with.
>
> At least, that is how it seems to me.
>
>
> James S. Huggins
>
>
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