I prefer A every time, but that may be because I have been
accustomed to sending out additional looseleaf chapters as
software modules have been developed. I have also worked
where looseleaf pages are printed from the change onwards
for chapters, thus potentially changing the page numbers for
sections and subsections within a chapter. Using method A
allows for a TOC to be generated and replaced according to
the modules purchased.
Suzanne
> 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
>
>
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