The term reasonable. I agree. However, maybe my range of reasonable is
different than yours, and I think that 20 synonyms for any term is an
unreasonable amount. At some point, I expect the reader to think of under
what other term might something be included if they don't find it on their
first guess.
John Posada
Information Hunter-Gatherer
Special Projects; Information Technology
Barnes&Noble.com
NY: 212-414-6656
John Posada wrote:
> You cannot accommodate every user however they want. At a certain point,
you
> must say no. If my user gets upset because I haven't put "way cook button"
> in the index, or if I include 20 synonyms and they can't find it because I
> didn't include the 21st one, I say tough. We're here to create solid,
> accurate documentation, not to bow to every off-the-wall whim of everyone
on
> the face of the earth.
Sorry, John--Ms. Gallagher is exactly right.
The index should include every *reasonable* synonym for the terms you index.
If you want to train the reader to use your terms (the controlled list),
then list each synonym as a cross-reference to the preferred term (as in
"trash collector. See sanitation engineer").
