[OS X TeX] Indexes

[Simon Spiegel]

On 16.12.2005, at 15:39, Morten Høgholm wrote:

> On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 15:34:07 +0100, Simon Spiegel  
> <simon at simifilm.ch> wrote:
>
>> Being not an undergraduate indexer, I don't really understand what  
>> you're saying. Maybe this is just a language problem… What I want  
>> is some sort of "index" (for lack of a better word) where one can  
>> easily find names, film titles, important terms etc. Maybe this is  
>> what you mean by concordance… Of course, this can't be fully  
>> automatized, but some sort of in advance preparation would  
>> certainly be possible IMO.
>
> I think William means this:
>
> Q: Why do I need an indexer? Can’t the computer create an index?
>
> A: To exactly the same degree that a word processor can write the  
> book. Indexes are creative works,
> requiring human intellect and analysis.
>
> Q: Isn’t full-text search sufficient?
>
> A: Only to the extent that the reader searches for exactly what  
> appears in the text. In essence, the
> reader has to know it’s there before looking for it, and even then  
> won’t find synonyms or concepts not
> explicitly spelled out.
>
> Computers can no more replace a human indexer than they can replace  
> the author of the work being indexed.

If you look at my first post, I never suggested to fully automatize  
the process, but I firmly believe that some sort of UI based app  
could make it much easier.

simon

--
Simon Spiegel
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Telephon: ++41 43 535 81 71
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"I have never been certain that the moral of the Icarus myth is, as  
is generally accepted, 'don't fly too high', or whether it might also  
be thought of as: 'forget about the wax and feathers, and do a better  
job on the wings." Stanley Kubrick

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