[texhax] Q: how to add introductary text to Index page one

[Fehd, Ronald J. (CDC/CCHIS/NCPHI)]

I have seen several documents and books 
with an introduction to the index:

apparently:

\newpage
\section{Index}

\onecolumn

Some test describing the index,
in particular sorting order used,
what bold entries means, etc.

\twocolumn %or \threecolumn, whichever the doc-class supports

\begin{theindex}
%index items ...
\end{theindex}

Q: How do we do this?

Based on my trial(s) and error(s)
environment theindex generates a \newpage

There is no mention of how to do this easily
in either TLC,2e or Guide/LaTeX,4e.

Do we have to write a MakeIndex style file
in order to do this?

The LaTeX Companion, 2e, pg 660:

%MakiIndex style file mybook.ist
preamble
"%??? introductory text goes here
 \\begin{inindex}\n"


Here are examples seen in 
* books:
Guide to LaTeX, 4e, pg 559

* doc in the installation:

C:\Programs\TeXlive\2008\texmf-dist\doc\latex\index\index.pdf  pg 19

thanks for any commentary on this q

Ron Fehd  the {SAS} macro maven  CDC Atlanta GA USA RJF2 at cdc dot gov