Table of Contents
A table of contents indicates the page at which each chapter starts. In many
cases the table of contents also covers some of the divisions within each
chapter. As a general rule, to assist the reader the contents should at least give
the first level of headings within each chapter. Sometimes it will be appropriate
to give more levels.
Sometimes a table of contents is the only finding device in a text. This
happens, for example, with texts that are notes to accompany seminars as
opposed to texts for general sale. In these cases especially, there is
considerable advantage for readers in providing a detailed table of contents –
this incorporates all levels of heading or at least several levels. (This also has
an advantage for the writer – this assembly of headings provides an account of
the structure of the text and enables them to check the structure.)
However, a highly detailed table of contents can obscure the basic structure of
the text, which a less detailed table will usually reveal. It is, fortunately,
possible to procure the best of both worlds by supplementing the detailed
table of contents with the addition of another table that precedes it, a simple
table of chapters.
While the table of contents functions as a finding aid, it also functions as a
summary of the text in point form. Obviously the more levels there are in the
table the better it functions as a summary. This can assist a reader or entice a
browser to become a reader (or better still, to become a purchaser).
Index
An index enables the reader to find something in the text by furnishing an
alphabetical list of items and the numbers of the pages of the text on which
they are referred to. Typically entries are nested to some extent in that a main
entry will contain one or more levels of specific items.
An index can be made more user friendly by two devices. (i) One consists of
cross references. This gives the reader one or more other likely places to look
for the item that they wish to study. (ii) The second is double listing of some
items. (a) This can be appropriate when an item is listed as a subset of another
entry in the index. There may, however, be readers who want to find the item
and would not easily think to look under the particular heading. In this case the
item can be listed a second time as a major or first level entry. (b) This is also
appropriate when an item logically fits under two categories so that it is a
subset of both. By making the item a separate first level entry, the reader can
find all references to it in the one place.
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