• Practical design of outlines and site maps

-- ArthurClemens - 18 Sep 2003

-- ArthurClemens - 25 Nov 2003

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Example from site xxx (date screenshot)

Example from W3C: http://www.w3.org/Help/siteindex (10 Sep 2003). In this index pages are grouped by keyword: one subject can lead to multiple pages. The index also includes see also references. The index is one long page; the letter links at the top are anchor links downwards.

Details and variations how this pattern is used in real life.

An ideal index is long, hierarchically indented and contains see also references.

Creating a classical subject index as you can find in scientific books is a laborious manual job, that takes subject knowledge and knowledge of user (search) behaviour. This is typically done by an information specialist.

Although there exist automated systems to create indexes, they have shortcomings. Computers can index pages and so create database indexes, but these rely on the exact words that are on the page, and these are not necessarily what the page is about. Advanced retrieval systems can make comparisons on the basis of word co-occurences between different documents and distill 'meaning', but they still have difficulty in putting this in context and in hierarchies.

put PNG image here
Example from site xxx (date screenshot)

Example from PeopleSoft: http://www.peoplesoft.com/corp/en/indices/site_index.jsp (11 Sep 2003).

Books and articles that are used describing the pattern.

• Sitemaps and Site Indexes: What They Are and Why You Should Have Them - Boxes and Arrows, September 8, 2003

-- ArthurClemens - 10 Sep 2003

-- ArthurClemens - 18 Sep 2003

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%META:TOPICINFO{author="ArthurClemens" date="1063189136" format="1.0" version="1.1"}% %META:TOPICPARENT{name="Patterns_repository"}% Also known as: A-Z

(Introduction) Setting the context and linking to higher level patterns.

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Literature