Let's see . . . so they want it done but nobody above you has time to support
you. And there is a time crunch and other restrictions. Yep, heard that before.
I recall in the early 2000s using a FrameMaker-friendly program called Ixgen
that seems to me to do what you require. It worked great.
The program is apparently still alive and kicking with more info available at
http://www.fsatools.com/ixgencentral.htm
The initial license is only $249.00, which should not be a financial burden to
the university.
I hope this helps. Happy New Year!
-- Ken in Atlanta
*
On Friday, December 31, 2021, 01:45:20 PM EST, Harding, Dan
wrote:
Good afternoon,
First a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone on the list!
By way of background:
I have been typesetting an annual textbook in FrameMaker for the last 15+
years. I retired at the end of September, but that's not the cause of my
inquiry. I will be continuing to do the same work moving forward on a seasonal
freelance basis. No, the changes are to other positions in the editorial
workflow and a necessary streamlining of the processes involved.
The book that is produced, while existing in PDF formats for electronic access
by course attendees, is still primarily a printed work. We've had internal
discussions regarding discontinuing the traditional index given the labor
involved, given that people typically use Ctrl-f in the PDFs, however this is
of no use to a person who only has the printed book. Even if there is no
contextual index with content organized into entries, sub-entries, etc. (we've
typically gone 3-4 levels deep), IMO there needs to at least be an alphabetical
list of major terms/concepts with corresponding page numbers, i.e., a
"poor-man's index."
Historically, the insertion of index markers has been done in Microsoft Word
after the technical and stylistic editing is done, immediately prior to import
into Frame, with further refinement and reconciliation all done within Frame.
This insertion of index markers has been a manual process, but the position
doing this work is being eliminated, and the SMEs and editors do not have the
time in the process (or expertise) to take on this process. Outsourcing is not
an option, given the idiosyncratic industry jargon that is used; any general
indexing service or freelancer wouldn't have the background in our specific
industry to be able to effectively index the material. We've tried using
external services to do this in the past and it failed dismally due to the lack
of context by the party(ies) doing the indexing. There won't be time or
resources to take on a learning curve once we're in the midst of production or
to vet the work at that point.
I realize full well that there is an art/skill to creating an effective index.
I'm not arguing that. However, for expediency moving forward this manual
process needs to be eliminated, so I am looking for alternative automated
solutions that will get us part of the way there.
The chapters are produced at different times over a 6-month period, with
initial index entry reconciliation work starting at approximately the 4 month
mark, and the majority of the reconciliation work being done at the very tail
end of the production process immediately prior to going to press (so very
small window to complete the final work in Frame).
So I am looking for suggestions for either of the following:
1. Microsoft Word-based methods or plugins that will create a keyword/key-term
list and insert index markers that will then flow through into FrameMaker upon
import. It needs to create and insert the Word index markers; it cannot be a
manual insertion process once a list is created.
2. Script/plugin for FrameMaker that does the same after the Word content is
imported. Again, it needs to be an automated process that creates and inserts
the index markers, understanding that some refinement and reconciliation will
be needed.
If we need to incorporate the manual creation of a general terms list that
chapters are then automated against, or manual vetting of a generated list,
that presumably could be incorporated into the editorial stages prior to
typesetting.
I'm open to other suggestions, however we are not moving the typesetting
production out of FrameMaker at this time, nor are we looking to contract with
a service for this work on an ongoing basis. If there are one-time up-front
development costs that results in something turn-key and sustainable moving
forward, that would be considered, but we are looking to avoid recurring
expenses.
Thank you in advance for any input/suggestions.
-Dan Harding
___
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