A simple way to create index in Microsoft Word Docs

1. CREATING INDEX FOR DOCUMENTS IN MICROSOFT WORD
Introduction
This is a brief description of how to create an index for a document, with ease. The larger the document the
more useful this feature becomes. This feature allows inclusion of acronyms and words which may not be
part of a standard dictionary and marks them for inclusion in the index with ease.
How this works
Microsoft Word has an automark feature (described by help Images below). This feature allows us to
specify a concordance file (similar to a dictionary). This concordance file is something that a user can
specify and primarily consists of the words we are interested in for indexing purposes.
When the concordance file is specified while using the automark feature, Word application goes through
the concordance file and builds a lookup table. It then goes through your (Word) document and marks all
the words that also occur in the concordance file for indexing. It then generates the index.
Concordance File Details
This file is a mapping file (or table with two columns and multiple rows). Each line (or row) in this file
contains two words. The first word is the word that is likely to be encountered in the document. The
second word is the word that should be used in the index when the first word is seen in the document. In a
simple case both first and second word will be the same. Example if you find "cat" in the document use
"cat".
A slightly more complex case: If you find "cat" in the document use "feline".
One can use an advanced trick - generate the Concordance file automatically (using a program). Once the
Concordance file is generated you can edit it to your taste (by eliminating words which don’t interest us).
This will help us prepare well indexed documents.
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2. Creating Index for Documents in Microsoft Word
Figure 1: Definition of concordance file
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3. Creating Index for Documents in Microsoft Word
Figure 2: How to create a concordance file
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4. Creating Index for Documents in Microsoft Word
Figure 3: Creating Index
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5. Creating Index for Documents in Microsoft Word
A indexing ∑ 1
acronyms ∑ 1 interest ∑ 1
advanced ∑ 1 interested ∑ 1
allows ∑ 1 Introduction ∑ 1
application ∑ 1 L
automark ∑ 1 larger ∑ 1
automatically ∑ 1 likely ∑ 1
B lookup ∑ 1
becomes ∑ 1 M
below ∑ 1 mapping ∑ 1
brief ∑ 1 marks ∑ 1
builds ∑ 1 Microsoft ∑ 1
C multiple ∑ 1
columns ∑ 1 O
complex ∑ 1 occur ∑ 1
concordance ∑ 1, 2 P
consists ∑ 1 prepare ∑ 1
contains ∑ 1 primarily ∑ 1
D program ∑ 1
Definition ∑ 2 purposes ∑ 1
described ∑ 1 R
description ∑ 1 rows ∑ 1
Details ∑ 1 S
dictionary ∑ 1 second ∑ 1
document ∑ 1 should ∑ 1
documents ∑ 1 similar ∑ 1
E simple ∑ 1
eliminating ∑ 1 slightly ∑ 1
encountered ∑ 1 something ∑ 1
Example ∑ 1 specified ∑ 1
F specify ∑ 1
feature ∑ 1 standard ∑ 1
feline ∑ 1 T
Figure ∑ 2, 4 table ∑ 1
first ∑ 1 taste ∑ 1
FOR ∑ 1 through ∑ 1
G trick ∑ 1
generate ∑ 1 U
generated ∑ 1 useful ∑ 1
generates ∑ 1 user ∑ 1
I using ∑ 1
Images ∑ 1 W
inclusion ∑ 1 Word ∑ 1
index ∑ 1, 4 words ∑ 1
INDEX ∑ 1 works ∑ 1
indexed ∑ 1
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