ANALYTICAL INDEX.
The purpose of the editors in the preparation of The New Student's Reference Work has been twofold—to give an accurate, up-to-date, and interesting treatment of all subjects of value to teachers, students, and general readers and to make readily available all such information. To complete the work so well begun in the choice and treatment of subjects and in the general arrangement of facts in the various articles, a complete analytical index has been prepared and will be found at the close of Volume V. The advantage of this Index may be briefly stated as follows:
(1) The selection of the subjects, which should be treated in separate articles, is the first task in the making of a reference work. Where a subject is not treated separately, however, information concerning it may be included in an article on another subject. At once it will be seen that without some means of locating such information much that is of value would be lost to the reader. Here the analytical index comes to his aid. An illustration of this point is found in the subject "Mosques" on Page 2477 of the Index. Here is a word of which the full meaning can be determined from any good dictionary. It is not, therefore, necessary to use space for that. There are, however, some important Mosques, the location of which is of value to the reader. These are all mentioned in other articles. By simply grouping in the Index the pages on which reference to "Mosques" is made all the information desired is obtained, needless repetition avoided, and space economized.
(2) There is a saving of time and needless annoyance by the use of the Index in being able to find the subject desired, irrespective of the title under which it is treated. For example, one may desire the biography of an author, but is only familiar with the pen name. Take for illustration "Marion Harland." In the text on Page 1892 the biography is given under the real name, "Mary Virginia Terhune." The Index, however, gives both names and proper page reference as follows:
- Page 2455 of the index, Harland, Marion, (Mary Virginia Terhune) : 1892.
- Page 2505 of the index, Terhune, Mary Virginia (Marion Harland) : 1892.
Thus one knowing the author under either the pseudonym or real name could find the biography as readily as though both names were known.
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