Of Epub Books Better — Index

The Baen Free Library has an index of EPUBs by author (Weber, Flint, Ringo). Their index includes a "CD-ROM" directory structure—a classic, well-organized index that predates modern stores.

Sort entries based on the letters, ignoring spaces and punctuation. index of epub books better

A printed index is a round trip: you look, you flip, you read, you flip back. A digital index often traps you. After clicking an index link, how do you return to your alphabetical search? The Baen Free Library has an index of

A better EPUB index includes:

Instead of index.html#page245, a better index uses chapter4.xhtml#term-climate-change. This is called fragment identifier linking. It drops you exactly at the sentence containing the term, not the top of a fake page. When an indexer says "climate change, 245–289," the EPUB should contain 44 distinct anchors, one for each mention. A printed index is a round trip: you

To ensure the index is "better" and professional, strict alphabetical sorting must be applied.

Unlike print books, an EPUB index must be dynamic. It should not just be a list of page numbers; it should use hyperlinks.