Q. We are starting to include indexes in the books we publish here at my office. In 16.65, you say that “If many numerals occur in an index, they may be listed together in numerical order at the beginning of the index, before the As.” We include large letters at the beginning of each new section: A before the entries beginning with the letter A, etc. If we include a section of numbers before the letters, what would that section heading be? 0–9? Numbers? It looks odd not having any title.
A. If A, B, C headings don’t work well with the content of a given index, they should be eliminated. Design serves the text, and thereby the reader. The text should not be forced into a design that doesn’t work well.