While it is common to find a table of contents at the beginning of the book and an index in the back of the book, actually placement has no bearing on the difference between these two. Contents is a sequential listing of items contained within a publication and an Index is an alphabetical listing. There may be several different forms of Indexes---words found in a publication, Index of Authors, of Articles, of References ... etc. but each Index is an alphabetical listing ... and non-sequential.
It is a good idea to refer to the index when looking for specific terms, proper nouns, or concepts within the content that may not be easily identifiable in the table of contents. The index provides a detailed list of topics with page numbers for quick reference and navigation.
Index is like just arrangement of important topics on front or index page. It gives just reference to the topics you included in the index through mark entries.
But Table of Contents include only Titles. So. if you mark any line in Table of contents you will have to format it in heading or u can choose heading style from Home ribbon in word.
The major diff. is that through table of contents u can Make link to the page where this topic has been written. you just need to press Ctr + Click u will move to the exact position without moving in the entire document. Though in index u have to move to entire document to reach a specific index location.
An index helps you to find something specific, such as a particular person, whereas a table of contents directs you to the general topic of a given chapter.
In Microsoft Word, you can find the table of contents and index features in the "References" tab. This tab includes tools for creating a table of contents, inserting footnotes and endnotes, as well as generating an index for your document.
They are different because the index gives you a guide and the table of contents gives you the page numbers
Table of Contents and glossarythe index and table of contents (APEX)Using the index
1.A table of contents is a list of the parts of a book or document while an index is a list of important words, concepts, and other useful materials in a book or document. 2.A table of contents is located at the beginning of the document usually after the title page and copyright notices while an index is located at the end of the document. 3.Only those documents that are more than ten pages must have a table of contents while any document can have an index. 4.The contents in a table of contents are arranged according to their appearance in the document or in sequence while the contents of an index are arranged alphabetically. 5.There are many professional indexers while there are no professional table of contents creators.
The table of contents is at the front of the book. You would find an index at the back of a book.
Both the table of contents and index are parts of a book that help readers locate specific information within the text. The table of contents lists the main sections and chapters in order, while the index lists specific keywords and page numbers where they can be found.
table of contents
In regards to a non fiction book the table of contents goes in front, content in the middle and the index goes in the back
In a table of contents
The Table of Contents is the outline of the contents of the legal document, just as the Table of Contents in a book is the outline of the contents of the book. The Table of Authorities is the index of all books, cases, and laws cited (referenced) in that legal document to substantiate the arguments it contains. Both the Table of Contents and the Table of Authorities are used and formatted according to the Rules of Court for local, state and Federal courts.
Table of Contents Index
The index or the table of contents.