Post date: Aug 19, 2014 8:18:42 PM
Please comment below on these options (or click the pencil icon to add arguments -- don't forget to click "save" when you are done):
CURRENT ARRANGEMENT (this is a description, not an argument)
songs placed where they fit best
table of contents that has title in CAPS and first line in Initial Caps (when the song is commonly known by the first line)
filling pages -- a short song, for example, may have been placed at the bottom of a page where a regular length song would not fit
modifying formatting -- e.g. on some pages, one column has been made bigger so to get a pleasing layout for the song on that column
not splitting songs over pages
when possible, hymns have been placed in the same vicinity
ALPHABETICAL ARRANGEMENT (decision must be made on this feature = (?))
songs arranged alphabetically by title
perhaps (?) a table on contents which also give common first line identifiers as in current arrangement
songs split over pages (?)
OPTION 1 current arrangement, arguments FOR
maximized space means fewer pages to assemble, less bulk in transporting, and less printing/paper cost
pleasing layout -- attempts for balanced page layout, readability, etc.
user-friendly
during worship
users to not need to flip to another page to read the entire song
it is quickest to tell people a page number even if it is alphabetically arranged
more layout work when making a new version generally means easier to use at the time of use ("logical" placement on page is less confusing)
when looking for a particular song
people often remember a page number or place on the page where a favorite song was in a previous edition (i.e. user-friendly over time)
many people prefer to use a table of contents to jump quickly to a page rather than paging through
table of contents also includes first lines for some songs that are not commonly known by their title
users don't typically care if a book is arranged alphabetically unless they are trying to find a song by paging through
since this is the current arrangement, it is less work to keep it going than to make it alphabetical.
OPTION 2 alphabetical arrangement, arguments FOR
matches how the musician's copy is arranged
could dispense with table of contents
during worship, a song could just be announced without a page number, and people unfamiliar with the layout could quickly pick up on the alphabetical arrangement and find the song on their own
after the initial conversion to this format, it would be easy to add and delete songs for new versions
if we had a lot of song turnover and made new versions more frequently, this would be less work