How to create a glossary of terms from a Microsoft Office 2007 word document

Question

I am almost about to complete a large word document - and I have realised that I need to create a glossary of terms section.

Does anyone know how I can create a glossary of terms in a word document?

Answer 1

Google search for a Word Glossary Template turned up this nice, long, and very informative article on How to create a glossary in Microsoft Word.

It's too long to copy and paste the whole thing, but the beginning of the article really does spell it out for you.

The simplest way to create a glossary is to type your glossary by hand at the end of your document. Word has no built-in method of creating a glossary automatically, but you can use hyperlinks or the Table of Authorities functionality to create a glossary for one or more documents.

Option 1: Create your glossary manually

This option is the simplest. Go to the end of your document, and type your glossary. You can use a table with or without borders, or you can put the term and its definition in separate paragraphs.

If you put the term and its definition in paragraphs one after the other, it is a good idea to define a style for the term (called, say, GlossaryTerm) and another for the definition (called, say, GlossaryDefinition). Set each one to be followed by the other, so that when you press Enter, Word automatically formats the next paragraph in the right style.

Answer 2

For a very LARGE document/glossary I have used a concordance programme (such freeware available at Laurence Anthony's Website) to extract a list of all words used and then weed out those not to be included, before copy and pasting those that are left into the Glossary - though I've still had to type in their definitions!