Merge Multiple Doc Styles?

[Karen Robbins]

Hello Frame Gurus,

I'm rather new to the list so please bear with me.

I have a book containing 12 files. Over time (starting before I ever 
worked with these files), each file's paragraph style sheet has been 
modified so that now the book's styles are a sea of inconsistency. 
Using Paragraph Tools I can reduce the mess to what's actually in use 
and eliminate what I don't need. I still need to re-name/spec what 
remains more consistently.

To get one file's formats into another, I know I could import 
paragraph formats to individual files. But I would have to re-create 
all the formats in one document first (even though they already 
exist, spread throughout several documents). Will this give the same 
result as if a single merged style sheet had been applied to all 
files in the book? Is there another (more 
effective/efficient/reliable) way?

Anticipating your wisdom....

Karen