I was recently prompted to think about what advice I would give myself as a new indexer. My indexing origin story is that I was largely self-taught. How I index has definitely changed over the years, both through trial and error and through learning from other indexers at conferences, the… Read More »Advice to Myself as a New Indexer
I recently received the longest list of terms from an author that I have ever received. The list was so long that I immediately contacted the publisher and explained that even with the extra space I had already asked for and received for the index, there was no way that… Read More »Dealing with Authors and Their Lists of Terms
Indexing is so often about following the rules, but today I want to write about breaking the rules. Specifically, the alphabetical sort that is often the basis for organizing entries. Force-sorting is when an entry is deliberated taken out of alphabetical order and placed elsewhere in the index. This can… Read More »Do’s and Don’ts for Index Force Sorting
Subheadings are, I would argue, essential for a good index. Not everyone would agree, apparently, as evidenced by the indexes one finds with long strings of locators with perhaps the odd subheading tacked on at the end. But as a way to deliver additional information to the reader, and to… Read More »Index Subheadings Q&A
Words matter in the index. This may be stating the obvious, but I think it is worth repeating. The terms and phrasing used need to be readily understood by the user of the index. The text, of course, is the first place to look for terminology that can be transposed… Read More »Translating the Text for the Index
Last week I tried to puzzle my way through the concept of editing the index while the entries are being created, as opposed to saving most of the editing for the end of the indexing process. As I wrote, some indexers say that they save a lot of time by… Read More »Editing the Index on the Go Redux
With our income as indexers often proportional to the amount of work we can complete, efficiency is key. I want to consider today a practice that I know some indexers use, which is editing as the index entries are created. In theory—and I have heard some indexers say they manage… Read More »Editing the Index on the Go
I have been reluctant to write about metatopics. It is already extensively discussed by Do Mi Stauber, Janet Perlman, and Margie Towery in their books, as well as, I assume, elsewhere. Appropriately handling the metatopic is also one of the trickier aspects of indexing to master. I am not sure… Read More »Why Correctly Identifying the Metatopic Matters
Last week in my recap of the Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation conference I alluded to business change, which is a difficult subject to write about. Change is inherently disruptive, as it usually involves some kind of ending as well as a new beginning. Change also affects the web… Read More »Business Changes Ahead
I am home from the Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation’s conference in Ottawa, back to working on an index that is due ASAP while also trying to recover from a few packed days at the conference and a late flight home Sunday night. I do enjoy the conferences—one of… Read More »ISC/SCI Ottawa 2019 Indexing Conference Recap