My original plan for today was to write about indexing Oxford University Press (OUP) titles, of which I recently indexed two. I will still reflect on OUP, but as I was writing this, I realized that my main issue with OUP’s system is its impact on cognitive load. So partway… Read More »Cognitive Load and Indexing Oxford UP Titles
An index is a document that is scanned to find information. It usually spans several pages. But if you had to break an index down into its smallest part, what would that be? An index is not like most books or documents in that it does not contain a narrative.… Read More »The Building Blocks of an Index
Happy New Year! How is this first full week of 2025 shaping up for you? I am having a slow start. I enjoyed unplugging from email and work for two weeks. I’m also recovering from a cold. December was crazy busy, wrapping up nine indexes, which included a children’s book,… Read More »Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025
So the 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style dropped in September. I have to admit I have not bought a copy. While I think their recommendations are solid, I find I don’t use it very much, since I only index and not edit. But I do know some… Read More »Making the Index Invisible
I am writing today about some decisions that I needed to make on a recent index. In the grand scheme of the index, these decisions only affected a few entries. I am tempted to brush these off as not very important and not worth discussing. Yet much of indexing is… Read More »Paying Attention to Terminology
Last time I wrote about reading like an indexer and what it is I do and look for when reading a text and writing the rough draft of an index. Today I’d like to reflect on my editing process. A few months ago I started tracking my time when I… Read More »My Index Editing Process
So you are sitting down to write an index. You scroll to the first page in the PDF, or, if you’ve printed out the proofs, you place the first page on the desk in front of you, and then…what? What is your thought process? How do you decide what entries… Read More »Reading Like an Indexer
Living in Canada and regularly working with a number of Canadian presses, I’ve had the privilege, since I’ve begun freelancing, to index several books relating to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. There seems to be a growing trend in Canada to publish books by and about Indigenous Peoples. I’ve also… Read More »Indigenous Terms and Names, Indexing
In my last post, I wrote about my two golden rules for marketing and building a client base. Today, I want to write about money. If you are a freelancer, or are thinking of becoming a freelancer, I assume at least part of your motivation is to earn an income.… Read More »Money Advice to Make Freelancing Easier
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you are probably aware that indexing can get pretty technical. Details matter. Creativity works best when interwoven with the rules and conventions that make an index tick. All that to say, today’s reflection is going to get geeky. East Asian Names… Read More »East Asian Names, Deep Dive