News & Views Book Review
| Indexing Resources News & Views Book Review |
Indexing Resources by Cheryl Cherry Originally published in News & Views May 1997 issue.
Copyright 1997 STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter. For permission to reprint
this article, contact the Managing Editor.
| You have written the definitive work on installing and operating widgets. In case of a mission-critical widget failure, can the emergency response team find the information they need? They can, if you provided a first-rate index to the document. Here are some resources for strengthening your indexing skills. Teach yourself the basics with Indexing Books by Nancy C Mulvany (University of Chicago Press 1994. ISBN 0-226-55014-1 $29.95 320 pp.). If you are only going to read one book about indexing, this should be the one. Mulvany, a professional indexer who also teaches indexing, describes the whole process of producing a back-of-the-book (b-o-b) index: "a conceptual map that directs readers to specific portions of the text." She covers the intellectual aspects of term selection, considering exhaustivity and specificity, as well as nitty-gritty details such as arrangement, punctuation, and spacing. Her discussions of the intellectual tasks in b-o-b indexing also apply to indexing on-line documents and periodicals. In addition, Mulvany provides information on the business of indexing. This info is useful for freelance indexers and for those hiring them. (Most b-o-b indexes for commercially published books are written by freelancers working at home. More and more corporate technical publications are also being indexed by outsiders.) She tackles the hot topic of software packages that purport to replace the indexer in the intellectual part of the task. (Bottom line: The human brain can’t be replaced yet.) She also discusses the value of software aimed at assisting the indexer. These tools, such as MACREX and CINDEX, help manage of the details of producing the physical embodiment of the indexer’s intellectual effort. Dig deeper into specific aspects of indexing with Indexing From A to Z Second Edition, by Hans H. Wellisch. (H. W. Wilson 1995. ISBN 0-8242-0882-X $40.00 569 pp.) Once you know enough about indexing to have questions about specific issues, this book is a valuable reference. The book’s only drawback is its arrangement. Instead of the linear approach used by Mulvany, Wellisch’s book is arranged alphabetically by topic, reducing its usefulness to the beginner. Wellisch provides information on indexing various types of material. He discusses topics related to both the intellectual and the practical sides of indexing. Take a look at the history and philosophy of indexing with Indexing, The Art of, by G. Norman Knight. (Allen & Unwin 1979. Out of print, but available on interlibrary loan; Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library owns a copy.) The late Norman Knight was very concerned with the intellectual aspects of indexing, and much of what he wrote about term selection is still applicable almost twenty years later. Some of his guidance on the mechanics of indexing is now outdated, but anyone planning to tackle a newspaper indexing project will still find his discussion of the topic useful. Research standard practices in the Chicago Manual of Style 14th Edition (University of Chicago Press 1993. ISBN 0-226-10389-7 $40.00 921 pp. Indexing chapter available separately: ISBN 0-226-10388-9 $10.00 65 pp.) Many publishers have no indexing guidelines; they simply say "follow CMS." Get advice from professional indexers through the listserv index-l. The discussions focus primarily on b-o-b indexes, but some participants index on-line documents and periodicals. Traffic usually ranges from four to twenty posts daily. Without fail, a request for help with a specific problem is answered by one or more index-l-ers. Some of the advice comes from highly respected "big names" in indexing. (Warning: Occasionally the threads drift off-topic when freelancers working at home use the listserv as their "virtual watercooler" during mental health breaks!) To subscribe, send an e-mail message to listserv@bingvmb.cc.binghamton.edu. The subject line should be blank, and the body of the message should contain the text subscribe index-l. Join an organization dedicated to indexing, the American Society of Indexers. The national group holds an annual conference, and publishes booklets, papers, and the newsletter Key Words. The local chapter meets three or four times a year. ASI members have a range of interests: natural language indexing, indexing using controlled vocabularies, and thesaurus development and control. These areas of interest apply to b-o-b, on-line, and periodical indexing.
Take a correspondence course, Basic Indexing or Applied Indexing, from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Graduate School. Part theory, part guided practice, these courses are considered by the indexing community to be a good way to learn fundamentals. The instructors are professional indexers. The basic course was designed by Nancy Mulvany.
Cheryl Cherry (a member of the American Society of Indexers) is a freelance writer specializing in process control and software documentation. |
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Last updated: May 18, 1997 (rst)