In book indexing, we normally treat names and subjects similarly in terms of looking for significant mentions as opposed to automatically including all mentions of either category of terms. But if we do get a request from a client for every mention of a term, that request is normally focused on names. And not just […]
Embedded and Hyperlinked Indexes
The embedded index The embedded index is an index where the entries have been inserted into the content of the book. Embedded indexes have been around for decades, but they’ve been quite clunky until just a few years ago. With tags marking the entries, publishing software such as InDesign or word processing programs like Microsoft […]
The Power of Affiliation
I still remember my first ASI (American Society for Indexing) conference in 1992 (long time ago). I was pregnant with my second child at the time, and the conference happened to occur in nearby San Antonio, Texas. This conference and the affiliations I was able to create by being there are what launched my book […]
Book Indexes: Too Much or to Little?
In a recent post we discussed the problem of “passing mentions” related to names in indexes and the strings of “undifferentiated locators” that may result. This problem applies to any topic covered in the index, though, not just names. When you put the two together (passing mentions and lots of page numbers) you have the […]
Why Are Book Indexes So Inconsistent?
Why are book indexes so inconsistent? All the different variations create all kinds of questions. The short answer is that every index is a custom job. One of the first things new indexer mentees notice when I’ve asked them to evaluate an index from their own point of view is that there are so many variations […]
Indexing Names: Passing Mentions
All professions, whether they admit to it or not, develop specialized vocabularies—jargon, terms of art, whatever you want to call them—and indexers, to whom vocabularies are the bread and butter, are no exception. Last time on the blog, Joanne wrote about a couple of basic errors to look for when evaluating indexes. The first one she discussed […]
