Article
May 5, 2019
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by Stephen

Pascha with Papadiamantis

Photo by Pavlos Nirvanas

Christ is Risen! 

It is now a week after Pascha, or Easter according to the Julian calendar which most of the Orthodox Churches follow. It is two weeks after Easter for those who celebrate according to the Gregorian calendar.

It seems late to post a reflection on Pascha. The feast has come and gone, though in the Orthodox tradition, at least, we will continue to sing Christ is Risen until Ascension, forty days later. Today is Thomas Sunday, when the Church commemorates the Apostle Thomas coming to belief, after having a chance to see for himself Jesus Christ resurrected. It seems fitting so soon after the Feast of Feasts that we, with our short attention spans and worries, are reminded again of the resurrection and of the often intertwined realities of faith and doubt.

I initially drafted this post on Pascha afternoon, before my wife, Elim, and I headed out to a party at Elim’s godmother’s house. I have been meaning to revise and post all week, but it has been busy, so here I am, a week later. Perhaps that is fitting too, given the reflections here.

In the couple of weeks leading up to Pascha, I read the book Greece’s Dostoevsky: The Theological Vision of Alexandros Papadiamandis (now retitled Lessons from a Greek Island), by Anestis Keselopoulos (Protecting Veil, 2011). Writing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Papadiamantis was a popular Greek journalist and fiction writer, as well as a pious Orthodox Christian who was spiritually formed on the island of Skiathos, where he grew up. As an adult living in Athens, many of his stories drew upon his childhood on Skiathos, and of the spiritual life of the farmers, fisherfolk, sheep herders, and towns people. Despite writing about such a different time and place, I was pleasantly surprised how familiar the liturgical life is that Papadiamantis describes. The order of services and the hymns have not changed much in over a hundred years. 

I am also struck, having also read three of his paschal short stories, by the all-too-human situations that Papadiamantis describes. In “A Village Easter” (which you can read here), the priest, Father Kyriakos, is beset by financial worries and literally runs out of the country chapel mid-liturgy to confront his fellow priest at the church in town because he believes that his fellow priest is taking more than his fair share of the offering. Besides the specific problem of a congregation suddenly bereft of a priest and the Easter liturgy, the story also underlines the problem of clergy not being adequately paid for their work. 

In “Easter Chanter,” the chanter who has promised to come finally arrives near the end of the service. His tardiness is largely his own fault because he did not leave home when he should have. The priest is frustrated and tempted to cancel the liturgy altogether, and in the end has to improvise with his illiterate and unchurched parishioners. The story then ends with a man sneaking meat from the lamb while it is roasting, and being slyly punished in retaliation by the man in charge of the roast who should have been paying more attention.

In the most tragic story, “Without a Wedding Crown,” the disgraced Christina, trapped for years in a manipulative relationship with a man who repeatedly promises marriage and never follows through, longs to attend the Holy Week and Paschal services but is too ashamed to show her face to the other, more respectable women. Instead, Christina finally leaves home to attend paschal vespers, which is a chaotic service full of servants and nannies enjoying their afternoon off. There is also an unflattering description of the churchwarden, who in trying to shush crying babies causes an even greater disturbance. 

Yet despite these conflicts and anxieties, the joy of the resurrection does poke through. Father Kyriakos comes to his senses and returns to the chapel to finish celebrating the liturgy. He is also later reconciled with his fellow priest, and realizes that his fears about the offering was just a misunderstanding. The tardy chanter finally take his place in the chapel and helps the priest and the congregation finish the liturgy. The man punished for sneaking meat still receives a few bites of the festal meal, saved for him by a couple of the older women. Christina is perhaps the only person attending paschal vespers who understands the significance of the feast, despite her shame and oppression. 

What I like about these stories is their honesty. They acknowledge both the joy of Christ risen and the baggage that we so often bring with us to celebrate these feasts. It seems like this side of the despoiled grave celebration will always be mixed with struggle. Every year there are dramas, large or small, that I either bring with me or can see playing out in the people around me. Part of being a Christian, I think, is to learn that balance between appropriately acknowledging and mourning these ruptures, while still resting in the spiritual joy and peace that underlies all. Papadiamantis does an excellent job finding and acknowledging this balance. His stories are not about an idealized Christian life, but instead allow spiritual truths to be revealed in the midst of our frailties, doubt, and obliviousness.

Christ is Risen! A blessed paschal season to all, as we muddle our way through. 

Article
February 24, 2019
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by Stephen

Book Review: Ten Characteristics of Quality Indexes

Ten Characteristics of Quality Indexes: Confessions of an Award-Winning Indexer, by Margie Towery (Medford, NJ: Information Today Inc., 2016)

I must confess that while I bought my copy of Margie Towery’s book shortly after it was published, and while I have dipped into it occasionally, I had not actually read it all the way through until now. That was an oversight on my part, and now that I have read the book, I will be returning to it much more frequently.

I was first introduced to Margie Towery at the first indexing conference I attended, in Toronto in 2014. Towery gave an excellent presentation, in which she covered a lot of the same topics that are in this book. That presentation had an immediate impact on how I indexed, and it was actually just after that conference that I wrote the index for Strange Visitors, which later won the Purple Pen Award for new indexers. 

In this book, Towery goes much deeper into the how and why of indexing. Throughout the book, she proves that indexes and indexing are endlessly fascinating. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and her dedication to understanding the text and creating the best index possible is inspiring. I think she has the most thorough pre-index preparation routine that I have heard of, and I readily believe that it shows through in the indexes that she writes.

One of the running themes throughout this book is that of usability and accessibility. How to make the index easy to use for the reader? That, really, underlies the whole purpose of the index, which is to serve the reader as a finding aid. I wonder sometimes how often we simply follow a convention because it is in whatever guideline we are following, and we don’t think about whether it is the right convention for this particular audience. What makes Towery’s book particularly valuable is that she does discuss the why, and how it ties back to the reader. 

I was also glad to see a discussion of the em-dash-modified format. I think I first learned this format from Thérèse Shere on an email list, but it was good to be reminded of how it works and to see so many good examples of its use. The chapter on reflexivity was also thought provoking, especially the discussion on elegant additions that Towery sometimes adds to an index. This gave me a new way to approach the text as I consider what is indexable. I also appreciated her terminology for the different types of entries, particularly supermain headings and regular main headings. Having a framework for sorting through the masses of information in a book, and how that information relates to each other, is very helpful when putting the index together. Towery’s framework definitely helped mine.

Towery was also generous and extensive in her use of examples from her own indexes, which I think really adds to the value of this book, especially in the chapter on metatopics and index structure. I know I often learn best from being able to see and do, rather than just reading and hearing, so I am glad that Towery was willing to be so transparent about her own practices. 

Margie Towery is, unfortunately for authors and publishers, retired from indexing. But her book will be a lasting legacy and will be of benefit to indexers for a long time to come. It may not be the best starting point for those who are just starting to learn about indexing, as the discussions are more advanced. But for anyone wanting to improve their indexing skills, I highly recommend it. Do buy a copy if you haven’t already.

Article
December 9, 2018
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by Stephen

Book Review: Indexing Children’s Books

I recently indexed a book for children, which is a departure from my usual work. Making the project even more unique, the book was adapted from the original adult version, which I indexed a couple of years ago. I believe the book sold quite well, and hopefully this children’s version does too. It is a book about trees.

I haven’t indexed for children before, but I knew enough, from what other indexers have said, to know that some of the conventions and best practices are different. Learning to use an index is an acquired skill, which children may not have yet. Fortunately, I have on my bookshelf a slim booklet, Indexing Children’s Books, by K.G.B Bakewell and Paula L. Williams. It was published in the UK by the Society of Indexers in 2000, and is still available for purchase on the SI website. I bought the book a few years ago, when I first started to index, but I don’t think I’ve read it until now. It has proven to be an excellent resource, though. I am glad I had it handy.

The book, only 66 pages, is mostly based on a study that the authors conducted in 1997 with indexers, librarians, parents, publishers, and teachers. An additional two studies were conducted with students, ranging from what we would say in North America is elementary to high school. The book discusses both the findings of these studies—how indexes are actually commissioned and made and how children actually use the indexes—as well as how indexes should be made for children. It was quite interesting to see some of the discrepancies between what is done and what should be done, and examples of both poor and good indexing practices.

The core message is that indexes need to be easy to use. Arguably, this should be true for all indexes, including for adults, but especially for children, who may not understand how to use an index or who may be very slow in their use, being slow with spelling or alphabetization, for example. The child should be able to use the index without getting discouraged and giving up. 

One key recommendation is to use language that the children would use, which would often be simpler terms, as well as terms that may not be obvious for an adult. In a way, this is an impossible task, because how can you anticipate all of the possible search terms a user might think of? In one example given in the book, children were asked to suggest alternative keywords for the word “ice.” Terms the children suggested included water, cold, winter, icy, frost, hard, and ice cream. From an adult perspective, some of these are clearly not synonymous with ice, nor are they all good index terms as some are descriptive (terms are usually nouns), and it is unlikely there would be space in the index anyway for all these alternative terms. Still, it is a good reminder that children often approach keywords differently from adults. The indexer should consider using a variety of terms to anticipate the different ways that children might search. Multiple entry points are a must. It can also be helpful to include both general and specific terms. A reader might look under “dogs” to find information about golden retrievers, for example, and might give up if they can’t find relevant information, so double-posting is important.

Other recommendations I thought helpful included limiting the use of subheadings and cross-references (potentially confusing), as well as the use of long strings of locators (too discouraging). Passing mentions should be avoided as being discouraging and a waste of time (which is good practice anyway). Another recommendation I found really interesting was to include an introductory note explaining how to use the index. In a addition to the index as a finding aid, this turns the index into a teaching tool as well. The book also recommended a larger font size for ease of use, and had other suggestions for an inviting and readable layout. This makes the good point that an index is not simply a collection of words and numbers, or terms and locators, that direct people to information. Good design is also important for a successful index that people will want to use.

Beyond the recommendations for writing indexes and the discussions on how children actually use indexes, there were a few sections I found less useful. Parts of the book were clearly aimed at publishers, to encourage them to incorporate best practices into how they commission indexes. That is important, of course, though I am not the target audience for that. There was also a chapter discussing the National Curriculum in England and Wales, and how it relates to indexes. As someone from Canada, this was not relevant to me at all, and I wonder how up to date it is, as the book is almost twenty years old. Still, these are minor quibbles, and the book is an excellent, clearly written resource. I highly recommend it if you want to index for children. I think it’s insights definitely improved the index that I just wrote.

Article
January 10, 2017
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by Stephen

Book Review: Indexing Specialities: Medicine

Indexing Specialties: Medicine, ed. by Pilar Wyman (Information Today, Inc., 1999)

I have been curious about medical indexing since I heard Mary Russell from Australia speak on the subject at the Indexing Society of Canada’s conference in 2014. Though I don’t have a science or medical background, the way that Mary described the thoroughness and comprehensiveness of a medical index, and the logic behind medical terminology, made a lot of sense to me. Anne Fifer will soon be presenting a 3-part webinar through ASI on medical indexing (see here if you are interested), which seems like the perfect opportunity to further explore this area of indexing. First, however, I decided to finally read ASI’s book on medical indexing, which has been sitting on my shelf since last summer.

A slim volume at about 120 pages, including the index, I found the book to answer most of my questions as a newcomer to the field. It was published almost twenty years ago, however, and so I also often wondered while I read how relevant certain chapters still were.

The book is split into four sections. The first, Medical Indexers, consists of an interview with Frances Lennie, of Cindex fame, and Alexandra Nickerson, as well as a short autobiography by Shelley Greenhouse, who does database indexing. I found these interesting, the interview especially, as I felt that it gave a good sense of the different types of projects and situations a medical indexer might face, some of which I imagine is still relevant today. It would also be great to read an updated interview, to see if there is anything new in the current indexing climate.

The second section, Medical Indexes, consists of two chapters by Pilar Wyman, one looking at medical indexes which have been reviewed in The Indexer, and the other looking at award-winning medical indexes. I also found these chapters to be very helpful, as they give a good sense of the qualities that a good medical index should have, namely accuracy, thorough analysis, comprehensiveness, and usability. For me, this section is among the highlights of the book.

The third and most extensive section of the book, Medical Indexing, consists of a mixed bag of chapters on different aspects of medical indexing. The two chapters I found most relevant were Cynthia Bertelsen’s chapter, “Indexing Food and Nutrition Materials,” and Irving Conde Tullar’s chapter on all of the different issues that one might face, ranging from text structure to terminology to considerations for different medical specialities. These chapters are very much on the nuts and bolts of dealing with the content, and as such very helpful, if also a bit intimidating. I got the impression that Tullar is trying to discourage people from entering this field, and perhaps he is. As he writes, “I would not recommend that anyone think of specializing in medical indexing without first becoming a competent and time-efficient indexer. I also would discourage the indexer who contemplates devoting only a minor part of total indexing time to this speciality because it is the cumulative experience from numerous projects that prepares one to index at the requisite speed not only to meet the increasingly uncomfortable publisher schedules but to be adequately compensated for the effort and stress.”  You, and I, have been warned.

Also interesting and clearly written, though potentially less useful, are the two chapters on medical database indexing, a more general chapter by Max McMaster and a chapter by Helen Ochej on the MEDLINE database. My hesitation comes from hearing anecdotally from long-time indexers that most of their database indexing contracts have disappeared. Is this, then, still a viable field for new indexers to pursue? I have no idea, and I would appreciate clarification. Also, if database indexing is still a thing, is the technology used the same as described in these chapters? If not, then the chapters’ usefulness also diminishes, though you still get a good sense of the theory and purpose of database indexing.

Also interesting, though also possibly a historical footnote today, is Susanne Humphrey’s chapter on the MedIndEx Project, which was (is?) an attempt to automate aspects of medical indexing. Whether this actually worked, I have no idea. Googling it didn’t reveal much either, so I’m guessing it either now goes under a different name or the initiative failed. 

Lastly, there is a curious and short chapter by Gerry L. Messner on why nurses make potentially great indexers. I have no arguments with the author, and presumably this would be most useful for someone with a nursing background who is considering a career change.

The final section is on resources, consisting of another chapter from Cynthia Bertelsen and a chapter by Carolyn Weaver. I found these chapters, especially Bertelsen’s, to be helpful in knowing what types of resources I am likely to need, but given the age of the book I feel that I can’t trust these chapters to be up-to-date. I expect that I would need to do my own research to see what is still in print, if any of these resources are now available in a digital or web-based format, and what new resources might be available. Ditto for Weaver’s chapter on web-based resources, which I assume would now be much thicker.

Besides the periodic sense that material was out-of-date, I would have also appreciated more information on project workflow and schedules. A typical book for me now, indexing in the humanities and social sciences, is 200-500 pages, and I have 2-3 weeks to complete the index. How do you jump from what I am familiar with to working on a book that is say 1,000+ pages, or in multiple volumes? Tullar touches on this by saying that some projects can stretch out over many months and that he often receives books in batches of chapters, not always in order, but I still didn’t get a clear enough sense of how that worked in practice. How do you schedule your time for such a project? How do you invoice? How do you negotiate budgets or a schedule? How do you keep track of that much information? What is it like to receive disparate chapters at a time? How are long are typical indexes? Any tips for editing such a large index, so that nothing falls through the cracks? I feel like this could take up a chapter in itself, or at least a significant portion of a chapter.

For a contemporary edition of this book, I would also want to know about embedded indexing, or other forms of digital or web-based indexing. Are they now common for medical texts? Are books expected to be outputted into digital or web-based formats? I know that my previous family doctor primarily used her smartphone during consultations to check my medical records and other information. How does today’s technology affect how doctors access medical information, and how does that in turn affect indexers? Is there anything about the indexing process that is particular to medical indexing? Besides understanding the subject matter, do I also need to learn new technical skills?

I am also curious about name indexes. In theory they sound easy, and I understand that they are often subcontracted out to other indexers, but if the book is 1,000+ pages long, that is a lot of names, which could magnify problems by virtue of sheer volume. So, are name indexes common in medical texts? Any tips for compiling both a names index and a subject index for a book? Any conventions that I should be aware of? Common issues?

Despite my reservations, I do highly recommend this book, especially as there does not seem to be any competitors. There is mention in the references to a book published in 1995 by the Society of Indexers in the UK, Indexing the Medical and Biological Sciences, but that appears to be out of print. I also checked the index for The Indexer, and it appears that the last time The Indexer published an article on medical indexing was in 2009. I don’t have access to Key Words, so I don’t know if any recent articles have been published there. So beyond Anne Fifer’s new webinar, which seems a most timely addition, this book is it for resources. There is still much of value here. I also sincerely hope that ASI will consider publishing an updated edition, which can only improve upon the strengths of this book.

Article
September 14, 2016
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by Stephen

Book Review: Indexing Tactics & Tidbits, by Janet Perlman

indexing-tactics-and-tidbits-7.gifMy review of Indexing Tactics & Tidbits, by Janet Perlman (Information Today, Inc., 2016). The review first appeared in the ISC/SCI Bulletin, vol. 38, no. 2, Summer 2016. This issue of the Bulletin is currently only available to ISC/SCI members, in the Members Area, but will soon be freely available, along with all of the other back issues, here.

Indexing Tactics & Tidbits is well named, and the title reflects both its strengths and weaknesses.

Following the lead of Hans Wellisch’s classic, Indexing from A to Z (which I have not read), Perlman’s book is organized by topic in alphabetical order, starting with Aboutness and ending with Work Methods and Workflow. The format invites browsing, and I enjoyed picking up the book, opening it at random, and seeing where the topics and internal cross-references took me. The structure also lends itself well to easily searching for and focusing on specific topics that you may want to find. Information is clearly labeled by headings and subheadings, and sections are at most a few pages long.

The breadth of information covered is impressive, with several sections covering the business and techniques of indexing, including getting started, negotiations, and bidding on projects. I was glad to see sections on quality and elegance in indexes—elegance being an intriguing approach to a document that otherwise needs to be precise and readily useable. There is an interesting discussion of mashups, and, being Canadian, I was glad to see that the Professional Societies section included societies beyond ASI (though society newsletters, including the ISC Bulletin, did not make the cut under The Literature of Indexing). I also found Perlman’s discussion of her indexing workflow, as well as her interactions with clients, to be informative, as hearing from others often is. There is much in this book that justifies the Tactics in the title, which I define as a reasonably extensive discussion of the topic.

On the downside, a number of entries fall under Tidbits, which seems to me to provide insufficient discussion. Of course, a short entry alone does not indicate lack of information. I thought the four brief paragraphs discussing certification to be adequate, though some expansion on the Institute of Certified Indexers could be helpful. History of Indexing and Marketing, however, should be expanded on, and the information under Function Words could be better integrated with Prepositions or the entries for And and On.

The Tidbits feed into another aspect of the book, which is that Perlman extensively refers the reader to additional resources. In a way, the book functions as an index to the pre-existing literature, and the reader is perhaps best served by having the other resources on hand too. I think this approach is fine so long as Perlman does provide adequate discussion of the topic, along with the references. Where it falls short is when Perlman primarily refers.

I would recommend this book as a great introduction to indexing. It might be particularly useful for someone who is unsure if indexing is for them, as the format is accessible and the information presented in bite-sized chunks. For the committed or experienced indexer, there is good food-for-thought here too. Browsing might lead to rethinking an aspect of your business or craft—I am already rethinking my use of prepositions. Then again, if you already have a well-stocked indexing library, the topics covered here might be repetitious, and your existing library sufficient.