I love subheadings. They add so much to an index, breaking down long strings of locators into smaller chunks, highlighting meaning distinctions, and gathering related entries into lists so readers only need to search in one place. As I discuss in my last reflection, subheadings can also reflect the story… Read More »When Subheadings Are Not So Useful
Local history can be both a joy and a challenge to index. It can be deeply personal, both for those telling and writing the stories, and for those reading, as it reaffirms our bonds with each other and with the places we belong. The index is often the first point… Read More »Indexing Local History: Stories I’ve Been Told Series
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
Where do you put potentially embarrassing or upsetting information in an index? The information is true. It is discussed. It qualifies as indexable. But where and how should it appear? I faced this question when I received feedback last year from Adele Weder, the author of the biography Ron Thom, Architect:… Read More »Index Profile: Placing (Hiding?) Sensitive Entries
My book is officially launched! It is a surreal experience to put the book out into the world. Today, I am still sitting at home, writing an index for a client. Not much has changed in my day-to-day life. Most of the work of finalizing the book and uploading the… Read More »Publication Day! And Why I Wrote a Book About Indexing
What can main headings be composed of? Main headings, which kick off an entry or array, usually describe a single person or thing. It could be a name, or a government agency, or a physical object, or a concept. It is concrete and identifiable. Which is what we want in… Read More »Index Profile: Tracing Complicated Relationships in Main Headings, in The Other Great Game
Ever struggle to find the right term to use in the index? I do. From an indexing standpoint, ideally the vocabulary used in the book is clear and consistent, making it easy to extract terms and phrases to use as main headings and subheadings. Bu not all books are so… Read More »Index Profile: Untangling Terms in Rediscovering the Goodness of Creation
Will AI replace indexers? I think a lot of indexers have that question lingering in the back of their minds, similar to professionals in many industries. The standard answer against artificial intelligence is that indexing is complex and nuanced enough that only a human, with good reasoning and judgment, can… Read More »Hello AI, Goodbye Indexers?
I think every indexer will, at some point, experience a baptism by fire from updating a previously written index. It is tedious. It is time-consuming. It is mental gymnastics trying to get into the mind of the original indexer and trying to figure out what has changed. My first freelance… Read More »Updating an Index: Worth It or Not Worth It?
I want to shift focus this week to a thought experiment. Fiction is rarely indexed—I have never been asked so far. Yet as an avid reader of fiction, I have often thought about the potential advantages and what the challenges might be. I have blogged before about indexes for fictional… Read More »Indexing Fiction: Thoughts and Suggestions