The last word: indexers, indexes and indexing for editors - Nicola King

Editor's Notes

• #3: Ask for essential qualities of good index before showing next slides. Mulvany details on resources sheet.
• #5: Now some quotes about indexers. These quotes are on the handout.
• #11: How to brief an indexer [style issues – next slide]   how much space available? If you are unsure of the length of index required, the indexer will probably be able to help you if you send a sample chapter. How many pages? how many columns per page, lines per column, characters per line? Sample of a previous index in same format is useful. Do you want more than one index? Sometimes if there’s a lot of place or personal names a subject index can be overwhelmed and it easier for the readers to use the index if separate indexes are supplied. Software allows us to do this easily but it should be asked for before starting. Some indexers set up indexes so they can be split at the end and may offer separate indexes if they think the index needs it. how much of the document is to be indexed? e.g. prelims, footnotes, illus. etc. Delivery date – nb expect to pay more for a rush job. And of course, the fee. So much possible angst can be avoided by getting everything agreed at the start.
• #13: Other points [if time – no slide] who should the indexer contact with queries? proofreading by the indexer Sylvia Beach the proprietor of Shakespeare and Co in Paris. Well known enough that it needed checking outside the text. Publisher ignored it and it was picked up in a review as an example of proof reading not being good enough. King Edward and Queen Mary made a royal visit, at which they expressed regret that such magnificent paintings were leaving England. [The year was 1908] King Edward reigned 1901 to 1910 his wife was Alexandra their son was George V, who married Mary of Teck.
• #15: Slide 1: do you have to read the book? Answer: more or yes less – but you get used to reading in a particular way to pick up what you need. Picking out subjects but not necessarily following the argument (brochs article)   Lots of different ways of working; but most indexers   look quickly through the whole text and get an overview make entries – some read and mark up the proofs first, others read and make entries in same process without marking the proofs, some work from pdf only, no hard copy edit and finalise the index Slide 2: do you have to understand what it is about? The indexer has to understand the book – you can’t make an intelligent index if you don’t understand the subject matter – that’s why it’s important to find an indexer with appropriate subject knowledge, particularly for academic books. e.g. Stained glass Slide 3: do indexers work on-screen or from hard copy? Some and some. Use of pdfs - almost all indexers will use them these days, for searching, for cutting and pastings. Two screens useful. Examples of my marked up text: next slide. Slide 4: how can computers help?   Most nowadays use a dedicated computer program like Macrex or Cindex or SKY which takes out the drudgery – sorting into alphabetical order, typing repeated headings, checking cross-references, etc. More on this later.
• #17: A preliminary to doing some quick exercises in choosing what to include in an index. Basic guidelines for student indexers. DK guidelines cover much of this: Ask yourself what the reader is likely to want to look up. Avoid entries are that are too general or just unlikely to be helpful to the reader. For example, in a book about climate change there was an entry for “responsibility”; such references need to be weeded out by editors. [BUT THEY SHOULDN’T BE THERE ANYWAY IF THEY CHOOSE A PROFESSIONAL INDEXER! ALWAYS CONSULT THE INDEXER BEFORE TINKERING]
• #18: This is the first para of a chapter about Gertrude Davenport (also imaginary!) What would you index here? What would you not index? Davenport, Gertrude yes Victoria, Queen no Eastbourne probably accountants probably not – doesn’t give useful info about accountants teachers ditto Austen, Jane no – well-known trap! Cambridge, Newnham College yes Novelists?
• #19: What is the implicit subject in this paragraph? WW1 What else to index? London Probably lots of other refs in the book, so yes Title of the book Useful as entry on its own, and/or under author’s name? People may remember one but not the other. (This ties up with bit in their guidelines about indexing works of art) autobiography/autobiographical novels? nb test matches
• #23: New indexers sometimes pepper indexes with unnecessary cross-references. Indexer needs to know the subject to get this right.
• #24: Locators only at target entry.
• #25: Locators at both entries. Need to know your subject.
• #26: Much easier for user, esp. less academic who may not understand what see also means – but pitfalls for indexer (need to put same locators in both places)
• #27: 4 and 5 are already at birds
• #29: First version is ISO 999 preference. [what do DK do? check] Second allowed by ISO 999 for long entries.
• #30: Cross-references needed for persons known by more than one name. Leads us on to stuff on personal names. (All on handout too – so skip through next few slides if time short)
• #31: nb make xx from inverted form if you think reader will look there. Needs of reader are paramount. Reference books for names: UBCIM Names of persons. Indexer centrepieces – professional indexer will know to look there. Part of professional’s expertise
• #33: Locators in ebooks can take you directly to the word or phrase without having to hunt around.
• #34: Numbers should follow the convention outlined below: entry 23–24 entry 124–25 entry 103–05 i.e. generally NOT single numbers after elision (unless we’re talking about pages 1–9 of the book) [i.e. not quite Chicago or Penguin] Exception 1: on some large books with very long indexes where space is an issue, a single digit after the en-dash, rather than two, may be more appropriate, as long as it’s used consistently throughout the index. Decide before commissioning. [i.e. Hart’s Rules] Exception 2: see notes on DK younger children’s indexes at the end of this guide.
• #35: Strings are bad because readers can’t remember a lot of random numbers. Usually 5 or 6 maximum, up to 7 or 8 occasionally, some publishers require fewer so maximum of 3 or 4. Depends on the audience.
• #36: Space can be a determining factor, also if entries involve numbers it is better with two spaces after the term i.e. space exploration, star names. Decide before commissioning, but no big deal if needs to be changed later if the indexer is using software.
• #37: These you do need to decide on in advance, not so easy to change in software.
• #38: 9/11 gets multiple cross refs
• #39: What are the pros and cons? Upper: easier to scan Lower: takes less space Nb use of semicolons Run on is possible with 2 layers of subheadings but it is cumbersome.
• #41: What’s the difference? w-by-w: takes account of the spaces between the words, alphabetizing each word separately (a hyphen counts as a space) recommended in BS ISO 999 l-by-l: ignores spaces and hyphens and alphabetizes straight through Widely used, particularly in scientific and medical indexes Pros and cons – why do we need two ways? See next slide. Hyphen = space
• #43: Word by word and letter by letter
• #44: Note that Chicago Manual of Style says ignore hyphen in word-by-word – i.e. cat-ice would file after Catholic church. (Same applies to slashes – none here.) cat-ice is a think sheet of ice from which the liquid water underneath has receded or drained off.
• #46: Filing order needs to make sense to the user, who won’t think about the rules. Can be complicated! If you are puzzled, please don’t just assume the indexer has made an error – ask them to explain. Biographies – often in the order of the life.
• #47: Importance of clear organization. nb this is all on the handout.
• #48: Tailored to target readership – important to know what this is. Double entries, cross-refs Boxholt story- prob omit
• #49: An index is a structured sequence - resulting from a thorough and complete analysis of text - of synthesized access points to all the information contained in the text. The structured arrangement of the index enables users to locate information efficiently.   Nancy C. Mulvany, Indexing Books. University of Chicago Press, 1994 (and 2005?) Indexers like pattern-making.
• #50: Impartiality difficult in a controversial book. Subject knowledge >> stained glass
• #51: There wasn’t anything on pages 131-132 about pigeons, it was about field telephones in the version I had. I don’t know if they changed the text at all in v1. In V2 there still wasn’t anything about pigeons on pages 131-132.
• #52: Indexer didn’t know to indicate notes – discussion of Open University on page 40 is in the notes should be indicated which note, note 89.
• #55: What’s this book about? Can you tell from this page? It’s a book I bought last year that was indexed by the author and is a fine example of what can go wrong if you let an author do their own indexing and they don’t really know what they are doing. Some authors are great, some less so.
• #58: What is the reader to think about this? Are the subs somehow more important than the main? Did the author/indexer think they were more important? Holland Park chapter 353-401 – not broken down into subheadings, how is the reader to know what it is about? Ranges over 8 to 10 pages, depending should be broken down with subheadings. Lord Holland statue – possibly not even worth mentioning -
• #59: Usefulness is in the eyes of the reader – it can be easy to index by findspot, but it more useful to indicate the type of finds being grouped together. May need to use a thesaurus to group thing successfully. Logical order depends on context – biographies and biographical details in the order in which they occurred in the person’s life, or in a book about modern language teaching the languages could have subheadings for each school stage: early years, KS1, KS2 etc.
• #60: Over complicated and unnecessary.
• #61: Software automatically ignores and, as, on etc, but some entries need to be rewritten to get the important bit up to the front. Also need to group together related things.
• #63: Book is a series of papers about glass. The chapter on gold-glass is pages 22-40 with an appendix of finds on pages 41-43
• #65: French, 12 There a mention of the fear of the French at the bottom, but it’s in brackets – could be a passing mention? Might not need an entry of its own. The subject of the paragraph is actually ‘ war, impact on transportation’ – and there is an entry for war. But what else is on page 12? First paragraph there are six mentions of a woman called Hannah and one about Sarah Roberts. Page 11 tells us that 21 year old Hannah Gorman was convicted of stealing boots, shoes, pillowcases and handkerchiefs Do Hannah and Sarah appear in the index? No they don’t. Female convicts? No. Women? No. Early Career Researchers busily unpacking hidden women’s history. Still hidden. She has an entry for children (child convicts) who were transported, but nothing to show that the book talks extensively about women convicts and free settlers and their relationships with the men they left behind, the convicts, and the settlers and the new families they started. The author had decided to only include the names of people she thought readers would ALREADY KNOW. So Defoe, Dickens but not the potentially unknown. If you were interested in your family history would you want to find out who she talks about? Is your great great grandfather/mother in the book or not? 150 people named as either convicts or something to do with the convict system – gaolers, ships’ captains, warders, guards etc. 100 men and 50 women.
• #66: Do cross-references work? [check a few; and n.b. an index lacking xx is suspect] Do double entries match? i.e. are the page numbers the same? e.g. agriculture 34, 56, 93; farming 34, 56 [if not suggests careless editing – they have to be checked at the last stage] [n.b. an important part of the indexer’s job is to second-guess the reader and add entries or xx from all likely entry points]   Are subheadings in a logical order (if not alphabetical)? [e.g. chronological]
• #67:   Is the layout consistent?   No – punctuation all over the show. Is the text indexed consistently? [The hardest thing to check, but v. important. Are the concepts you’d expect to find included? Look up some at random.   [Leise et al suggest: Go over about 10 pages of text and try to find subject matter from that section in the index, in various alternative places :Japanese whaling industry: whaling, Japan, commercial whaling industries, etc. Do this for at least two 10-page sections per 100 pages.]   Is the introductory note helpful? [do include it if provided!]
• #69: If the indexer isn’t being asked to check the indents, please get check them yourselves. Turnovers should be indented further than the last sub heading
• #70: Column breaks – include in style guide, generally best avoided? – Sub-entries may be split across column breaks; where a list of sub-entries breaks across a column, repeat the entry heading at the top of second column, like this: Japan cont. railways 334 shipbuilding 356 watch out for slippage due to changes and knock-on effects of adding continueds.
• #71: MISS THESE 2 SLIDES OUT PROBABLY The larger type version in column 2 has two more turnover lines and is thus more complicated to read as well as taking up more space.
• #73: Last slide but one. Indexers make errors just like anyone else in the publishing process, though generally they have a very low tolerance level for errors and check very carefully - obsessively so! Remember, the indexer has lots of experience about how best to arrange things, so whatever they’ve done is probably very carefully thought out.   Consult the indexer if at all possible – see next slide.
• #74: and des). Useful for the indexer to know, anyway – they don’t get much feedback.   If you think there are more serious problems, approach the indexer tactfully:   Ask questions – do not make accusations. You may have misunderstood something. Give an example of something you want changed – the indexer will be able to make the changes throughout the index (sometimes globally). Don’t tinker with the index file yourself – if a lot needs doing, it may be easier for the indexer to go back into the indexing program anyway. See below. [Arnia’s index – author took out some entries but left all cross-references. Sam’s index – author wanted every place on every map indexed when not relevant, would have made the index as long as the text.] Moral rights: From website, 2016: [copyright is ours unless signed away; moral rights can’t be signed away] An indexer is entitled to assert moral and/or economic rights in accordance with copyright legislation. Most indexers have cordial relations with their publishers, but in this era of formalization both indexers and publishers should be aware of their respective rights. The following clauses embody indexers’ rights under current English law, and are suitable for incorporation into the contract between indexer (‘supplier’) and client (‘publisher’). They cover copyright and moral rights and restrict the use of the index (‘Product’) to that specified by the owner. 1. Ownership/licence to use 1.1 The publisher acknowledges that any copyright or other rights subsisting in the products of any of the services hereunder (‘Products’) shall belong to the supplier absolutely. 1.2 The supplier hereby grants to the publisher a royalty-free licence to use the Products for the full copyright period subject to such a licence being limited to: 1.2.1 the purposes set out in the publisher’s order; 1.2.2 the media specified in the publisher’s order; 1.2.3 the territory specified in the publisher’s order. 1.3 For the avoidance of doubt the publisher has no right to alter the Products without the prior written consent of the supplier. 2. Right to be identified The publisher hereby agrees that the supplier shall have the right to be identified with the Products and undertakes to identify the supplier with the Products when exercising its rights pursuant to clause 1.2. 
• #77: Good chapter on indexing in Butcher’s Copy-editing gives guidance on index assessment. Indexing for editors and authors: Chapter 9 – ‘Editing an index without tears’ – is particularly good. Copies on Amazon at silly prices in March 2019