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What
indexers wish you knew
By Seth Maislin

Seth Maislin
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Misinformation about
indexing isn't uncommon, but it continues to surprise indexers how so
many basic beliefs about indexes are so utterly wrong. Our professional
lives would be so much more pleasant if the rest of the world knew just
three basic things about the indexing process.
1. Indexing
is an editorial function.
You own a spellchecker,
so why do you continue to work with editors? That's easy. You need an
editor to correct all the stupid mistakes your spellchecker makes, along
with the 20 other good things that spellcheckers never do. Indexing,
like writing and editing, requires a human being. Search, automatic
indexers, and even simple alphabetizing tools are inferior, able to
build things that look okay but function terribly.
2. Authors can
write their own indexes, but there's no good reason for it.
Just because you're
capable doesn't mean you do it. Most of us do not grow vegetables, fill
potholes, produce movies, or whittle wood into pencils. We know to rely
on people who are efficient and qualified, because we have more appropriate
things to do instead. Indexers are highly educated people who have the
right combination of experience, training, and subject knowledge to
prepare the best product for your readers. Unless you're a professional
indexer yourselfand there are a multitude of opportunities for
you to become oneleave the hard work to the experts. Even gardeners
buy most of their groceries.
3. Many publishers
don't care about the index.
If it arrives on
time, looks good, and fits within the space allowed, the restyou
know, that whole quality thingmight be irrelevant. Even if you're
working with a company's vice president, index production might be assigned
to a recent college graduate who knows little or nothing about indexes.
Authors need to advocate for the indexes that end up in their books.
Authors should be involved in an early search for a qualified indexer,
insist on enough money and time to get the job done well, be a resource
for the indexer, ask the publisher to reserve enough book pages for
the index, and review the final product. If you don't want errors in
your book, why would you accept errors in your index?
For many, writing
an index sounds like torture, and to some it really is. On the other
hand, talking about indexing is fascinating because it's all about language
and communication and people. If you have questions about indexing,
I promise the answers won't bore you. Ask away.
Seth Maislin,
is a freelance indexer and consultant with Focus Information Services.
Email: seth@maislin.com Web site: http://taxonomist.tripod.com
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