This blog posting concludes the discussion on ethics in indexing. Ethical issues are concerns that compel professionals to think about doing the right thing. Janet Perlman includes a section, “Ethics and Professionalism,” in her book, Indexing Tactics & Tidbits: An A-Z Guide, Information Today, Inc., Medford, NJ, 2016, pp. 41-44. On March 25, 2015, Heather Ebbs presented an American Society for Indexing webinar on “Ethics in Indexing.” She focused on a number of scenarios highlighting ethical situations that indexers might face.
In all the cases, Ms. Ebbs said, communication with the client is key. The indexer has a responsibility to the reader, the publisher, and the author. To resolve differences, “communication is huge.”
If an indexer encounters biased language, Ms. Ebbs said she has an ethical obligation to the reader. In addition, Ms. Perlman describes how bias in indexing may occur from the inclusion or exclusion of material. An indexer may create more entries for material or points of view that she agrees with than for those she disagrees with. This may be done without her even realizing it. Or, an indexer may be aware of her disparagement of a certain point of view and intentionally create no entries for that material, or fewer entries than the text warrants.
The indexer should also adhere to business ethics and a code of ethics. I discussed the American Society for Indexing’s Best Professional Practices for Indexers in a previous blog posting.
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