Readability in a Quality Scholarly Index

July 15th, 2014

A quality scholarly index must be accurate, consistent, comprehensive, concise, readable, reflexive, audience-sensitive and elegant.  In the last few blog postings, I have discussed accuracy, consistency, comprehensiveness, and conciseness.  In this blog posting, I will focus on readability as a factor in a quality scholarly index.

What is readability?

Webster’s defines “readable” as “able to be read easily; legible; interesting to read.”  Synonyms for “readable” in a thesaurus include intelligible, interesting, legible, and meaningful.

Hallmarks of a readable index

A key function of an index is to recreate a text using clear, concise, alphabetical pieces of information that direct the reader back into that text.  Readability, related in part to the ease of navigating an index (usability), is developed in a number of key ways:

  1. The metatopic, the main topic of the book, and structure must be clear and navigable.  A visible metatopic structure aids to support or redirect reader expectations, which may be based on a review of the table of contents and book description or a quick flip through the text.  Many readers expect to find an entry for the main subject.  Indexers can use that to gather general bits of information as well as to send the reader out to the most important headings in the index.  A table of contents approach may be useful for some texts (i.e., index main entries reflect the wording of the table of contents or use cross-references to get readers from that wording to more appropriate main headings).
  2. Parallel structure within the index, where appropriate, aids the reader’s movement within the index and thus from the index to the text.
  3. Consistency in topic treatment is important, also (e.g., in terms of both depth and equality of treatment, as well as wording for similar main headings).
  4. Format issues require different handling for indented versus run-in style indexes.  For example, in a run-in style index, long entries should be broken down into more readable chunks.
  5. The meaning of every index entry must be instantly obvious.  Readers should not have to spend time trying to figure out what a main or subheading means.  This is why function words are necessary in many cases, despite the trend to delete them.
  6. The first word should be the most important in the subheading.
  7. An index must translate jargon in some way, for those readers less familiar with the subject matter of a particular book.

Future blog postings will discuss other factors of a quality scholarly index.  For more information about readability in a quality scholarly index, consult the article by Margie Towery, “Readability: Creating Better Indexes, Part 1.”  Heartland Chapter of the American Society for Indexing Newsletter, Spring 2012  http://www.heartlandindexers.org/readability.html

For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

 

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Conciseness in a Quality Scholarly Index

June 14th, 2014

A quality scholarly index must be accurate, consistent, comprehensive, concise, readable, reflexive, audience-sensitive and elegant.  In the last few blog postings, I have discussed accuracy, consistency and comprehensiveness.  In this blog posting, I will focus on conciseness as a factor in a quality scholarly index.

Conciseness, defined

Webster’s defines “concise” as something “marked by brevity of expression or statement; free from all elaboration and superfluous detail.”  The National Information Standards Organization states in its Guidelines for Indexes and Related Information Retrieval Devices to “use terminology that is as specific as the [text] warrant[s] and the indexing language permits.”

Indexers must present an organized structure in an index in as concise a manner as possible while at the same time maintaining clarity and comprehensiveness.  Specificity may be sacrificed for conciseness.  Conciseness may be sacrificed for clarity.

Comments on conciseness

A concise index does not necessarily happen from the beginning of the indexing process.  An indexer may start with longer subheadings than what she will end up with in the final index.  In using longer entries at the start, the indexer can more easily see how to condense and be more concise in the editing stage.  One of the challenges in writing concise indexes is in maintaining clarity in the relationship between the main heading and the subheading.  In maintaining conciseness, the indexer should opt to use everyday language whenever possible, although the index must include the author’s terminology.

The indexer must find a balance between comprehensiveness and conciseness, favoring one over the other, depending on the text, deadline, publisher’s guidelines, and other factors.  The appropriate balance lies in how these factors fit with the text at hand.

Future blog postings will discuss the other factors of a quality scholarly index.  For more information on conciseness in a quality scholarly index, see the article by Margie Towery, “Comprehensiveness and Conciseness: Creating Better Indexes, Parts 4 and 5.”  Heartland Chapter of the American Society for Indexing Newsletter, Fall 2013 http://www.heartlandindexers.org/comprehensivenessconciseness.html

For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

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Comprehensiveness in a Quality Scholarly Index

May 3rd, 2014

A quality scholarly index must be accurate, consistent, comprehensive, concise, readable, reflexive, audience-sensitive, and elegant.  In previous blog postings, I have examined accuracy and consistency in quality scholarly indexes.  In this blog posting I will explore comprehensiveness as a factor in quality scholarly indexes.

Comprehensiveness, defined

Webster’s defines “comprehensive” as (1) “covering completely or broadly; inclusive” (as in a comprehensive study), and (2) “having or exhibiting wide mental grasp” (such as comprehensive knowledge).  The National Information Standards Organization’s Guidelines for Indexes and Related Information Retrieval Devices list the functional characteristics of an index, one of which is that an index must “indicate all important topics or features … in accordance with the level of exhaustivity for the index.”

Comprehensiveness is related to exhaustivity, specificity, and depth of indexing.  “Exhaustivity,” writes Hans Wellisch in Indexing from A to Z,  “refers to the extent to which concepts and topics are made retrievable by means of index terms.”  An indexer should check to see that all the topics, concepts, people, and events in the index are findable.

Specificity refers to “the extent to which a concept or topic … is identified by a precise term.”  The indexer should also check to see that all the topics, concepts, people, and events in the index are findable by precise terminology.  Wellisch adds that depth of indexing is the “product” of exhaustivity and specificity.

Comprehensiveness is one of the characteristics of a quality index.  The index must represent all of the material within a text, including front and back matter when appropriate.

Comments on comprehensiveness

If the author felt that something was important enough to include, then an index must also include it.  Authorial digressions should be included for an index to be comprehensive.  Moreover, a user may remember some piece of information related to the digression and search under the entry for that digression.

Related to comprehensiveness is the consideration of the ways a user might “name” and search for something.  Comprehensive indexing should consider diverse audiences who might use the index.  This entails, for example, creating multiple entry points for any given information.

For more discussion on comprehensiveness in quality indexes, see Margie Towery’s article “Comprehensiveness and Conciseness: Creating Better Indexes, Parts 4 and 5.” Heartland Chapter of the American Society for Indexing Newsletter, Fall 2013, http://www.heartlandindexers.org/comprehensivenessconciseness.html

For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

 

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Consistency in a Quality Scholarly Index

April 5th, 2014

Consistency

The eight qualities of a scholarly index are that it must be accurate, consistent, comprehensive, concise, readable, reflexive, audience-sensitive, and elegant.  I discussed the first factor, accuracy, in the last blog posting.  Consistency, the second factor comprising a quality scholarly index, is the focus of this blog posting.

“Qualifiers,” the parenthetical additions that clarify a main entry, must be used consistently throughout an index.  Qualifiers provide helpful information to the reader, without cluttering up the index with unnecessary details.

Smith, Jane (Joe’s mother)

Smith, Jane (Joe’s sister)

Indexers can incorporate consistent inconsistency, for example, in a text that includes many place-names.  A book about California might have asides about little-known places in other states.  Qualifiers could be included for the non-California place-names.

Bakersfield

Deming (N.M.)

San Diego

When possible, main entries and subentries should be consistent in terminology.  For joint main entries, parallel construction may be used:

immigrants and immigration

suffragists and suffrage (not the reverse)

Subentries should follow parallel construction.  Consider the following:

Smith, Jane: career of; education of; sexuality of

Doe, Joseph: education of; occupation of; sexuality of

Are Smith’s career and Doe’s occupation similarly considered?  If so, then the same subentries should appear under each.  This makes it easier for the reader to follow the entries in the index.  Consistency is a factor that indexers must balance in aiming for quality.

The number of subentries and page locators is another point in which consistency is important.  The indexer must decide on the number of page locators allowed to stand without subentries, depending on the structure and length of the index.  This could be 5, 6 or maybe even 8.  Another issue of consistency is balanced treatment when pulling entries from the text.  For example, a book on science education could have entries for “curriculum,” “creationism,” and “evolutionism.”

Finally, “connectors” and prepositions should be used consistently.  Words such as “and,” “of,” “versus,” and “as” should be used consistently in constructing subentries.

railroads: fruit production and; lumber industry and

fruit production; railroads and (not and railroads)

Other factors that contribute to a quality scholarly index will be explored in future blog postings.  For more information on consistency in a quality scholarly index, see Margie Towery’s article “The Quality of a Scholarly Index: A Contribution to the Discourse” in Indexing Specialties: Scholarly Books, Information Today, Inc., Medford, N.J.: 2005, pp.81-94.

For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

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Qualities of a Scholarly Index

March 9th, 2014

Scholarly books are the books that are published by academic presses.  A good quality scholarly index, according to Margery Towery, must be accurate, consistent, comprehensive, concise, readable, reflexive, audience-sensitive, and elegant.  This is the first of a series of blog postings on these principles comprising a good quality scholarly index.  I will first examine accuracy in an index.

Accuracy

At the very minimum, page locators should be accurate.  But more than that, accuracy requires indexers to digest the textual content and create an index that mirrors that content.  Page locators should not just show a page range, if it includes tables and figures in the middle.  In addition, page numbers, in order to be accurate, must also be consistent, at least where possible.  If a text discusses four countries and there are tables of statistics for each country, then the index should reflect that:

Afghanistan: statistics on, 34

Pakistan: statistics on, 98

Consequently, the accuracy of page locators includes preciseness of information and consistency in gathering and presenting that information.

Floating page numbers, lone page numbers that follow a main entry, are discouraged.  Following is an example:

cats, 11, 34; caring for, 14-15; number of legs, 45-46; scent glands of, 56; tails of, 92

What do these lone floating page numbers mean, anyway?

There are exceptions, however.  In scholarly books and many trade and textbooks, a chunk of page numbers on a particular subject may follow the main entry.  This shows that an extended discussion of the subject occurs within this page range.

yoga, 13-34; hatha,  16 (and more subheads)

In a quality index, accuracy should also be reflected in the choice of specific terminology.  As always, subentries should be accurately worded.

For more information, on the qualities of a good scholarly index, refer to Margery Towery’s article, “The Quality of a Scholarly Index: A Contribution to the Discourse,” in Indexing Specialites: Scholarly Books, published by Information Today, Inc.: Medford, NJ, 2005, pp.81-94.

For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

 

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Indexing Historical Documents

July 18th, 2013

A seminar on “Indexing Historical Documents” was held on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at the annual conference for the American Society for Indexing at San Antonio, Texas.  Kate Mertes, owner of Mertes Editorial Services, and winner of the ASI Wilson Award for Excellence in Indexing was the leader of the seminar.

A good index mediates between the languages of the author and the reader, providing a common ground on which different terms for the same concept can be coordinated and relevant relationships are revealed.  But an index to an historical document must also mediate across time and space, countries and cultures; uniting author, translator, editor, and reader, all of whom may come from separate centuries.  In this seminar,  we looked at the challenges of indexing materials written between the classical period and the early 20th century, balancing the need to remain true to the usage of the original text with the importance of serving modern readers.

Titled “Holding Hands with the Past,” this seminar focused on indexing historical documents as artifacts of a particular place and time.  Dr. Mertes, who holds a PhD in Medieval History, said there may be a problem of language for the historical book, with a different language for the original author, editor, translator, and modern editor.  There may also be a problem of meaning, with words changing drastically in meaning through the centuries.  The terminology may be different with an older text having many different terms, such as those describing the Civil War.  There may also be a problem of names.  She said as a rule, follow the text.  Use the most common modern name and include cross-references.  She said that Romans didn’t do name reversals.  Only since the 18th century, the 1700s, have names been reversed.

“When in doubt, double post,” she said.  “Consider your audience.”

Dr. Mertes focused on what was indexable in historical documents.  Time markers such as wars or kings, that are simply references, would not be indexable, she said.  She gave the audience exercises to practice identifying what was indexable in sample passages.

“You need to reach out across the divide and hold hands with the author when you index these historical documents,” she said.  “The index is a historical document in and of itself.  It reflects current times.”

For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

 

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Technology and the Indexing Process

June 16th, 2013

“Technology and the Indexing Process,” was a seminar held on Friday, April 19, 2013 at the annual conference for the American Society for Indexing at San Antonio, Texas.  The seminar was led by Kate Mertes, the 2013 ASI Wilson Award winner for the most outstanding index of the translation of Montesquieu’s My Thoughts.  In the seminar, Dr. Mertes focused on technology, which affects the way we index.  From perforated strips of index cards to embedded indexing, she discussed how technology has affected the intellectual process of indexing.

While in college, Dr. Mertes completed her first index for a student’s thesis.  She said she was limited by technology.  She first used notepads, writing subject headings on sheets, and then organized the sheets on a wall.  But later she used index cards, as she built up a sideline of completing two to three indexes a year.

Indexing on index cards had a long turnaround time.  One subject heading would be written on one card, then all the cards would be alphabetized.  It took two weeks for something that indexers could now do in four days, she said.  She called this the Stone Age.  She was using an electric typewriter with perforated strips of index cards, when indexing software like Cindex was developed.

“We were able to produce a lot more entries a lot faster.  You could go back and look through the index and change things in groups, she said.  “It radically changed the way we indexed.  It speeded up the intellectual way you could move through the book.”

With indexing software, as an indexer she could produce much faster and produce much more.  There was a greater initial accuracy in matching of duplicate main headings and subheadings.

Then with embedding indexing, “technology took a step backwards,” she said.

“I really felt like I had gone back to the Stone Age, indexing in Framemaker,” she said.

Embedded indexing uses a unique markup system, locators for markup in the text, in which tagging is turned into an embedded system.  Embedded indexing hyperlinks the page locators in the index with their tags in the text.  It is time-intensive, taking twice as much time as indexing the text, she said.

A better embedded program is needed, she said.  Tech people decided that the word is the entry.  While this works well with a name, it doesn’t work as well with conceptual indexing, she said.

She described CUP methods of indexing, the embedded indexing used for the Cambridge University Press, for which she has compiled indexes.

Future blog postings will focus on other seminars at the annual conference of the American Society for Indexing. For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

 

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Digital Trends Task Force Update

June 1st, 2013

During the annual conference for the American Society for Indexing (ASI), held in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday, April 19, 2013, a Digital Trends Task Force (DTTF) Update was given as part of the Plenary Session.  The co-chairs are David Ream and Jan Wright.

The mission of the ASI DTTF is to gather information about changes in digital publishing practices as they affect indexes.  Also, members of the DTTF strive to interface with leading digital publishing companies, e-Reader hardware and software suppliers, standards developers, and industry partners to find solutions to ensure inclusion of usable indexes in nonfiction digital book formats and e-books.  Another mission of the DTTF is to inform ASI members regarding digital trands in a timely manner so that indexers can prepare for and participate in technology-driven and process changes.

Members of the DTTF have been working to develop EPUB 3 Indexing Standards, as covered in the last blog posting.  Noting that functionality for indexes for e-Books was broken, members of the DTTF worked with leading software developers such as Adobe in digital publishing.  The next version of Adobe InDesign, Creative Cloud, currently available by subscription, will offer embedded linked indexes for e-Books.

The DTTF used four keywords to describe the approach to the development of e-Book indexes: monetization, discovery, navigation, and metadata or aboutness.

Future blog postings will cover other sessions at the ASI conference.  For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

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Indexing in the Age of e-Books

May 6th, 2013

A Plenary Session, held on Thursday, April 18th at the Hotel Contessa during the annual conference for the American Society for Indexing focused on “Indexing in the Age of e-Books.”  Joshua Tallent, chief e-Book Architect for Firebrand Technologies, gave the presentation.

“Indexes are at a crossroads,” he said. “The worst thing you can do is keep on doing the same thing.  The time is ripe for change, and you are uniquely suited for the challenges ahead.”

As an e-Book Architect, Tallent has developed indexes for e-Books.

He explained how embedded indexes work, describing their HTML structure.  This moves in only one direction, however.  Eventually, we will get to the point where linking does not just move in one direction.

He described EPUB 3 Indexing Specifications, which are gaining prominence.  These are the indexing standards which give the specifications that govern the indexes for e-Books.

He said that that there is no good e-Book development software currently available.  “InDesign ePub export is broken. Word HTML export is broken,” he said.

The index needs to be linked deeper than the page level, to the paragraph.  With InDesign, it is possible to create ID’s for every page by numbering every paragraph in the book.  It is hard to link the index to the exact spot and requires lots of manual labor.  This cannot be completely automated, he said.

He concluded by saying that print books are not dead.  Publishers are selling more print books than e-Books.  There is a lack of support for the functionality of indexes in e-Books.

Other workshops held during the American Society for Indexing Conference will be highlighted in future blog postings.  For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

 

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American Society for Indexing Conference

April 23rd, 2013

I recently attended the annual conference for the American Society for Indexing (ASI) in San Antonio, Texas.  Held at the Hotel Contessa on the San Antonio’s famed Riverwalk, the keynote address was given on Thursday, April 18th by Judith Pascoe, Professor at the University of Iowa and author of “My Last Index.”  Prof. Pascoe gave an entertaining and humorous speech that detailed “The Secret Lives of Indexers.”  She explored index cards, indexing villainy, indexing artistry, and indexing in Barbara Pym novels.

Prof. Pascoe started out by giving historical background on indexing, in which indexers would index on index cards.  Indexers would write one subject heading on each index card and then sort them alphabetically.

“The index card is a symbol of the neat orderly work that indexers carry out in a world that is neat and opaque,” she said.

Describing the conventional stereotype of an indexer, she pointed out the main character in Barbara Pym’s novel, No Fond Return of Love.  She quoted passages from the novel in giving a picture of the secret life of this indexer.

She eluded to the theme of the ASI annual conference, “The Art and Craft of Indexing,” in portraying indexing as an art and a craft.  More than a technical endeavor, indexing is crafting an artistic work, she emphasized.

“Indexing is a door opening into a new world like Dorothy stepping forth into Oz,” she concluded.

Future blog postings will cover other workshop sessions at the ASI annual conference.  For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

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