Long Strings of Reference Locators in an Index

December 23rd, 2010

As a follow-up to my last posting, Guidelines for Editing Indexes, I wanted to explore in detail one of the guidelines.  A main entry followed by a long string of undifferentiated reference locators or page numbers at the main heading level should be broken down into subheadings.  A common rule of thumb is that more than five or six reference locators should be differentiated by the addition of subheadings.

Leaving a long string of page numbers will force the reader to plow through many pages before finding the desired information.  There might be 10 or 15 page numbers listed, a daunting task for the reader to wade through in search of the one elusive piece of information.  Exactly what constitutes a “long” string of page numbers is often defined in a publisher’s style guide or by the space allowed for the index.  The reason for adding subheadings is simple.  Subheadings subdivide and characterize the  information and make it easy to find the information in question.

For more information, see Chapter Nine, “Editing the Index,” of Nancy C. Mulvancy’s Indexing Books, Second Edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005, pp.219-241.  For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

Guidelines for Editing Indexes

November 18th, 2010

When the indexer finishes compiling the last line of an index, it is only the first draft, and like any piece of writing, it requires editing.  Substantive editing tasks, rewriting or reorganization of material, should be undertaken by the indexer alone.  The indexer should produce an index manuscript that is in need of few copyediting or proofreading changes.

Nancy C. Mulvany gives an excellent discussion of editing indexes in Chapter Nine, “Editing the Index,” of Indexing Books, Second Edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005, pp.219-241.  She walks the indexer though the substantive editing tasks that he or she must undertake and gives guidelines to follow.

  • Main headings.  Evaluate one-by-one.  Are they clear and concise?  Do they make sense?  Is the wording evident so that a reader may look them up?
  • Long strings of undifferentiated reference locators at the main heading level should be broken down into subheadings.  More than 5 or 6 reference locators should be differentiated by the addition of subheadings.
  • Subheadings.  Evaluate for clarity and conciseness.  Do they make sense?  Is the wording evident?  Are they necessary?
  • A single subheading under a main entry and the group of subheadings that all have the same page number should be condensed.  Subheadings that all have the same page number should be eliminated or converted to main entries.
  • Cross-references and double-postings.  Each cross-reference in an index must be verified and must be direct.  All circular cross-references must be eliminated.  Cross-references that send readers elsewhere in the index only to pick up one or two references can often be changed to double-postings, where the same information is entered in two places.

Copyediting and proofreading tasks for the indexer include alphabetizing, spelling, parallel construction, punctuation, and capitalization.  For more information on editing indexes, see Mulvany’s book, Indexing Books.  For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

Index Formats

September 27th, 2010

Run-In Versus Indented Indexes

The Chicago Manual of Style describes two index formats that publishers use: run-in and indented.  In run-in style, the subentries follow one another without each one’s starting a new line.  In indented style, each subentry begins a new line and is indented (usually one em).  The Chicago Manual of Style gives further specifics for each case.

The Chicago Manual of Style and many other scholarly publishers generally prefer run-in style because it requires less space.  It works best, however, when there is only one level of subhead.  However, the book itself, The Chicago Manual of Style, has an index in indented style.  Indented style is usually preferred in scientific works and reference works.  It is particularly useful where sub-subentries are required.

Each publishing house usually has its own indexing style guidelines, specifying which index format to use for its books.  This format is selected based on space considerations or on the material, since a work with a lot of scientific terminology would be easier to read in indented format.

For more information on run-in or indented  indexes, refer to The Chicago Manual of Style.  For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

The Indexer’s Reference: The Chicago Manual Of Style

August 9th, 2010

The Chicago Manual of StyleThe Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, which was recently published by the University of Chicago Press, remains the authoritative reference for indexers.  Indexers consult the one chapter on Indexes in The Chicago Manual of Style for guidelines relating to kinds of indexes and components of an index, as well as general principles of indexing.  Rules are given for main headings, subentries, locators, and cross-references.  Details are given on formatting an index as run-in (subentries on one line) versus indented indexes (subentries on separate lines).  The indexer can find rules and examples for proper names and variants.  Additional information is given on alphabetizing, punctuation, and the mechanics of indexing.  In future blog postings, I will examine these different aspects of indexing covered in The Chicago Manual of Style.

While only one chapter deals with indexes, the indexer will find that the rules given are illustrated with numerous indexing examples.  Whether the indexer is referring to the print edition or the online edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, the indexing categories are clearly outlined, making the reference easy-to-use.  It is an invaluable resource for the indexer and, indeed, anyone in the publishing world.  In addition, the sixteenth edition offers expanded information on producing electronic publications, including web-based content and e-books.

To order your copy of The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition, go to http://www.amazon.com or http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org.   For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, http://www.stellarsearches.com

Indexes vs. Full-Text Searching

June 20th, 2010

Researchers who rely entirely on full-text searching, i.e. searching the Web using a search engine such as Google, are missing information.  Indexes improve searching not only in terms of accuracy and thoroughness, but also speed, according to Mary Elizabeth Williams in the article “Dr. Searchlove: Or how I learned to stop Googling and love pre-coordinate indexing.”

The article reports the results of a Bureau of National Affairs usability study, in which law students completed a series of single answer and more complex research tasks using the online version of United States Law Week.  They answered half the questions using text searches.  For the other half they used the online index.

Williams reports that using the index was, in the case of both types of research tasks, faster and more successful than text searching.  Overall, index users had an 86 percent success rate while text searchers had only a 23 percent success rate.  Disregarding all unsuccessful searchers, most of whom were text searchers, successful index users took about 57 seconds per search and successful text searchers took about 2 minutes and 47 seconds per search.  In addition, index users made bonus discoveries by pursuing cross references and browsing through headings and/or subheadings.

Williams states that free text as a research tool decontextualizes information.  Researchers are likely to miss unique concepts common to the field of legal research, as well as comparisons to related terms that might be useful.  They will often miss the outer limits of a research task since results in free text searching seemingly have no boundaries.

References

Williams, Mary Elizabeth. (Sept/Oct 2005) “Dr. Searchlove: Or how I learned to stop Googling and love pre-coordinate indexing.”  AALL Spectrum. Date of Access: June 20, 2010. http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_sp0509/pub_sp0509_DR.pdf

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

Glossary v. Index

May 20th, 2010

Why are index entries in the plural and glossary entries in the singular?  A glossary is a collection of difficult or specialized terms with their meanings, but each entry is in the singular.  An index, as we have discussed, is an alphabetical list of items treated in a printed work with the page numbers where each item may be found, but subject entries are in the plural.

The plural may be used for subject entries in the index because the subject may be referenced multiple times in the text.  By using the plural, the index also shows the more general nature of the subject.  Whereas, a reader might only look up a glossary entry once, needing the definition for a single instance.  A glossary entry reflects the singular nature of the subject.  For example, a subject entry in an index might list Conferences, but in a glossary it would be, Conference.

It is important for an indexer to understand the difference between glossaries and indexes, as well as the value of each.

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

Indexes in E-Books

April 16th, 2010

Electronic book readers such as the Kindle and the Nook have changed the way people read books. With the electronic book reader, pages are turned electronically and silently, but what happens when the user tries to look up a subject in the index?  The index is static.  It has the same list of subjects and page references as the print version, but requires that the user tediously page through the alphabet to find the subject, then wade through the text to find the referenced page.

The publishing industry has a great opportunity to make indexes dynamic in e-books by adding hyperlinks to index references.  By clicking on an index reference, the reader would be linked to the appropriate section in the book.  Embedded indexing offers this technology, by creating index entries that are inserted electronically into the computer files along with the text of the document.  Instead of creating a separate index file with dedicated indexing software, an embedded index is created in the same software as the rest of the document.

Currently, print documents produced with embedded indexing can be posted online.  When the user clicks on the index entry, the relevant text is displayed because index references have been turned into links.  Adding hyperlinks to index references in e-book indexes would be the next step.

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

Concordances vs. Indexes

March 6th, 2010

An index requires a degree of sophistication and skill lacking in a computer-generated concordance.  A concordance is an alphabetical list of words with locations in the text, a somewhat rudimentary index.  The computer automates the process, parsing the text and collecting the index words and the locations in the text, then writing the generated concordance to a PDF or text file.  The computer greatly reduces your time and effort, but the results are far inferior, for a number of reasons.

A computer cannot distinguish between what is important and what is not.  Many concepts that are mentioned only in passing are not useful to the reader, but are included along with all other concepts.  Readers are quickly overwhelmed.  In addition, a concordance does not cross-reference subjects.  A concordance may also leave out a subject that is discussed at length without ever being mentioned by name.

Indexers can adapt and stay true to style guidelines, while a computer-generated concordance would not.  While an indexer is self-reflective, visiting and revisiting the index to improve upon it, a computer merely generates a list of words contained within the text, then the work stops there.

Computers are capable of many things, but creating a high-quality index is not one of them.

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

Going Rogue without an index

February 16th, 2010

Sarah Palin’s autobiography, Going Rogue: An American Life, published in November 2009, lacked an index.  Why?  An index, as explored in the previous post, would have been an invaluable tool to the scholars who will undoubtedly refer to the 413-page book to survey the political climate during the 2008 presidential election and Sarah Palin’s role as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate.  Other readers may want to refer to an index to find coverage of her interview with Katie Couric or the Saturday Night Live skits.  Whether the book was rushed to print or whether Palin tried to foil “the Washington read,” a practice in which people look up their names in the index before purchasing the book, the lack of an index is a huge flaw.

The American Society for Indexing (ASI) awarded Sarah Palin and HarperCollins Publishers a Golden Turkey Award for not including an index, and in their memo dated November 20, 2009 posted to the ASI discussion list, took the opportunity to tout why indexes are so important.  ASI says that “Palin’s book performs a crucial public service.  The inaccessibility of information in this text makes it clear to any reader that a good index is essential to a book’s long-term value.  Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue has no index at all – a brilliantly simple if deviant way of proving the need for an index, worthy of one who prides herself on being a bit of a maverick.”

To fill the void, since Sarah Palin did not put an index in her book, others have produced indexes for Going Rogue and posted them on the Internet.  I am including links to two, one from Slate and the other from The New Republic:

The Going Rogue Index from Slate

http://www.slate.com/id/2235917/

The Going Rogue Index from The New Republic

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-going-rogue-index

Despite these indexers’ commendable efforts, there is no substitute for including an index in the original book.

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

Why is an index needed?

February 7th, 2010

Even if a book is well-written and contains a clear table of contents, a reader may still have trouble finding what he or she is looking for.  A good index acts as a bridge between the author’s concepts and the readers’ particular needs.

  • A good index saves the user time.  Whether the reader is looking for one key date or an in-depth discussion of a complex topic, an index that is concise, accurate, and unambiguous points the user directly to the information in question.
  • A good index may be a reader’s primary avenue into the work.  Some books, especially those that are technical in nature, may never be read cover-to-cover.  Users may, instead, look to the index to find the information that they need at any given moment.
  • A good index gives potential readers a clear sense of the content of the book.  The index gives a first impression for teachers, researchers, librarians, and reviewers, who all look to the index to tell them how comprehensive or detailed the book may be.

An index is an invaluable tool for readers.  It identifies and distinguishes information within a book that would be of significance to the reader.  It enables readers to quickly and conveniently access desired information.  The index focuses and groups together similar ideas and concepts enabling the reader to gather together all pertinent information relating to their search.  Subentries within an index allow for a more narrow and specific search.  We will explore how quality indexing enhances search retrieval in future posts.

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