index n, vt [L fr. indicare to indicate]Â 1: a usu. alphabetical list of items (as topics or names) treated in a printed work that gives with each item the page number where it may be found; 2: to provide with an index.
—Webster
A professional indexer makes the author’s work accessible to the reader in ways that the original work–be it a book, journal, conference proceedings, etc.–does not. The information presented by the author is rearranged topically and alphabetically so a reader interested in one subject can find it quickly and with a minimum of hunting. A good index is written with the user in mind and anticipates the reader’s needs.
We have all encountered poorly-written indexes, whether the result of laziness, lack of time, or other reasons. For instance, say you need information on Abraham Lincoln’s service in the Illinois legislature. You look up Lincoln in the index of a book with a likely-sounding title, hoping to find an entry like this:
Lincoln, Abraham: …; in Illinois legislature (1835-1841), 55-57; …
See also Illinois legislature
But when you find Lincoln in this index, sadly it is only followed by about two dozen page numbers, with no indication which (if any) of those pages hold the information you need. These are the kinds of mistakes that professional indexers are trained to avoid.
But, you say, I wrote the book, who better to index it than me?
Nancy C. Mulvany, herself a professional indexer and indexing teacher, quotes noted indexer Hans Wellisch on the subject:
Unfortunately, authors are often not only admonished but actually forced by the terms of their contracts either to index their work themselves or to find an indexer and pay the costs of indexing out of their own pockets, whereupon many an author starts compiling an index that turns out to be woefully inadequate or that has to be abandoned after some feeble and often misguided attempts…Authors are also in most cases too close to their own work and may fail to index important facts, events, relationships, or even names, assuming either that “everybody knows that” or “nobody will ever look for this” (quoted in Mulvany, Nancy C., Indexing Books, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005).
Avoid these pitfalls. Contact us today at info@ashtonindexing.com or (802) 685-3029 to discuss your indexing needs and how we can work together to fulfill them cost-effectively and on schedule.
Charles H. Ashton, MS
Ashton Indexing
Member, American Society for Indexing