Indexing

[Lori Lathrop <76620 -dot- 456 -at- COMPUSERVE -dot- COM>]

Randy Allen states:
>...the indexer ... apparently had no experience with scholarly books ....
>...the first draft of the index did not cover any of the material in the
>(50 pages of dense) footnotes; the second (and, unfortunately, final)
>draft was only marginally better.

That is a common oversight made by indexers lacking experience with
scholarly books.  They are generally very faithful about creating index
entries for chapter headings and subheadings, table and figure captions,
examples, definitions or new terms, warnings, restrictions, etc.;
however, they overlook footnotes and end-of-chapter notes, which usually
contain a wealth of topics that should be included in the index.

In contracting for indexing services, you should ask about the indexer's
areas of expertise.  For example, if you consult The Register (an annual
publication available from ASI, P.O. Box 386, Port Aransas, TX  78373),
you will find professional indexers listed under several categories:
subjects, language specialties, related services, types of material
indexed, and geographic (by state).  The Subjects Index lists indexers who
specialize in such diverse areas as anthropology, historic preservation,
classical studies, computer science, finance, sports, performing arts,
religion ... and, like the little Energizer rabbit, the list of subjects
just keep on going and going and going ....

Hope you have better luck with your future indexing projects.

Lori Lathrop
Lathrop Media Services
P.O. Box 808
Georgetown, CO  80444
(303)569-2312