Tools of the Trade, pt.5: Scholarly Publications
The previous Tools of the Trade posts have briefly discussed thesauruses, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and style guides, and have included some details about why those resources have made it into an indexer’s toolbox.
Scholarly Publications
The Book Being Indexed
It may seem odd, or oddly obvious, but the book being indexed is itself a resource for the indexer.
The index is a kind of extension of the document so of course, when questions regarding wording and phrasing of index entries, the book being indexed is in a sense the first resource. The preferred terms used in the entries should reflect the language of the author as found in book. But sometimes the book being indexed is an anthology of essays by different authors. Sometimes, even with the whole work by the same author, there are discussions of concepts that use synonyms or near-synonyms interchangeably.
This is not necessarily because of any oversight by the author or editor(s), many times the wording issues are due to the nature of language, and especially the terminology and scholarly discourse within the field itself.
Scholarly Journals & Databases
To efficiently resolve a question or wording conundrum, indexers may need something that will give quick insights into a scholarly field, its vocabulary, and current debates in the field. In these cases, turning to online databases with trade and scholarly publications is a life- and time-saver.
Journals are indexed and abstracted in a number of databases, providing a glimpse into a subject without having to spend hours poring over arguments and reading books.
We can clarify nuanced concepts with a quick review of search results in JSTOR, especially now with the various access options that are available.
Other Books & Outside Knowledge
Reading other books related to one’s indexing specialties provides a certain amount of background knowledge that is very helpful when indexing.
For me, there is a lot of overlap between my pleasure reading choices and my professional indexing specialties. Although my personal reading interests definitely extend beyond those subjects I work on professionally, it does help to have genuine interest in the topics I am indexing.
I have known indexers to study languages in order to become better informed about their indexing specialty subjects, and my own indexing has certainly benefited from the knowledge that comes from studying other languages.
Other Online Resources
Things like dictionaries and encyclopedias of course count as online resources, but other websites like those of specific companies and organizations can also serve to provide clarification on name structures (for index entries), the full name, or alternate versions of the name for cross-reference or double-posting purposes.
The digital world is our oyster. Taking advantage of these resources results in a better-quality index that truly bridges any gap that might exist between readers and authors.
The Client
Sometimes an especially tricky question will arise during indexing and the indexer is compelled to turn to the ultimate authority and decisionmaker: the client.
Personally, for questions about terminology, I prefer to turn to the client last for no reason other than I see it as my responsibility to resolve indexing issues to the best of my ability — after all, I was hired to take care of the index. *Terminology issues are part of language and therefore a part of indexing. They always arise. That being said, I will definitely turn to the client if I need to.
Professional Societies & More
There are countless resources available to indexers when it comes to producing quality indexes that reflect the text at hand, resources that help the indexer create an index that will serve to bridge the gap between text and reader.
The American Society for Indexing provides even more resources for indexers, from email listservs to special-interests groups for discussion of any number of indexing-related issues and questions, professional development courses and webinars, and more. The British Society of Indexers is another one, and there are many others.
One Final Tool…
More than just performing a control+F search for words, there is a lot of creative thinking and analysis that goes into indexing, and all of the resources featured in the Tools of the Trade posts are meant to give readers a glimpse into the process behind the creation of a back-of-the-book index. Some indexing projects will require a lot of extra research or pre-existing knowledge, and others are more straight-forward. All indexing jobs, however, do require one specific kind of tool that make the process and refinement a lot easier. The next Tools post will discuss the technology behind the creation of an index.
*For more information on how indexers handle wording issues: Do Mi Stauber’s book, Facing the Text, provides good examples and suggestsions in chapter seven.
