Posts by Colleen:
Inquiring minds want to know
QUESTION: Tell me more about this notion that indexes are information maps. COLLEEN: Indexers read a text with an eye to distilling its essence or its aboutness. “What is this page about? What is this chapter about?” they ask. As indexers identify elements of aboutness, they state them in pithy little clues known as index entries. […]
Index of World War I recruits
See their boxes of index cards?  Red Cross members here are compiling information about a WWI recruitment drive. The photo was taken in the Kodak Office Building on State Street in Rochester in an area George Eastman set aside for the war effort. (From the June 29, 1917 Rochester Herald newspaper, via the Rochester Images database.)
Mr. McGregor
Some authors are excellent indexers of their own work. But sadly, some are not. Reading a homemade index the other day, I randomly checked a few cross references to get a feel for the writer’s competence, and once again found myself in awe. How is it that a person can have degrees from two world-class […]
Books
Books are sets or collections of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other various material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page (Wikipedia). I am a sucker for books. […]
Excellence in indexing
Today the American Society for Indexing announced the winner of its highest honor, the H.W. Wilson Award for excellence in indexing.  The award will go to Michael Brackney for his index to Dogen’s Extensive Record: A Translation of Eihei Koroku. Mr. Brackney’s award-winning work includes a chronological index, three separate names indexes, and a general index. Dogen’s […]