Stuff I index

Plaintiff testified that since a forty-pound bag of chicken parts dropped on her neck at work, she has neck and shoulder pain, and her whole body shakes.

Concordances: Part III

It is an index, not a concordance, if it meets these standards:

Usability

• Does the index appropriately anticipate the needs of its users?
• Are the significant concepts indexed?
• Are there appropriate alternative terms for accessing concepts?
• Are special treatments such as italics and boldface appropriate to the complexity of the material and the needs of the user?
• Is there a headnote explaining special treatments?
• Does the format provide for ease in visually scanning the index?
• Is the phrasing of entries and subentries clear, with significant terms first and no unnecessary prepositions?

Coverage

• Does the index cover the ground? Does it do so in an evenhanded fashion?
• Look up a few important topics to see if coverage is adequate.
• The index should go beyond listing the main headings in each chapter or rearranging the table of contents.
• Significant concepts should be indexed, and scattered discussions of a concept should be brought together.
• Irrelevant information, such as scene-setting material or passing mentions, should not be indexed.
• There should be no apparent indexer bias.

Analysis

• Are main entries analyzed appropriately into subentries?
• Are subentries overanalyzed so that the same page numbers are repeated again and again in close proximity to one another?
• Are there strings of undifferentiated locators at an entry?
• Are the number and level of subentries appropriate to the complexity of the book?

Access

• Is there more than one access point to significant concepts?
• The index should use the author’s vocabulary but should also provide alternative terms and cross-references that will give the reader access.
• Entries should be “flipped” where necessary or appropriate.

Cross-referencing

• Are cross-references adequate and useful?
• See also references should send readers to appropriate related material. (Double-posting is preferable to Seereferences that send the reader to an entry with very few page references.)

Accuracy

• There should be no misspellings or typos, no odd page ranges or references out of order.
• Alphabetization of main entries, subentries, and cross-references should be correct.
• Punctuation should be correct.
• Forms of names and terms should be correct and appropriate to the field of specialization.
• Cross-references should neither be circular nor point to missing or differently worded entries.
• “Flipped” entries should have the same page references at both locations in the index.

Style

• Is the style consistent throughout?
• Does the style effectively resolve challenges presented by the text?
• Look at such style points as sorting order, punctuation of cross-references, leading and separator punctuation of locators, abbreviation of inclusive ranges, positioning of cross-references, run-in. vs. indented subentries, capitalization of main entries, use of alternative typefaces.

Clever writing: Does it belong on this blog, even when it has nothing to do with indexing?

I say yes.  And so I offer this tale from a little-known village called Ashoe.

CORRESPONDENT: Sorry just to correct you there – we thought this village was called ASHOE, but when we got here, we realized that the house where the alleged abuses occurred was actually a shoe.

ANCHOR: I’m sorry, a what?

CORRESPONDENT: Well it is a shoe.

ANCHOR: Like the type you wear on your feet?

CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I’m unsure what size, but it is big. So yes, if my cameraman can zoom out and pan you can see the scene of this massive shoe, with plumes of smoke appearing from where the top of the laces are …

ANCHOR: Looks like an Adidas, fascinating.

CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed. Now the old lady who we understand has scores of children, perhaps hundreds, has been holed up in the heel section, that you can see there, if my cameraman can just zoom in, and police have surrounded the area, and we’re hearing that child welfare have sent a negotiating team to the door, but there’s been no answer …

ANCHOR: Incredible.

CORRESPONDENT: Well, It’s claimed she has been abusing these children, who may not be hers, for years. Well, with me now, is a neighbour and friend of the old lady. Madam, thanks for joining us, from the neighbouring area of ASANDAL, I understand?

NEIGHBOUR: No, a sandal. Look, no roof. It helps with ventilation in the summer.

CORRESPONDENT: My apologies. So you say the police should leave your friend and neighbour alone?

NEIGHBOUR: Yes, I blame the state for not supporting her. Child welfare is lying. These are all her children. But who else will look after them? The state gives her nothing. She’s an old lady who lives in a shoe and she didn’t know what to do …

CORRESPONDENT: But the claims of abuse? Beating? Do you support that?

NEIGHBOUR: Lies, look I was there, visiting recently. She gave them some broth, but without any bread, because they can’t afford bread. And, of course, the children were upset and were crying for more.

CORRESPONDENT: And how did she respond?

NEIGHBOUR: Like any good mother, she whipped them all soundly and put them to bed. But soundly, as I said.

CORRESPONDENT: Thanks for that. That was a neighbour and friend of the old lady who lives in that building behind me, the shoe, where you see this unfolding hostage drama. Well there you have it from the scene, back to you in the studio.

ANCHOR: Thank you very much indeed there. We’ll keep you updated on this fast moving story in Helpyounder-stan and all the other developing news. It’s time for a short break. When we come back, anorexic star Jack Sprat, talks to us exclusively about living in the same household as his obese wife. Stay with us …”

Fairytale Journalism by Imran Garda in Al Jazeera

Breaking news about the Oxford comma

Life is nasty, brutish, and short (or, to introduce unnecessary ambiguity, “life is nasty, brutish and short.”)  More here.

The “Oxford” is that final comma before the “and”.  It got its name from the Oxford University Press, whose style guide has been requiring its use for decades. Wikipedia describes the Oxford as the comma “immediately before a coordinating conjunction (usually and or or, and sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. For example, a list of three countries can be punctuated as either “Portugal, Spain, and France” (with the comma) or as “Portugal, Spain and France” (without the comma).

The Oxford comma, the mark of a clear, precise, and judicious writer, made the news today.

The Associated Press | Posted: 06/30/2011 05:52:57 AM PDT

LONDON—A Twitter report that Oxford has changed its comma rule left some punctuation obsessives alarmed, annoyed, and distraught. Passions subsided as the university said the news was imprecise, incomplete and misleading. Catch the difference in the two previous sentences? An “Oxford comma” was used before “and” in the first sentence, but is absent in the second, per The Associated Press Stylebook. Guides to correct style differ and the issue has become heated on Twitter.

Concordances: Part II

The Life and Art of Albert Pinkham Ryder (1847-1917): The Achievement of an American Artist by Martin Pops

The picture to the right contains an index and a concordance to The Life and Art of Albert Pinkham Ryder, a monograph recently published by the Mellon Press which costs about $200.

Click on the picture and zoom in to compare and contrast.  The page on the left is from the index, written by me.  The page on the right is from a concordance generated by a software package called TExtract. Which one would serve you better if you needed to look up information about Ryder, his paintings, or how both the artist and his art have been regarded?

Concordances: Part I

Concordance [kon-kawr-dns] noun.

An alphabetical list of the principal words of a book, with a reference to the page in which each occurs.

You: Wait; that sounds like an index.

Me: But it’s not. I am an indexer, not a concordancer. One goal of this blog is to help people understand the important distinctions between indexes and concordances. Stay tuned.

Digital rules to live by

A person named Daniel Sieberg wrote these rules, not me.  Good rules?  Realistic rules?  You decide.

1. I will live in the real world. It can be wonderful to learn more about the lives of my friends and family members through social networks, but I won’t let the screen become my only connection.
2. I must choose the human or the device. If someone is talking to me, I will do my best to put my gadget aside and listen to them.
3. I will not be afraid to disconnect. I can return to the detox stage every once in a while, perhaps one day a month. It can be a family event, a reminder of life without gadgets.
4. I will trust my instincts. If I worry that I’m spending too much time browsing social networks, texting or playing online games, I probably am.
5. I will avoid tech turds. I will not just dump my smartphone on the table at a restaurant or at home. I will keep it in my pocket unless it is critical to have it out.
6. Finally, I will not be afraid to call out those people in my life who are burying their heads in technology too often. I will take a stand.
7. But I need to be prepared to have others tell me the same thing.

(Washington Post)

Too much turquoise?

Pshaw! Almost none.

This week in NYC: largest book fair in the U.S.

BookExpo America (BEA) is the largest annual book trade fair in the United States. Nearly all significant book publishers in the United States, and many from abroad, have booths and exhibits at BEA, and use the fair as an opportunity to showcase

upcoming titles, sell current books, socialize with colleagues from other publishing houses, and sell and buy subsidiary rights and international rights. Authors, librarians, and buyers for book retailers also attend the event. (Wikipedia).

So I’ve got a math problem for you

If you’ve got an indexer brain like mine, forget it.  Our brains can’t solve problems like this.

So I’ve got a math problem for you, says the man who has consumed a prime number’s worth of rum and Cokes. “I live at 189th Street and Wadsworth. Now, if I weigh 240 pounds, and I want to burn 1,500 calories, and I spend $7 on a drink, plus a dollar tip, how many drinks can I have?”

(Click here for more tavern math problems from the Reynold’s Bar and Cafe in Washington Heights, NYC.)