ANZSI Courses and Workshops

Courses and workshops are conducted at locations throughout Australia and New Zealand. Their frequency is dependent on demand, so some courses may be held several times a year in one location, but only every couple of years in another.

Courses conducted by ANZSI cover:

Basic Book Indexing Part 1
Basic Book Indexing Part 2
Follow-up indexing workshop
Annual Report Indexing
Journal Indexing
Database Indexing
Newspaper/Magazine Indexing
Legal Indexing
Website Indexing
Thesaurus Construction

see also

Basic Book Indexing Part 1

This one-day course covers the essentials of theory of indexing and the structure of the index so that participants understand what decisions are involved in compiling a book index. Some practical exercises are included.

Areas covered include:

The indexer’s role in the publishing process
Indexing software
Selection of terms
Headings and subheadings
Cross references
Alphabetical arrangement
Style in indexes
Editing the index
Evaluating indexes

Basic Book Indexing Part 2

This one-day course is a follow-on from the Basic Book Indexing Part 1 course where participants apply the theory skills they have learnt by indexing a small (approx. 50 pages) non-fiction work using one of the dedicated indexing software packages on the market. This course develops practical indexing skills.

Note on Parts 1 and 2: some courses combine elements from both courses together.

For an experience of courses see Queensland Branch News - impressions of an indexing course by Mo Dickson, ANZSI Newsletter, 2009;5(5):7 [PDF 1003KB]

Follow-up indexing workshop / Refresher indexing workshop

A half-day follow-up indexing workshops / refresher indexing workshops for participants who have completed the Basic Book Indexing part II course in the past or an equivalent level of training, but feel they require some additional indexing training prior to branching out on their own.

Participants will be provided with a copy of a non-fiction book about 3-4 weeks prior to the course. Participants will be expected to have completed indexing this title and to bring along their completed index to the workshop where we will discuss how you indexed the work, approaches and assumptions you made, and any difficulties you encountered.

Other parts of the workshop will involve a question and answer session where any conceptual problems of indexing can be discussed and resolved. The final session of the workshop will look at setting up and running your indexing business, eg choosing a business name. getting an ABN and registering for GST, equipment needed to get started, income protection insurance, finding work, quoting, etc.

For an experience of the course see Victorian branch news - indexers in the making, by Louise Molloy, ANZSI Newsletter, 2009;5(5):7. [PDF 1003KB]

Annual Report Indexing

This half-day course is an extension of the book indexing courses wich looks at the special requirements for indexing annual reports produced by predominantly federal or state government departments and agencies. Practical exercises are supplied.