ANZSI Mentoring Scheme

The Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers provides a mentoring scheme for novice indexers. In the absence of formal courses leading to tertiary qualifications, the mentoring scheme provides a more advanced level of training, building on the basic workshops offered by the Society. The mentoring scheme performs a number of functions:

It provides novice indexers (mentees) with professional guidance and advice by qualified, experienced indexers (mentors) on a one-to-one basis;
It provides indexes to significant published works which lack indexes;
It makes indexes accessible in appropriate formats.

** June 2008 Council has decided to temporarily suspend the Mentoring Scheme pending a review of the guidelines and procedure. The experience to date is being treated as a trial period and it is intended that the review should be completed quickly. Mentees who are currently in progress will complete their projects.

'Council has no doubts about the value and intention of the scheme but has found a number of practical problems in carrying it out, such as differences in the expectations of mentors and quite wide variations in the time taken to carry out the projects. Of course, in looking into these questions, others may appear which touch on wider issues regarding education and training for the profession. These issues need to be kept separate while we get the Mentoring Scheme back into effect as quickly as possible.' (John Simkin, ANZSI Newsletter, 2008;4(6):1)

The Scheme

The Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers offers novice indexers a mentoring scheme.
The scheme is a Society-wide initiative which draws its mentors from any of its Branches or individual members.
The mentoring scheme is administered by a Mentoring Coordinator.
The scheme is dependent on the availability of appropriate mentors.
Participation by mentors and mentees is voluntary, although fees will be collected to compensate the mentors for their time.
There are specific requirements for the mentors and mentees.
Mentees are expected to produce indexes of acceptable basic quality, equivalent to commercial quality in all aspects except for utilising a longer time frame.
Works to be indexed must meet the criteria of the mentoring scheme.
Indexes produced will be made available in an appropriate format, for example:
- by mounting the index on the Society’s website
- by providing the index to the library owning the publication
- by publishing in the ANZSI Index Series, or
- by publishing the index as a CD-ROM or in other electronic formats.
While the index remains the intellectual property of the mentee, ANZSI retains the copyright for the index and is entitled to any proceeds from the sale of an index.
There are no limits on the number of times an individual can be mentored,however each mentoring item will incur a new mentoring fee.

Mentees

An applicant for admission to the Mentoring Scheme must meet the following criteria:

An applicant (mentee) must be a current financial member of ANZSI and must not be a Registered Indexer;
Applicants should have completed a recognised indexing course (including both theoretical and practical aspects) or have indexing experience;
Applicants are expected to have read, or at least be very familiar with one of the recognised indexing texts.

Applicants for the Mentoring Scheme are required to:

choose a suitable item from the list provided or a work they have found themselves which meets the provisions of the Mentoring Scheme;
complete and submit the approved application form (current form is appended);
ensure that the mentor has access to the content of the work to be indexed;
submit an application fee of A$250.00 per mentoring item. Once a proposal is accepted into the Mentoring Scheme, this fee is non-refundable. Please note that all other associated expenses are the responsibility of the mentee.

Completed application forms should be sent to the Mentoring Coordinator .

Mentors

A mentor of a book index must be a Registered Indexer. In cases where the skills of database indexing would be useful (for example in mentoring a journal compilation), an experienced database indexer may be a mentor.

Mentors undertake the following duties:

discuss the indexing proposal with the mentee and ensure that the work chosen is appropriate;
schedule a series of contacts (usually 5-6) over a period of up to six months. Contacts can be by email, mail, fax, phone, face-to-face or a combination of these;
monitor the structure and consistency of the index but not become involved with the intellectual content or do any indexing;
advise on particular problems, e.g. forms of names;
give the mentee feedback at an early stage and as soon as practicable after each contact;
provide brief written reports to the Mentoring Coordinator on the progress of the mentee at least three times: after the initial early feedback; approximately half way through the mentoring; and when signing off the completed index;
sign off the completed index as being up to an acceptable standard, based on the criteria outlined in the procedural guidelines for mentors;
if an index does not attain an acceptable standard within a reasonable time frame, it is the responsibility of the mentor to inform the mentee and write to the Mentoring Coordinator, giving reasons. The Society reserves the right to then terminate the menteeship;
if an index does attain an acceptable standard, the mentor is responsible for sending the completed index to the Mentoring Coordinator so that it can be made available in the most appropriate format.

Completed application forms should be sent to the Mentoring Coordinator .

Further information

Mentoring matters, by Lynn Farkas, ANZSI Newletter, 2007;3(1):4-5.
Mentoring matters (Mentors), by Lynn Farkas, ANZSI Newsletter, 2007;3(2):6-7.
‘New look’ Society-wide mentoring scheme, by Lynn Farkas, in: Mary Russell (ed), The Indexing life: proceedings from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers conference, 15–17 March 2007, Melbourne. Melbourne: Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers, 2007, pp. 65-76.
Mentoring scheme in Australia, by Max McMaster, The Indexer, 2005;24(4):189-191.
Mentoring scheme in Victoria: concept and development, by Max McMaster, in: Karen Gillen (ed) Indexing: engage, enlighten, enrich: proceedings from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers Conference, 17–19 March 2005, Melbourne. Melbourne: Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers, 2005, pp. 105-108.
Mentoring in Victoria: the mentee’s experience, by Jane Purton, in: Karen Gillen (ed) Indexing: engage, enlighten, enrich: proceedings from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers Conference, 17–19 March 2005, Melbourne. Melbourne: Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers, 2005, pp. 126-130.

Mentoring policy and procedures are available in the Members area.

Contact the Mentoring Coordinator for further information.

see also ANZSI Index Series