- Books
- Classics
- Style manuals
- Journals & newsletters
- Indexing
- Podcasts
- Filing
- Information retrieval
- Editing an index
- Evaluating an index
- How indexers work
- Standards
- And also …
NOTE: Publications marked with an asterisk are available for loan from the ANZSI Library. Hyperlinks take you directly to copies of online materials, or to publishers’ order pages.
Books and guides
- Best practices for indexing. American Society for Indexing, 2015
- *Indexing books, Nancy C. Mulvany, 2nd edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005
- Indexing: the manual of good practice, Pat F. Booth, München: K. G. Saur, 2001
- Handbook of indexing techniques: a guide for beginning indexers, Linda K Fetters, 5th edition, Metford, NJ: Information Today, 2013
- Indexing from A to Z, Hans H. Wellisch, 2nd edition, New York: H. W. Wilson, 1995
- *The indexing companion, Glenda Browne and Jon Jermey, Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press, 2007
- *The Indexing Companion Workbook, Glenda Browne, Blaxland, NSW: Glenda Browne 2009
- Introduction to Indexing , a collection of articles by Glenda Browne, 2013 (free ebook)
- *The Accidental Indexer, Nan Badgett, Information Today, 2015
- *Facing the text: content and structure in book indexing, Do Mi Stauber, Eugene, Oregon: Cedar Row Press, 2004
- *Indexing for editors and authors: a practical guide to understanding indexes, Fred Leise; Kate Mertes and Nan Badgett, Wheat Ridge, CO: American Society of Indexers, 2008
- Indexing for technical communicators, Max McMaster and Sue Woolley, Melbourne: Monarch Computing Services, 2004
- Books published by the American Society for Indexing — includes a wide range of publications
- The Indexer Collections — Newcomers, an ebook of articles from The Indexer aimed at those new to indexing. ANZSI Members can get reduced rates — use the link on the ICRIS page.
- ‘Tips and hints: general resources for indexers’, Max McMaster, ANZSI Newsletter, 2009, vol. 5, no. 1, pg. 5
- ‘Apples, pears & oranges: three important books on indexing’, Ruth Pincoe, AusSI Newsletter, 2003, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 71, 75–79
Classics
- *How to make an index, Henry B. Wheatley, Sheffield: Society of Indexers, 2002 (original printed 1902)
- *What is an index? by Henry B. Wheatley, Sheffield: Society of Indexers, 2002 (original printed 1879). There is a limited preview of the book here.
- Indexing, the art of: a guide to the indexing of books and periodicals, G. Norman Knight, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1979
Style manuals
- ‘Indexing’, in: Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6th edition, revised by Snooks & Co, Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons, 2002, pp. 270–284. A classic, but now replaced by the very much shorter online Style Manual for government writing and content. NB: Ther new version does not include indexing.
- Indexes: a chapter from the Chicago Manual of Style (free download), 15th Edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003
- Indexes: a chapter from the Chicago Manual of Style (free online version), 16th Edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010
- Chicago Manual of Style online (CMOS17), 17th Edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017
Journals & newsletters
-
- ANZSI Newsletter
- The Indexer journal
- Key Words (American Society for Indexing)
- SIdelights (Society of Indexers, UK)
- ASAIB Newsletter (South Africa)
- ISC/SCI Bulletin (Canada)
Indexing
- ‘Indexing Inserts’, Tordis Flath, ANZSI Newsletter, 2010, vol. 6, no. 10, pg. 5
- ‘Indexing for Digital Technology’, Mary Russell, ANZSI Newsletter, 2010, vol. 6, no. 10, pg. 1
- ‘How to index, for non-indexers — an overview’, Lynn Farkas, ANZSI Newsletter, 2006, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 5–6
- ‘Indexing for non-indexers!’, Lynn Farkas, ANZSI Newsletter, 2005, vol. 1, no. 10, pg. 6
- ‘Indexing: technical, professional and business-related issues’, Mary Russell, ANZSI Newsletter, 2006, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 6–7
- ‘ANZSI Conference: Birds of a feather session: Back of book indexing’, Mary Russell, ANZSI Newsletter, 2007, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 4–5
- ‘Consult a higher authority’, Edyth Binkowski, ANZSI Newsletter, 2005, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 5–6
- ‘Term selection: putting Humpty Dumpty together, at last’, Sylvia Coates, Key Words, 2001, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 145–7
- ‘Proposed indexing guidelines for indexers and authors’, Jon Jermey, AusSI Newsletter, 2003, vol. 27, no. 5, pg. 1
- ‘Tips and hints: endnotes and footnotes‘, Mary Russell, ANZSI Newsletter, 2009, vol. 5, no. 9, pg. 7
- ‘Term selection: the key to successful indexing’, Zhang Qiyu, The Indexer, 2009, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 98–100
- ‘Classified versus specific entry in book indexes: guidelines for decision making’, Glenda Browne, The Indexer, 2010, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 6–11
- ‘Headings in indexers: revisiting the relationship between mains and subs’, Glenda Browne, The Indexer, 2010, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 104–107
- *’Creating elegant subheadings: or, everything you ever wanted to know about subheadings and were afraid to ask’, Victoria Agee and Margie Towery, in: Janet Perlman and Enid L Zafran , no. eds) Index it right! Advice from the experts, volume 2, Wheat Ridge, CO: Amercian Society for Indexing, 2010, pp. 1–35
- *’Locators, differentiating, 00–00. See also subentries’, Janet Russell, in: Janet Perlman and Enid L Zafran (eds) Index it right! Advice from the experts, volume 2, Wheat Ridge, CO: Amercian Society for Indexing, 2010, pp. 37–48
- *”Problems of the ‘passing mention’”, Simon Cauchi, in: Margaret Findlay (ed), The August indexer: proceedings from the second international conference, 27–29 August 1999, Hobart, Tasmania, Melbourne: Australian Society of Indexers, 1999, pp. 41–47
- *’Secondary indexing: the specifics of managing revisions, cumulations and spin-offs’, Frances S Lennie, in: Margaret Findlay (ed), The August indexer: proceedings from the second international conference, 27–29 August 1999, Hobart, Tasmania, Melbourne: Australian Society of Indexers, 1999, pp. 86–91
- *’Indexing and the editing process’, Ann M Philpott, in: Margaret Findlay (ed), The August indexer: proceedings from the second international conference, 27–29 August 1999, Hobart, Tasmania,Melbourne: Australian Society of Indexers, 1999, pp. 108–111
- *’Maintaining indexing principles while breaking the rules of thumb’, Alan Walker, in: Max McMaster (ed), Indexers — partners in publishing. Proceedings from the first international conference, 31 March – 2 April, 1995, Marysville, Victoria, Melbourne: Australian Society of Indexers, 1995, pp. 63–73
- *’Standards and choices’, Drusilla Calvert, in: Max McMaster (ed) Indexers — partners in publishing. Proceedings from the first international conference, 31 March – 2 April, 1995, Marysville, Victoria, Melbourne: Australian Society of Indexers, 1995, pp. 74–83
- *’Evidence-based indexing’, Glenda Browne, 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. 26–32
- *’Consensus-based indexing: group development of indexing principles’, Glenda Browne, 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. 109–117
- ‘Visual appeal of indexes: an exploration’, Frances Lennie, The Indexer, 2010, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 60–67
Podcasts
- Book Makers: indexers, interview with Mary Russell, ABC Radio National Book Show, 18 May 2010
- Censorship in indexing, Mary Russell and Max McMaster, paper presented at Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand (BSANZ) 2010 conference: To deprave and corrupt: forbidden, hidden and censored books, Wednesday 14 – Friday 16 July 2010, The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas at The State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
- Interview with Jan Wright, eBook Ninjas Episode 12 — Indexes, 11 November 2010
Filing
- ‘Filing prepositions and conjunctions in subheadings’, Glenda Browne, ANZSI Newsletter, 2007, vol. 3, no. 7, pp. 5
- ‘The alpha and the omega – filed at the beginning and the end’, Glenda Browne, ANZSI Newsletter, 2005, vol. 1, no. 10, pp. 5, 7
- ‘The definite article: acknowledging ‘The’ in index entries‘, Glenda Browne, The Indexer, 2001, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 119–122
Information retrieval
*’Keynote address: Indexing: the user’s perspective, Neil Archbold 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. 1–12
Editing an index
- *’Editing an index without tears’, in: Indexing for editors and authors: a practical guide to understanding indexes, Fred Leise, Kate Mertes and Nan Badgett, Wheat Ridge, CO: American Society of Indexers, 2008, pp. 107–117
This covers the topic from the point of view of the editor working with the indexer. - Editing and presenting the index, In: Indexing: the manual of good practice, Pat F. Booth, Munchen, K. G. Saur, 2001, pp. 130–185. Detailed chapter on what to look for and how to correct it.
- *’Editing the index’, in: Indexing books, 2nd edition, Nancy C. Mulvany, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2005, pp. 221–241. Covers what to look for and the various roles of the indexer, author and editor.
- *’Editing: the 21 steps’, in: Indexing from A to Z, 2nd edition, Hans H. Wellisch, New York: Wilson, 1995, pp. 155–167
- ‘Strategies for sizing an index, part one: before and during the indexing process’, Anne Marie Houppert, Key Words, 2008, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 28–29
- ‘Strategies for sizing an index, part two: after the index is competed’, Anne Marie Houppert, Key Words, 2008, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 47–48
Evaluating an index
- ‘Assessing publication-style indexes’, in Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 6th edition, revised by Snooks & Co, Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons, 2002, pp. 283–284
- Index evaluation checklist, American Society for Indexing, 2015
- ‘Index evaluation’, in: Ten characteristics of quality indexes; confessions of an award-winning indexer, Margie Towery. Medford, NJ: Information Today Inc. in association with American Society for Indexing, 2016, pp. 114, 115-118
- Evaluating indexes; an overview for editors and indexers, by Sherrey Quinn; presentation at the Write|Edit|Index IPEd/ANZSI conference, Canberra, May 2015
- ‘Evaluating indexes: observations on ANZSI experience’, Sherrey Quinn, The Indexer, 2015, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 107–112
- ‘Judging indexes: the criteria for a good index’, David Lee, The Indexer, 2001, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 191–194
- See also the John Simkin Medal page and the ANZSI Accreditation page
How indexers work
- ‘How do I index thee? Indexers count the ways: Part I’, Kari Kells, Key Words, 2004, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 54–57
- ‘How do I index thee? Indexers count the ways: Part II’, By Kari Kells, Key Words, 2004, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 124–126
- ‘A day in the life of a back-of-book indexer‘, Edyth Binkowski, ANZSI Newsletter, 2005, vol. 1, no. 6, pg. 6
- ‘Indexing — ways of working, now and into the future‘, Glenda Browne, The Fine Print, 2007
Standards
- *Definitions and standards, in: Glenda Browne and Jon Jermey, The Indexing Companion, Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 26–36
- *’Maintaining indexing principles while breaking the rules of thumb’, Alan Walker, in: Max McMaster (ed) Indexers – partners in publishing. Proceedings from the first international conference, 31 March – 2 April, 1995, Marysville, Victoria, Melbourne: Australian Society of Indexers, 1995, pp. 63–73
- *’Standards and choices’, Drusilla Calvert, in: Max McMaster (ed) Indexers – partners in publishing. Proceedings from the first international conference, 31 March–2 April, 1995, Marysville, Victoria, Melbourne: Australian Society of Indexers, 1995, pp. 74–83
- Standards Australian AS/NZS 999:1999, Information and documentation: guidelines for the content, organization and presentation of indexes. It is identical with ISO 999:1999
- NISO TR02-1997 Guidelines for indexes and related information retrieval devices, James D. Anderson
- NISO TR03-1999 Guidelines for alphabetical arrangement of letters and sorting of numerals and other symbols, Hans H. Wellisch
And also …
- From frock beds to professionalism: a history of index-makers, Hazel Bell, New Castle, Delaware and Hatfield, Hertfordshire: Oak Knoll Press and HKB Press, 2008. Book review, ANZSI Newsletter, 2009, vol. 5, no. 4, pg 6
- Anthology for the millennium, Sheffield: Society of Indexers 1999
- ‘The Annual Report Song’, Geraldine Triffitt, ANZSI Newsletter, 2006, vol. 2, no. 9, pg 4
- ‘Humour in indexing’, in: G. Norman Knight, Indexing, the art of: a guide to the indexing of books and periodicals, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1979, pp. 176–86
- Indexes and indexers in fiction, American Society for Indexing
- Fiction and indexes, Hazel Bell, Society of Indexers Information Leaflet no: 6
- Indexing in the 1960s, ff., Hazel Bell, Video presentation for ANZSI 2009 Conference The Practice of Indexing”, Sydney, Australia, 15-17 October 2009. Available All on You Tube
- The Indexer’s Lament, Hazel K Bell. Music and vocal by Aidan Bell, singing about the woes of an indexer, accompanied by Kirk Duncan
- Détente by Index: On Earl Sprague’s Invitation to a Subheading, Matt Seidel, a satirical index, The Millions, 26 July 2013