2013 - Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers

Transcription

Newsletter of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers Inc.
Volume 9 | number 1 | Jan–Feb 2013
ANZSI News
Welcome to 2013
new year, new colour banner for the
Newsletter and the start of an exciting
year for ANZSI and indexing, with the
work on specifications for indexes in the
EPUB standard progressing well.
As you sort out your diaries and plans
for 2013 I hope you are including a trip to Wellington in
March to attend the ANZSI Conference. I remind you that
registrations are due by 10 February 2013. An extra fee of
A$50 will be charged after that date. So book now!!
A
Indexing the ANZSI / AusSI Newsletter
In the December issue we announced the plan to produce
an index to the ANZSI / AusSI Newsletter. We received
a wonderful response from members and non-members
and have 30 indexers busy indexing various years of the
Newsletter. Armed with the style sheet some are indexing
for the first time, while others are brushing up their skills
or diversifying into indexing newsletters. Some are also
submitting their indexes for peer review.
With such a response we decided to go back to the
very first AusSI Newsletter and even include the issues for
the Society of Indexers in Australia Newsletter. This means
40 years and over 280 issues of indexing history! The
McMaster scanner has been running hot and we nearly
have all issues scanned and placed on the ANZSI website.
This is an amazing achievement.
So far only a couple of anomalies have been discovered.
In 1990 there appears to be some missing pages and in
1989 there seems to have been only three issues. If you
have information to the contrary, could you please let me
know?
There are still a few years to be allocated to indexers, so
if you would like to be part of this indexing project and
assist with indexing some of the very early issues, please let
me know.
When all the indexes to the various years come in
they will be checked and edited to ensure consistency
throughout.
The indexes to the various years will be placed on the
webpage with their issues and there will be a combined
index formed and placed on the website as well. This
is a wonderful opportunity to showcase an index to an
organisation’s newsletter and to provide guidelines to other
organisations contemplating a similar project.
Why not explore the past issues when you have a spare
moment? <www.anzsi.org/site/newsletter.asp>
Articles required
It was obvious from the ANZSI survey that members love
the Newsletter, however there were many suggestions for
more variety and for articles from other members.
There is no reason why you can’t write about something.
Do you index in a specialised subject area and have tips
and hints you could share? Perhaps you have read a book
members would be interested in? Have you seen an unusual
index? Do you know of any local indexing projects, perhaps
organised by a museum or local history group, you could
write about?
Many institutions are producing Apps that are really
an index of something. For example, National Trust of
Australia – Victoria has an App of significant trees and
another on Lost Melbourne buildings (<www.nattrust.com.
au/trust_register__1/trust_trees> and <www.nattrust.com.
au/trust_register__1/lost_app>). Are there any index–based
Apps you would like to describe?
Why not add writing for the ANZSI Newsletter to your
to-do-list? Don’t forget to include photos and/or images.
Local ANZSI News
In an effort to encourage more content from around
Australia, we are introducing a new regular feature to the
Newsletter: State/Territory News. Each state/territory has
been allocated a month, starting with Tasmania.
Best wishes to all for a happy and successful year.
Mary Russell
ANZSI 2013 Conference update
B
y the time you read this, the final program schedule should be set and,
together with the abstracts and biographies of our speakers, will be
available online. Remember the cut-off for early bird registrations is 10 Feb,
after which a late fee of $50 applies.
Australian and New Zealand
Society of Indexers Inc.
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
About the newsletter
The newsletter is published
monthly 11 times a year, with
combined issues for January and
February. Opinions expressed in
the newsletter are those of the
individual contributors, and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions
of the society. For details about
contributions and editorial matters,
refer to the ANZSI website at
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
Quarter page: $50.00.
These are all per issue – the former
annual rate has been discontinued.
ANZSI contact information
ANZSI’s general email address is:
<[email protected]>.
Further contact details in PDF
format are available on the ANZSI
website at <www.anzsi.org>.
2 | ANZSI Newsletter
Travel
One of our members reminded us that Gold Card members get free rides on
the Airport Flyer bus service to the city. Sadly this does not appear to apply to
the Australian Seniors Card – <www.supergold.govt.nz/> – says that AU card
holders in NZ can get discounts using their AU cards but this doesn’t include
state and/or nationally funded initiatives such as the free off-peak public
transport available to NZ SuperGold Card holders. You could always try your
luck with the bus driver ...
Conference book sale specials
A special conference sale is being held for copies of The Indexing Companion
and The Indexing Companion Workbook: Book Indexing that are ordered and
paid for before the ANZSI conference to be held in Wellington, New Zealand,
in March. Early orders will help ensure that the right number of books will be
available. Payment is due by Friday 8 March, and books will be available for
collection at the conference.
A limited number of copies will be available for sale at the conference at a
higher price.
Details about the books are at <webindexing.biz/category/bookswritten/>.
Pre-ordered cost
The Indexing Companion AUS$30
The Indexing Companion Workbook: Book Indexing: print (with electronic as
well) AUS$25
The Indexing Companion Workbook: Book Indexing: electronic AUS$20
Conference cost (limited availability)
The Indexing Companion AUS$40
The Indexing Companion Workbook: Book Indexing: print (with electronic as
well) AUS $35
The Indexing Companion Workbook: Book Indexing: electronic AUS$20
There are a small number of indent problems in the printed workbook.
These have been corrected in the electronic version, which is provided with
print purchases.
Payment is by PayPal or direct bank deposit. Details available from Glenda
Browne at <[email protected]>. If pre-payment is difficult, or you
wish to pay in New Zealand in NZ$, please contact Glenda to discuss.
The following American Society for Indexing (ASI) books and back
issues of The Indexer will also be available for sale at the conference or as preorders. Pre-ordered books and journals are to be collected and paid for at the
conference. Deadline for pre-orders is 28 February 2013. All prices are in
NZ dollars. Please visit the ANZSI website at <www.anzsi.org/site/confsales.
asp> for further details and to access the order form, or contact Mary Coe at
<[email protected]> or +61 401 832 865.
The Indexer: NZ$18 per issue (or NZ$87 for the set of 5 issues):
September 2009 (Chinese issue) March 2012 (Digital issue)
July 2012 (ANZSI issue)
September 2012 (Biography Indexing)
December 2012
(continued overleaf )
(Conference update, continued from previous page)
American Society for Indexing (Information Today)
Indexing Names
NZ$52.00
Marketing Your Indexing Services (3rd Ed) NZ$33.00
Index it Right! Advice from the Experts, Volume 1
NZ$33.00
Indexing it Right! Advice from the Experts, Volume 2
NZ$33.00
Starting an Indexing Business (4th Ed)
NZ$30.00
Indexing for Editors & Authors
NZ$38.00
Indexing Specialties: Scholarly Books
NZ$33.00
Indexing Specialties: Cookbooks NZ$38.00
Indexing Specialties: Psychology NZ$23.00
Accidental Taxonomist (Heather Heddon) NZ$47.00
Running an Indexing Business
NZ$30.00
‘Glossary of Terminology’ in Abstracting, Classification,
Indexing, and Thesaurus Construction (2nd ed)
NZ$16.00
Genealogy & Indexing
NZ$30.00
Tordis Flath
SA group report – 2012
ANZSI comes alive in South Australia
ersonal and work commitments dictated that only Jane
Oliver and Silvia Muscardin (pictured below, at left and
right respectively) met for the 2012 ‘End of Year Do’ in
Adelaide. The ‘intimate’ event concluded a successful year
for the small ANZSI group in South Australia.
ANZSI does not have a South Australian branch and
it depends on the Victorian Branch, with Jane
Oliver performing the role of SA Liaison.
The Committee, formed early in the year, was
successful in organising the first ANZSI training
program in Adelaide. Three training sessions
were delivered at DOME in Currie Street: Max
McMaster was the tutor for Book Indexing 1
and Book Indexing 2, and Glenda Browne for
Website Indexing.
All three sessions were booked out.
Participants came from different professions,
proving that indexing is needed in many and
varied situations: state librarians in charge of
special collections, law librarians entrusted with
organising specialist literature, and book editors
were all represented.
The feedback was very positive from all
participants and tutors.
P
The climate of friendship and engagement was cemented
over a pleasant drinks and dinner at Saldechin Restaurant.
We would like to thank Jane Oliver, Janet Wilkinson
and Silvia Muscardin for organising the event.
Silvia Muscardin, Committee Member,
ANZSI in South Australia.
Practical indexing course
N
SW Branch will run an Intermediate/Practical indexing course, led by Glenda Browne, from 1 February to
28 February. Students will work at home, indexing a short book over four weeks. An optional face-to-face
meeting is held after the first week, so that students can meet one another, have a chance to discuss planning issues
and hear practical information on running an indexing business.
Students have access to a YahooGroups mailing list on which they introduce themselves, discuss their approaches,
and can ask questions of each other and the trainer. Students will also receive individual, written feedback on a draft
and final copy of their indexes.
Further details, including prerequisites and software use are at <www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=308>.
Glenda Browne
ANZSI Newsletter | 3
State/territory news: Tasmania
T
here are currently just three members of ANZSI in
Tasmania, namely, Clodagh Jones, Vivienne Wallace
and Christopher Brennan. We meet from time to time
informally to discuss indexing matters, but, for more formal
continuing education in indexing, we attend Victorian
Branch training courses or the ANZSI Conferences.
The local members
Clodagh Jones, as a science graduate, initially worked in a
College of Further Education in England. But from early
on in her 50-year marriage to Roy, she has indexed books,
the first being one of Roy’s that dealt with fish migration.
In 1984 she and her family moved to Australia, settling in
Hobart, where she has continued as a part-time freelance
indexer. As well as meeting other indexers in Melbourne
and beyond at meetings, conferences and workshops,
Clodagh has been a Tasmanian Contact for ANZSI.
While Clodagh has tended to index scientific texts,
especially those dealing with Antarctica, as an accredited
indexer she has nevertheless successfully fulfilled
commissions to index biographies and Tasmanian historical
works. The latter have included colonial diaries, notably the
Journal of Annie Dawbin 1858–1868, edited by Lucy Frost,
and the second edition of Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian
Journals and Papers of George Augustus Robinson 1829–
1834, which Clodagh indexed with the help of Vivienne
Wallace (see below). Clodagh is currently assisting with the
indexing of back issues of the ANZSI Newsletter. There is
more about her in ‘Quiet Achievers in indexing – Clodagh
Jones’, ANZSI Newsletter 2012(4):10–11.
Vivienne Wallace, like Clodagh, is a past Tasmanian
Contact for ANZSI. Vivienne writes of herself:
I joined ANZSI in late 2006, after decades working as
a librarian, and attended some ANZSI indexing courses
and also the 2007 ANZSI Conference. In 2007 I was
able to take part in an ANZSI mentoring program,
indexing Louisa Meredith’s Notes and Sketches of New
South Wales (1844) under the supervision of Alan
Walker. A wonderful opportunity!
My first indexing work came in 2008 when Clodagh
Jones asked me to assist with part of the indexing of a
republication of Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals
and Papers of George Augustus Robinson 1829−1834, a
mammoth task she had undertaken. As a result of this I
was also offered the opportunity to index Reading Robinson:
Companion Essays to George Augustus Robinson’s Friendly
Mission. This was my first solo indexing job.
In 2009, I indexed, in cooperation with Colleen
Wilson, Electric Eric: The Life and Times of Eric Reece, an
Australian State Premier by Launceston historian Dr Jillian
Koshin. My only other professional indexing work has been
for a local lawyer, to edit a commentary on a Tasmanian Act
of Parliament and to rework the index. Since completing
that, however, I allowed my membership of ANZSI to lapse
for a couple of years, due to health issues, but I have now
rejoined.
As for me, Christopher Brennan, my formal, academic
background is in, first, the health sciences – dentistry and
clinical epidemiology – and, more recently, in philosophy,
theology and editing. As a theological student and graduate,
I worked for ten years in-house as editor, then senior editor,
with St Pauls Publications, Sydney. Subsequently a call to
help establish an ecumenical monastic community brought
me to Tasmania, where I have continued editing as a
freelancer, joined the Society of Editors (Tasmania) and,
encouraged by editorial colleagues, taken on indexing.
I joined ANZSI in 2010, have completed several ANZSI
training courses, and have since contributed indexes to
several books in areas ranging from philosophy, education
and the fine arts to theology and church history. Along
with Clodagh, I too am indexing of some of the back issues
of the ANZSI Newsletter. I am the current Tasmanian
Contact for ANZSI.
Forthcoming events of interest
The Tasmanian Writers’ Centre (TWC), in association with
Ten Days on the Island, will present the Tasmanian Writers’
Festival 2013, entitled ‘The Shock of the Now’, from 22 to
24 March. The festival promises to be a weekend of ‘literary
and cultural inspiration’ (to quote the TWC), where
‘thinkers will come together to engage in conversation and
exchange ideas’. Participants will have the opportunity
to ‘delve behind a writer’s words, or to hear about their
motivation, inspiration and aspirations’.
Distinguished authors will speak about what is important
to them, to us and to our planet. They will include Peter
Singer, Anita Heiss, Robert Dessaix and Anne Summers.
Peter Singer, ethicist, international author and controversial
provocateur of thought and analysis, will present the
keynote address. Frank Moorhouse will host the Martini
Lecture.
Other writers attending the festival will include Michelle
De Kretser (Vic), Peter Timms (Tas), Isobelle Carmody
(Australian, but residing in Prague), Judith Rodriguez
(Vic), Tony Birch (Vic), commentator Damon Young
(Vic), foreign correspondent John Martinkus, and many
others including writers who live and work in Tasmania.
Events will be staged around the city of Hobart and
feature masterclasses, forums and presentations. For full
program information for ‘The Shock of the Now’, including
individual session details, and master class and other event
details, see <www.tasmanianwriters.org/>.
(The Tasmanian Writers’ Centre and ANZSI have
mutual web links on their websites via their ‘links’ and
‘Tasmania’ pages, respectively.)
(concluded at foot of next page)
IDPF Indexes Working Group
Glenda Browne, report January 2013
he IDPF EPUB Indexes Working Group (IWG)
has continued to meet most weeks by telephone
– usually for two hours to get through more content – with
discussions continuing by email if required.
T
Specification document
We are now working on writing and refining the EPUB
Indexes specification, with Michele Combs as editor.
The spec is being developed in GoogleDocs, where all
members can change the content and add comments. These
comments can be edited or responded to. When consensus
is reached the comments are resolved.
As soon as we resolve a few issues we raise a few more.
Mainly they are technical decisions about what coding
would be best for certain features, and whether the
extra 'clutter' and effort of coding is warranted by extra
functionality. The spec should soon be ready for review.
Working Groups can choose whether to offer public
review or just review by other IDPF members. The IWG
has decided to offer public review as we are interested in
getting feedback from a range of people, especially indexing
software creators. Once review comments have been taken
into account the proposal will be finalised. It will then be
discussed by the general IDPF EPUB Working Group (on
which IWG members can participate).
Rather than summarise the many decisions we have
made, I thought it would be useful to describe the spec to
make it easier for people to read and comment on when it
is publicly available.
XML, XHTML5 and EPUB
EPUB is based on XHTML5, i.e. it uses the core XHTML
tags like <p> and <img> and <a>. XHTML is the XML
flavour of HTML, i.e. it is HTML written according to
the stricter rules of XML. Both XML and HTML are
simplified descendants of SGML (Standard Generalised
Markup Language).
EPUB also includes the epub:type attribute. A lot of the
work of the IWG has been in determining which values can
be used with epub:type to ensure that reading systems can
rely on a consistent list of values that they have to support.
(News from Tasmania, continued from page 4)
The Society of Editors (Tasmania) is arranging for a
social media expert to conduct a workshop on the social
media (Linked-In, Facebook, Twitter etc.), especially on
how editors (or indexers!) could use them practically
to promote their work. Details of the event will be
published on the News and events page at <www.taseditors.org.au/> once they are available.
Chris Brennan
Tasmanian Contact
Overview
The spec includes informative and normative sections.
Informative sections provide context, and include the
purpose and scope of the spec (including the value of
indexes in ebooks) and a natural language summary of
the way that indexing will work in EPUB. There is also a
terminology list.
Content Documents and Components
The spec then provides the following information about
each of the parts of an index:
• EPUB Structural Semantics Vocabulary
• Definition
• HTML Usage Context
For example, for 'Index Group' (chunks of the index
such as all of the main entries starting with 'A') the draft
EPUB vocabulary is 'index:group' (this is the value of
the epub:type attribute) and the definition is 'Collection
of sequential main entries'. The HTML Usage Context
describes the HTML elements that can be used to wrap
the section (e.g. <section> or <div>) and any children that
index groups may or must contain. Allowable children of
an index group are index entries, headings (e.g. 'A'), and
page breaks.
In the lines below, <section> is an XHTML element
(with a start and end tag); epub:type is an attribute (an
EPUB-specific one, not present in the regular XHTML
tag set), and 'index:group' is the value assigned to that
attribute.
<section epub:type="index:group">
…
</section>
Identification of the Index in the Package Document
Reading Systems need to know if documents in an ebook
are indexes. The spec includes ways of saying that there is
one index, or one index split into multiple parts, or multiple
indexes (along with a few more complicated options).
Schema and Examples
We will be adding a schema and a simple and complex
example of a marked up index.
Reading System Implementation Suggestions
The original Charter document for the IWG listed four
use cases. As discussions progressed, we discovered that
three of these were not separate use cases, as they could be
implemented using the coding required for the basic index.
To keep these great ideas alive they have been written up
as implementation suggestions. In addition to the Charter
proposals (index accessible from the text, search for all index
terms used for a range of text, and display of contextual
information for an index term) we also have suggestions for
filtering of indexes and navigation to index groups.
Glenda Browne
Indexing Indaba – February 2013
The great work of indexing
ecently I discovered Take Note,
an online interactive exhibition
aimed at exploring note-taking in
the collections of Harvard University.
Among the fascinating collection of
exhibits is one that covers the history
of periodical indexing, including the
deep interest in this area of physician
and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes.
In his dedicatory address at the Boston Medical Library
in 1878, he praised the then recent development in
periodical indexing. ‘This idea has long been working in the
minds of scholars, and all who have had occasion to follow
out any special subject. I have a right to speak of it, for I
long ago attempted to supply the want of indexes in some
small measure for my own need. I had a very complete set
of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences; an entire set
of the North American Review, and many volumes of the
reprints of the three leading British quarterlies. Of what use
were they to me without general indexes? I looked them all
through carefully and made classified lists of all the articles I
thought I should most care to read. But they soon outgrew
my lists…. Nothing, therefore, could be more pleasing to
me than to see the attention which has been given of late
years to the great work of indexing.’
The exhibit includes a page from a notebook written
during Holmes’s early years in medical practice. It contains
the classified lists he mentions in his address and references
articles he found of interest in the subjects of anatomy,
pathology, surgery, midwifery, chemistry, and therapeutics.
Periodical indexing developed during the 19th century
as a result of scientific knowledge being increasingly
published in periodical rather than monographic form. It
was pioneered by medical and scientific investigators who
began to create ever-more elaborate personal systems for
keeping track of scientific literature.
Examples of such projects include the massive index
to zoological literature compiled by Louis Agassiz, a
contemporary and Harvard colleague of Holmes. It
was eventually used as the basis for the Ray Society's
Bibliographia zoologiae et geologiae (4 volumes,
1848–54). Another project was the Royal Society of London‘s
Catalogue of Scientific Papers (1867–), which attempted to
list every scientific paper published in a periodical during
the nineteenth century. A review published in Nature in
1896 commented on the burning issue of the day – ‘how
best to grapple with the task of recording and indexing the
ever-increasing mass of scientific literature’. It was at this
point that several international bodies began to compete to
index and classify the world‘s scientific literature.
<http://bookhistory.harvard.edu/takenote/node/51>
R
Indexing images of our colonial past
An impressive new publication is Peter A. Dowling’s
privately produced two-volume, 1490 page Index to
imagery in Australian colonial newspapers. It is an index to
the approximate 12,000 images in nearly all of Australia’s
colonial illustrated newspapers, including those in the
four major papers: Illustrated Australian News (1861-96),
Illustrated Melbourne Post (1862-68), Illustrated Sydney
News (1864-94) and Australasian Sketcher (1873-89).
Volume I indexes the imagery by subject, region
and date, while Volume II indexes all images with any
attribution by creator (illustrator, photographer, artist and
engraver).
100 years of crosswords
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication
of the world’s first crossword puzzle. Created by Arthur
Wynne for the FUN section of the New York World
newspaper, he had intended his ‘Word-Cross’ to serve as a
space filler. His original numbering system later gave way
to the ‘Across and Down’ system used today, and he also
introduced the idea of using black squares to separate the
words in their rows and columns. A few weeks after the
appearance of the first ‘Word-Cross’ a typographical error
was made and the puzzle was published as a ‘Cross-Word’.
The name has been with us ever since. <http://inventors.
about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/crossword.htm>
In a recent interview on 774 ABC Melbourne, David
Astle, dictionary expert on the SBS program Letters and
Numbers and author of the book Puzzled, spoke about his
passion for crosswords. He pointed out that because they
cover almost every topic under the sun, they contain a
myriad of stories and act as valuable records of trends in
word usage.
Today, crosswords in newspapers and books are produced
by professional crossword compilers or setters, well-versed
in producing puzzles catering to enthusiasts with a variety
of interests and capabilities. Little wonder then that their
profession has crossed paths with ours in the form of
crossword indexes. For example, Eddie James who produces
straight and cryptic puzzles for a number of UK magazines,
including Private Eye and the Guardian, indexes the puzzles
available on his website by theme and level of difficulty,
along with a couple of notes. My favourite note is ‘UK
political/topical – N.B. some clues are bawdy’.
<http://www.eddiejames.co.uk/Index_Theme.html>
Another way to index crosswords is by title, as in the
index to the Puzzler section of the literary magazine, The
Atlantic. This can be a little bit hit and miss as while
titles such as ‘Craftwork’ and ‘Rock Climbing’ give some
clue as to the theme of the puzzle, others such as ‘What’s
(continued on next page)
(Indexing indaba, continued from previous page)
What’ or ‘Your Turn’ are fairly meaningless. Shades of
the shortcomings sometimes found in cookbook indexes?
<http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/puzzler/
puzzler.htm>
Cruciverbalism, as crossword setting and solving is
also known, is an area made for blogging. Blogs provide
opportunities for solvers to share their views and to assist
newbies (without giving the answers away!) as well as for
setters to interact with solvers. One prominent blogging
community is ‘Times for the Times’, which has commented
on almost every crossword published by the Times since
2006. Some of these puzzles end up in the ongoing series
of crossword books published by the Times and those who
collect them need have no fear of being unable to locate the
blog posts associated with the original newspaper version.
Some generous solvers have taken it upon themselves
to index the puzzles in the books by their identifying
numbers, and then matching these to the different set of
identifying numbers assigned to the newspaper version,
along with links to relevant blog posts.
<http://times-xwd-times.livejournal.com/920335.html>
Nikki Davis
Arthur Wynne’s first Word-Cross puzzle:
Fill in the small squares with words which agree with the following definitions. You can find the solution at: <www.
fun-with-words.com/first_crossword_solution.html>.
2-3 What bargain hunters enjoy.
4-5 A written acknowledgement.
6-7 Such and nothing more.
10-11 A bird.
14-15 Opposed to less.
18-19 What this puzzle is.
22-23 An animal of prey.
26-27 The close of the day.
28-29 To elude.
30-31 The plural of is.
8-9 Cultivate.
12-13 A bar of wood or iron.
16-17 What artists learn to do.
20-21 Fastened.
24-25 Found on the seashore.
10-18 The fiber of the gomuti palm.
6-22 What we all should be.
4-26 A day dream.
2-11 A talon
19-28 A pigeon.
F-7 A part of your head.
23-30 A river in Russia.
1-32 To govern.
33-34 An aromatic plant.
N-8 A fist.
24-31 To agree with.
3-12 Part of a ship.
20-29 One.
5-27 Exchanging.
9-25 Sunk in mud.
13-21 A boy.
Patterns for the Plucky: a prelude
(or, what you might like to know before attending this session in Wellington)
A
s an introduction to a recent day-long workshop
on using patterns in CINDEX™, I had intended to
spend just five to ten minutes quickly reviewing the FIND
and REPLACE screens before embarking on the more
challenging task of learning and applying the language
of patterns. Instead I unleashed an overwhelming desire
among workshop participants to explore fully the existing
FIND and REPLACE options and operations. An hour
and a half later we were still exploring ways in they could
be most usefully employed – without a single pattern on
the horizon!
So, if you are planning on attending the Patterns for the
Plucky session in Wellington (or even if you are not), here
are aspects of searching and replacing text with which you
should familiarize yourself, especially since we will not have
time in Wellington to cover the same ground.
I invite you to call up the FIND screen in Cindex and
follow along ...
Case sensitivity
• Any search for a string of characters is case-insensitive unless
you request otherwise. (The opposite is true for REPLACE).
Thus searching for the character string ‘cat’ might find
Catacomb, cat, Cats, communication, classification, Indicator,
etc.
• Checking the ‘Case’ box (bottom of FIND screen) and still
searching for ‘cat’ will only retrieve cats, communication,
classification, Indicator
• Checking ‘Whole Word’ instead of ‘Case’ will retrieve only
cat
• Should you wish to find both plural and singular forms (but
avoid using a pattern), you can enter ‘cat’ in the text box
and select the Boolean operator OR from the drop-down
menu to the right of the text box. A second text box will
appear. Enter ‘Cats’ in this second box. Check ‘Whole
Word’ beneath both text requests and the search will now
retrieve cat and Cats.
Excluding characters from the search
• You can also use the Boolean operator NOT to exclude a
specific character or characters from the search. For example,
you may have entered author names and subject content in
the same index file, and now wish to quickly spell-check
only the subject material.
– If the author names were entered in “last name and initial
letter” format, then exclude the full stop (.) from the search.
To do this simply type a full stop in the text box and check
the NOT box immediately to the left. The search will
retrieve all records that do not contain a full stop. Now run
the spell-check. The search will also identify name entries
where you failed to provide a full stop – another editing
check satisfied!
Including/Excluding records from the search
• The FIND screen has two areas that allow you to restrict your
search as you wish: Scope allows you to define how much of
the index you wish to search; and Only Among which lets
you determine the ‘types’ of records among which you wish
to search
• Within Scope the default setting is to search the whole index
(or whatever is currently displayed, such as a group), but you
can also search:
– within a highlighted array of records by checking the
Selected Records button
– among a range of records (j-s, for example) or by record
number, (200-500, for example). In the first instance you
need to display the index in an alphabetic sort; in the latter
you would need to place the index in Unsorted order (i.e.
the order in which they were entered). To do this, go to the
View Menu and uncheck the Sorted option. When finished,
recheck the Sorted option
– by date of the last action (adding or editing) in records.
– by User ID. This is particularly useful in a team-indexing
project. To ensure that each record is ‘stamped’ with the
User ID, it should be set, prior to beginning work, on
the Preferences/General screen (in Windows editions of the
program Preferences are found on the Edit Menu; under the
Cindex Menu on the Mac).
• The Only Among section of the FIND and REPLACE screens
provides ways to restrict searches (and replacements) to
certain kinds of records. For example, to search among
(or simply locate and group) all New records ensure that
the following two buttons are checked: Records That Are
and New. Cindex defines a new record as one that has
been added to the index since the file was last opened. A
Modified record is one that has been either altered or edited,
or newly added since the file was last opened. Records that
have been Deleted can also be found, but only when records
are displayed in Draft view (VIEW Menu/Draft Format).
Labelled records can also be located, either by individual
label colour or all at once.
Marked and Generated records are the result of other
operations in CINDEX and are not discussed here.
Searching by Type Style or Font
• The Attributes button allows you to search for words or
characters with specific type styles or fonts. This is most
often used in conjunction with pattern searches, but
sometimes you may simply wish to locate and review all
book titles or Latin terms you have entered in italic type into
your index. Or you may have entered some text in a font
different from the index as a whole. When you click on the
Attributes button, any additional fonts used will be listed on
the drop-down menu.
(Patterns for the Plucky, continued from previous page)
Confining the search in record fields
• You can instruct CINDEX to only ‘look’ in certain fields
of records by selecting the appropriate option from the
drop-down menu immediately below the text box. When
Page is selected, the adjacent setting Evaluate Numbers is
automatically checked. This means that if you search for
‘267’ CINDEX will identify it not only as a plain character
string but also when it is contained within a page range, e.g.
265-268. If you literally want to search for the string ‘267’
uncheck Evaluate Numbers
Bear in mind the following:
• The above options to include and exclude characters, words,
and text-style attributes are also available on the Replace
screen. The Replace screen also allows you to ignore, change,
or remove text-styling or fonts
• Use the Reset button to clear the settings on the Find and
Replace screens.
• Should you make a replacement in error, use the File Menu/
Revert to Saved feature to restore the index to its last saved
iteration.
Frances S. Lennie, Indexing Research
<fl[email protected]>, +1 585-413-1819
News from Queensland
Branch
Q
ueensland Branch’s 2012 year wound to a close on
27 November, when a small group of Queensland
members and their spouses met for the Christmas dinner
party at the Salisbury Hotel Restaurant in Brisbane.
After dinner, our Secretary Beryl Macdonald provided a
crossword puzzle for the group, based on the October 2012
ANZSI Newsletter, to the delight of all who attended.
Thanks to Beryl for her ingenuity and for entertaining
the group.
Thanks also to all Queensland members and our
resident author Graham Potts, who attended to see the old
year out.
Tuesday 26 February will be our first General Meeting
and dinner in 2013, to discuss in-house indexing projects
with guest indexer Mei Yen Chua. Please come to the
Salisbury Hotel and see the New Year in with us.
The following month, on 26 March, we ask, ‘Have you
ever met a Palaeontologist? What would you ask of her?’
Guest speaker Dr Susan Turner will provide the answers.
Moira Brown
President
The Festive Season Index ... The Vic in December
A
t the VIC meeting in December, 2012, a small band
of indexers and friends got together to create a list of
index terms related to the festive season. Participants were
asked to think laterally and include not only traditional
Christmas topics like the Nativity or Christmas fare,
but consider other topics which revolve or are associated
with the Christmas season, such as traffic jams, travel,
overindulgence, Myer Christmas windows, etc.
As terms and cross-references were suggested, they
were written on the whiteboard by Mary Russell and then
entered into Macrex indexing software by Max McMaster,
and displayed via a data projector. It was amazing to see the
diversity of topics which were included.
In the one hour allowed for the exercise, 130 terms
were entered. Our Festive Season Index is given on the
next page. Invariably in an exercise such as this some topics
which should have been included were forgotten, but as an
exercise in group indexing it was very worthwhile.
The whole activity was very enjoyable, as it allowed
everybody to contribute, including some non-indexing
colleagues who came along. For them, seeing an index
developed in real time was a bonus.
Max McMaster
(See the Festive Index spelt out on the next page)
Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
Camberwell, Vic., Penguin Group (Australia) 2011
W
e have a wonderful quote by Marcus Aurelius in the
‘positive future’ section of The Indexing Companion.
I was therefore a bit startled to hear that he had committed
suicide, but was assured that this was in line with Stoic
philosophy. (I have since discovered that he died after a
short illness, probably a fever or the plague). Because I had
quoted him I thought I should perhaps read a bit more, and
bought myself his Meditations for Christmas.
The Penguin Classics edition has three indexes: Names,
Quotations and General. Names include people (e.g. ‘Dio,
either Dio of Syracuse or Dio of Prusa (Chrysostomos)’),
gods (e.g. ‘Zeus, god’), peoples (e.g. ‘Sarmatian (Germanic
tribe) prisoners’), places (e.g. Asia) and geographical features
(e.g. Athos, mountain). The author comments that ‘Not all
the passages cited name the referent. For example, Marcus
refers to his mother several times, but never by her name,
Domitia Lucilla’.
The Index of Quotations ‘lists both direct quotations
and those passages of other authors which either clearly or
probably lie behind Marcus’ thought and/or expression at
various points.’ They include many familiar authors such as
Aristophanes, Epicurus, Homer and Sophocles.
The General Index notes that a comprehensive index
would be almost as long as the book itself, and that the
General Index aims to ‘strike a reasonable balance between
completeness and utility’. ‘A good number of otherwise
trivial entries’ have been included to help readers seeking
to recapture a striking phrase or image. He gives the
examples ‘bath-water, cucumber, puppies and rubbishdump’. This is a good example of indexing what might
otherwise be considered a passing mention (after all,
the reader is not being led to a substantial discussion on
cucumbers, for example). The headings of fifty major
entries are given in bold capitals for ease of reference.
These include BODY/FLESH, DIRECTING MIND and
STOIC PHILOSOPHY.
What I find most interesting about the index/access,
however, is the linkage of the index, through emboldened
locators, to the notes, which often contain ‘synoptic
treatment or a mini-index of the point or issue discussed’.
Thus the core structure of the index is kept manageable,
but great detail is provided elsewhere. Apart from keeping
the index uncluttered, this enables the provision of more
contextual information at these references. For example,
the note for 2.14 lists four categories into which Marcus’
considerations of death mainly fall. The third one is the
longest and reads:
‘Reflections, with varying degrees of focus, on the
inevitability of death (‘where are they now?’) for the greatest
of men, the wisest of men, ordinary men, those who buried
others: 33.3, 4.32, 4.33, 4.48, 4.50, 6.24, 6.47, 7.19, 8.25,
8.31 (the whole court of Augustus), 8.37 (‘all stench and
corruption in a bag of bones’), 10.31, 12.27’.
Marcus’ meditations are largely unstructured, often
repetitious, and sometimes contradictory, so the notes
– and the ‘indexing’ within them – are important for access
to the work.
Having read (or, in places, skimmed) this book, my
favourite quote remains the one in The Indexing Companion
(p.199):
‘Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you
have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm
you against the present.‘
Here’s to the exciting future of indexing!
Glenda Browne
The Festive Season Index
Advent
Advent calendars
alcoholic beverages
angels
Baby Jesus
barbeques
baubles
Bethlehem
beverages, see also alcoholic beverages
bills
bonbons
booze buses
Boxing Day
bush Christmas
camels
cards see Christmas cards
carollers
carols
Carols by Candlelight
Chanukah see Hanukkah
charities
children
chocolates
choirs
Christmas
Christmas appeals
Christmas cakes
Christmas cards
‘A Christmas Carol’ (Dickens)
Christmas crackers see bonbons
Christmas Day
Christmas decorations
Christmas eve
Christmas greetings
Christmas lights
Christmas meals
Christmas parties
Christmas stocking
Christmas trees
Christmas wrapping
Church services
credit cards
crib
debt
decorations see Christmas decorations
desserts
Dickens, Charles, ‘A Christmas Carol’
donkey
(see previous page)
Emmanuel
family
family ‘brag’ sheet/letter
family tensions
Father Christmas
food
frankincense
free public transport
friends
ghosts
gifts see presents
gingerbread houses
gold
grog see beverages
ham
hampers
Hanukkah
hangovers
holiday time tables
holidays
holly
house decorations
ivy
Jesus see Baby Jesus
Jingle Bells
jokes
Joseph
last minute shopping
late night shopping
left overs
loneliness
manger
Mary
Messiah
Midnight Mass
mince pies
mistletoe
mulled wine
music
Myer windows
myrrh
New Year
Noël
North Pole
office parties
overindulgence
pantomimes
paper hats
plum pudding
pork
presents
Queen’s message
queues
reindeer
religion
St Nicholas see Father Christmas
salads
Santa Claus see Father Christmas
school holidays
seafood
sheep
shepherds
shopping
shortbread
silly season
sleigh
snow
stars
street decorations
sunburn
Three Wise Men
tinsel
traffic chaos
travel
trees see Christmas trees
turkey
TV Christmas specials
Twelve Days of Christmas
Xmas see Christmas
yule log
Yuletide see Christmas
nativity
new toys
ANZSI and Branch events
Date and time
Organiser
Name of
activity
Venue
Contact details
Mon 18 Feb
9.00–4.30
Vic Branch
Basic Indexing
Pt 1
Holmesglen TAFE
Details at
<www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=304>
Tues 19 Feb
9.00–4.30
Vic Branch
Holmesglen TAFE
Details at
Wed 20 Feb
9:30–12.30
Vic Branch
Holmesglen TAFE
Details at
Wed 20 Feb
2.00–5.30
Vic Branch
Holmesglen TAFE
Details at
Tues 26 February
6.00 pm dinner
Qld Branch
In-house indexing
with Mei Yen Chua
Salisbury Hotel, 668
Toohey Rd, Brisbane
Details at
Wed 6 March
6.00 pm
Vic Branch
The VIC: multiple
authors
Holy Trinity Church,
Kew
Details at
13–15 March
ANZSI
ANZSI 2013
Conference
Wellington, NZ
Details at <www.anzsi.org/site/2013Conf.asp>
Basic Indexing
Pt 2
Embedded
Indexing with MS
Word
Annual report
indexing
ANZSI Newsletter
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI News
ANZSI Newsletter
ANZSI 2013 Conference update
SA group report 2012 – ANZSI comes alive in SA
NSW Branch indexing course
State/Territory news – Tasmania
Indexing indaba (with a crossword!)
Patterns for the Plucky: a prelude (Frances Lennie)
Queensland Branch news
The VIC December – the Festive Season index
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
PO Box 2059, Wattletree Road LPO,
Malvern East VIC 3145, Australia
1
2
2
3
3
4
5
6
8
9
10, 11
10
Published by the
Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers Inc.
PO Box 2059, Wattletree Road LPO, Malvern East,
VIC 3145, Australia
© Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers Inc.
ISSN 1832-3855
Opinions and statements expressed in the newsletter are
those of the respective authors.
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in March 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 1 March.
The editor welcomes your contributions submitted by
email to <[email protected].>
Postage
paid
Volume 9 | number 2 | March 2013
ANZSI News
ANZSI Conference
t is March 2013 already!
March 2013 is ANZSI Conference
month. For many members it is a chance
to take a break from work and travel to
Wellington. It is a wonderful opportunity
to meet other indexers, put faces to
names, to learn new tips and hints and
to be stimulated and inspired. The New Zealand Branch
has been working very hard to produce an interesting and
diverse programme that even includes a chance to take a
break from the formal conference and do something else
for an afternoon or to take a Lord of the Rings tour.
For members not going to the Conference, many of the
papers will be made available, either via this Newsletter or
the website.
I
Do you read ebooks via your local library?
Have you been exploring downloading ebooks for free via
your public library? OverDrive is one of the main suppliers
of ebooks to public libraries. The ebooks are usually
available in PDF and/or EPUB versions. I understand not
Kindle versions at the moment. I have experimented with
a few non-fiction titles and I am finding they are stripping
the ebook of the index that was in the printed version. I
mean totally stripped. No mention of the index at all in
the ebook version. Have you had the same experience?
I would like to find out if, with my little sample, I have just
managed to find the few with indexes stripped or if this is
a common occurrence.
Could you please send me specific examples of titles
you have found for non-fiction with or without an index
via OverDrive?
Mary Russell
The last Conference update!
H
ave you registered for the Conference yet? If not, be quick! You can still get in …
The full program is available at <www.anzsi.org/site/2013confprog.asp>.
Here are some last minute ideas for the Conference:
Lord of the Rings tour tickets
There are still tickets available for the LotR tour during the Conference on Thursday 14 March.
Cost is $100, payable on the website, which includes lunch and refreshments.
Dress up for dinner at The Roxy
There will be a competition with a prize for the Best Dressed at dinner. The theme
is Art Deco /1920s / 1930s. Jazz up your outfit with a scarf, eye-catching jewellery
or go the whole hog and hire a costume.
Costume Hire places in Wellington include:
The Costume Hire Company <www.costumecompany.co.nz>.
214 Willis Street, Wellington open until 7.00 pm Thursday.
They will give ANZSI Conference participants a 20% discount and do a hotel pick
up the next day (or bring them back to the conference venue).
Dress Ups for Grown Ups <www. costumecave.co.nz>.
Creative Show Off Costume Hire <www.creativeshowoffcostume.co.nz>.
See you there!
Tordis Flath
The Victorian Indexing Club (The VIC)
Indexing with Gusto!
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
During February, the Victorian Indexing Club was pleased to welcome guest
speaker Mei Yen Chua to a meeting with a distinctly culinary flavour. A
Queensland Branch member, Mei Yen is the publisher of the popular eateries
guide, Brisbane’s Budget Bites.
How Mei Yen got into this area
of publishing is perhaps a little
unusual; it resulted from a dare
put out by a friend. She rose to the
bait and set about pulling together
a collection of gastronomic gems
– eateries, bakeries, coffee spots and
providores with great food at budget
prices, often overlooked because of
the lacklustre appearance of their
premises from the street.
Mei Yen found that convincing
advertisers to purchase space in
Brisbane Budget Bites was a little more challenging than she had at first
imagined. Undaunted, she soon turned this problem into a plus by making
it into the only advert-free eateries guide in Australia. With this point of
difference, Mei Yen set about developing her readership which has turned out
to be far more well-heeled than the backpacker market that she had expected.
Now well-seasoned in the business, Mei Yen works with a team of reviewers
she has handpicked for their knowledge of different cuisines, in order to
produce the annually updated guide. Suggestions for new and different eateries
are welcomed from readers, but a warning for restaurateurs thinking of posing
as happy diners – Mei Yen has a knack for sniffing you out.
In addition to researching (i.e. eating out!), editing and publishing the
guide, Mei Yen naturally indexes it too. In
the latest edition of Brisbane’s Budget Bites
the original single index was expanded to
create three – a Cuisine Index, a Suburbs
Index and an Alphabetical Eateries Index.
The guide has not been untouched by the
demise of Angus & Robertson and Borders
bookstores, who were major distributors.
Not one to give in to a challenge too easily,
and in keeping with the times, Mei Yen is
currently looking at producing the guide as
an app.
The choice of the State Library of Victoria
Conference Centre as the venue for the
February meeting was a deliberate one. The
Library’s current exhibition, Gusto!, looks at
the culinary history of our state with major
themes and ideas that cover: Food and identity, Early days and going without,
Meat and ethics, The fashion for food, Spoilt for choice, and Immigration
and cultural diversity. After Mei Yen had given us a peek into the world of
food reviewing, members enjoyed afternoon tea and a wander through the
exhibition.
Nikki Davis
NSW Intermediate Indexing workshop
I
was the incredibly lucky sole student participant in
a Saturday morning workshop, held as part of the
Intermediate Indexing course with ANZSI. I spent the
morning with not one, but two of our best indexers
(Glenda Browne and Mary Coe), all to myself!
The workshop was quite loosely planned, allowing for
my many questions and some deviations, but over the
course of the morning we managed to do a lot. What we
covered included:
• a look at some publications available to help new and
experienced indexers, not only with indexing itself but
with some of the grammar decisions that we meet as
indexers. I will certainly be buying that book by Pam
Peters!
• a thorough critique of two of my own indexes that
I had brought along for show-and-tell. These were very
different jobs and the advice given by both Glenda and
Mary was invaluable. A bit more about that later.
• a look at my progress with the index that we are working
on for the course.
• some advice on setting up and running an indexing
business.
• ample time to answer an endless stream of questions
that had been puzzling me for ages – we covered, among
other topics, subheadings, ‘see also’ refs, page spans, the
decision whether to index an item or not, indexing the
‘extras’ like a preface – my questions must have seemed
endless, but were answered patiently and expertly by
both indexers, who offered at times different but equally
valuable insights.
Having two facilitators was in no way confusing,
but quite the opposite. A few times I sat and listened as
they discussed the different approaches
to tackling an indexing job. Whether
to read carefully through a text before
starting, marking everything on the
copy for inclusion or consideration later,
or whether to dive straight in, open
a new file in the software and start
making entries while moving through
the text? Whether to note down every
minute of time spent working on the
index or whether to make a guestimate,
subtracting for time spent on Facebook
and other distractions?
Among my many questions, there
were technical puzzles that had been
bugging me about my indexing software
(I use Sky). Glenda uses SKY, while
Mary uses CINDEX, so there was plenty
of opportunity to find answers to these
puzzles. I will be upgrading my version
of SKY as soon as I can get around to it!
The most valuable part of the day was the chance to have
these two wonderful indexers look at my own work. They
raised points that I had never considered, and this is the
difference between a beginner/intermediate like me and an
experienced indexer. Economy in an index was something I
hadn’t thought of – I had been guilty of making long strings
of locators as well as long lists of subheadings with the same
locator as the main heading. I can now think about different
ways to present these that make an index ‘look’ better. My
samples were a community cookbook with an index of two
pages and a book of proceedings from an ophthalmology
conference – a detailed index of eight pages. The advice
I gleaned from the morning session was treasure!
One take-home message from the workshop was that
no two indexers will produce the same index. There are
many ways to work and to deal with those indexing
conundrums, and this is illustrated in one of the reference
books that Glenda brought along (Inside Indexing by Sherry
L Smith and Kari Kells), in which two indexers give their
interpretation of the same book. No one way is ‘correct’,
and a lot depends on the target audience.
The workshop included all the face-to-face advice and
wisdom listed above, but also unlimited tea, a lovely lunch
at Wagamama, handouts containing business advice and
back copies of the journal The Indexer. The inspiration
gained will benefit me for a long time!
Sally Pope
Pictured at the workshop are Sally, Glenda and Mary
New South Wales Branch
N
SW Branch has had 40–50 members over the past few
years. Most are located in the Sydney metropolitan
area, but regional areas are represented as well. Currently,
in addition to the Sydney-based members, there are seven
members in the Blue Mountains, three in the Illawarra/
Southern Tablelands region, three on the Central Coast,
and a couple of members in Mudgee and Bellingen.
The distance between us makes face-to-face meetings on
a regular basis impractical, so we try to arrange events and
courses in a central location, usually in the Sydney CBD,
several times per year and the Branch Committee meets
monthly via teleconference. We have also organised joint
regional events with the ACT Branch, meeting in Bowral
in the Southern Tablelands, roughly halfway between
Canberra and Sydney.
Over the past year, NSW Branch has organised the
following events and courses:
• Intermediate/Practical Indexing course (February 2013):
Glenda Browne’s course combined a month-long online
component with a face-to-face meeting in Sydney. Six
students participated, including two from South Africa
(who unfortunately did not attend the Sydney event!)
• Social lunch/end-of-year gathering (November 2012):
Frances Lennie presented ‘Indexing as Art’ then joined
us for lunch in a Sydney pub. (See newsletter article last
December)
• Joint ACT/NSW Branch regional conference ‘From
pbooks to ebooks’ (July 2012): We gathered over a
weekend in Bowral with ACT Branch members and local
publishers to investigate ebooks and how to index them.
(See newsletter article last September)
• Basic Book Indexing (July 2012): Nine students met for
Glenda Browne’s course over a weekend in the Sydney
CBD.
• Introduction to Embedded Indexing (September
2012: Jon Jermey introduced students to LibreOffice
Writer and took students through the basic process
of adding, modifying and deleting embedded index
entries. Mary Coe demonstrated the use of CINDEX in
embedded indexing projects and introduced a range of
other tools used by indexers for embedding (Microsoft
Word, WordEmbed, DexEmbed, InDesign). Glenda
Browne finished the session with a discussion of the use
of embedded indexes in ebooks.
The Branch would like to encourage members to attend
events run by related professional groups, to ensure that:
• we learn about other people’s interests and priorities,
and
• other professionals learn about indexers, indexing and
the things that matter to us.
Members of NSW Branch enjoying their end-of-year (in this case 2011) social lunch at Sue and Martin Flaxman’s home in
Bowral. Round the table from the left: Tricia Waters, Glenda Browne, Madeleine Davis, Mary Coe, Alan Walker, Tim Tyler, Oran
Rusidov, Sue Flaxman, Pamela Johnstone, Elisabeth Thomas, Frances Paterson, Jon Jermey.
(NSW Branch, continued from previous page)
NSW Branch offers sponsorship of up to $100 for
attendance at an approved event. An additional allocation
of $50 may be made for long-distance transport costs.
The Branch Committee currently has nine members
and meets monthly via teleconference. We are an eclectic
bunch, ranging from full-time freelance indexers to students
to library professionals.
The committee officers and members for 2012–13 are:
President: Frances Paterson
Vice President: Glenda Browne
Secretary: Mary Coe
Treasurer: Sue Flaxman
Committee Members: Madeleine Davis, Lorraine
Doyle, Helen Enright, Elisabeth Thomas,
Michael Wyatt
In addition to local and regional matters, the Branch
committee has assisted in general ANZSI projects, such as
hosting the 2009 Conference in Sydney and the current
redevelopment of Indexers Available.
NSW Branch first sent a ‘Proposal to Enhance Indexers
Available’ for discussion at the full Council meeting in
March 2011. Since then, feedback from other Branches
and recommendations from the P&P Committee have been
considered by the NSW Working Party on Redevelopment
of Indexers Available. A report and recommendations will
be forwarded to the Council for its meeting on 28 March
2013. Final consideration will be made at the full Council
meeting in May.
We encourage any ANZSI NSW members to join us
on the committee or to contact us with suggestions for
events and courses. In future, we are hoping to extend our
online course offerings, such as the Intermediate/Practical
Indexing course, and to offer one-on-one mentoring for
new indexers. If you would like to join the committee or
offer suggestions, please contact the NSW Branch Secretary,
Mary Coe, at <[email protected]> or <0401 832 865>.
Mary Coe
News from Queensland Branch
A
General Meeting of Queensland Branch was held on 26 February. The meeting was well attended and plans were
hatched for a new and exciting indexing training adventure using Glenda Browne and Jon Jermey’s text The Indexing
Companion in conjunction with the accompanying Workbook by Glenda Browne.
It is a mentoring type of indexing training to be run online by Queensland Branch member Mei Yen Chua for the
Branch. It is a pilot run and a work in progress, which will be an exciting adventure for the 11 participants who have so
far signed up.
We aim to accommodate all
trainees who have a day job, so
we have an extended training
itinerary. Time frames may shift
and morph, so please feel free
to join us over the next three
months.
Any ANZSI Branch member,
or any industry colleague, is
welcome to participate in this
training adventure online.
All enquiries to Moira Brown
<[email protected].
au> or <0416 097 629>
Moira Brown
President, Qld Branch)
At the meeting were (front, l to r): Jeni Lewington, Mei Yen Chua, Moira Brown; (back) Beryl
Macdonald, Dr. Peter Mountney, Cate Seymour-Jones, Jane Douglas, Franz Pinz, Teresa Hayward.
Indexing degustation
W
e go on a dizzy tour this month,
from Pudding Island (UK)
to Timbuktu and Nevada; chasing
music, crosswords, endangered
documents and legal brothels. Take
your pick. There is absolutely nothing
that cannot be indexed and I have
made it my mission to hunt up some
more unlikely subjects for future
discussion.
Internet Beatles Recording Index
Back in the 60s I was in thrall to the Beatles, or to be
precise, George Harrison. My sister went for Ringo which
always was a mystery. We were lucky enough to see them
live at Festival Hall and ‘see’ is the operative word because
piercing shrieks drowned all sound.
Imagine my excitement when I discovered the Internet
Beatles Recording Index, a site which is bound to stir the
cockles of many an indexer’s heart. Each song released by
the Beatles between 1962 and 1969 has a page made up of
sections for producers, engineers, sessions musicians, musical
context and lyrical context. One may find all the songs in
which the harmonica features, or where George Harrison
plays the violin. There is a cross reference of musical and
lyrical context, for example, in which songs do the Beatles
mention death in their lyrics. Who was the engineer on
Hey Jude? Song lyrics are included which is a boon for
those who suffer from Lady Mondegreens. There are even
guitar chords. If you click on the instrument mentioned
on a recording page you will find a chronological listing
of appearances of that instrument in these recordings.
There is also a helpful page on information about the links.
I pursued a line which began with songs recorded in 1963,
and selected I Saw Her Standing There. Here were listed the
producer, engineer, date of release, who played the various
instruments and sang, and lyrical references, i.e. subjects.
In this case, dancing, holding hands, and romantic love.
Click on one of these and you get all the other songs that
share the reference. Then there are links to the author,
covers, lyrics, trivia, notes, oops, other instances where,
for example, Ringo Starr provided Ludwig Drums, and
live performances. Here was a list of all the performances,
including 16 June 1964, when we had our ears bored out.
Another link went to all the songs performed on the night.
Then there are statistics! What a gem!
<http://ibri.onemojofilter.com/index.php>
More on crosswords
As a tyro cryptic crossword enthusiast, I was fascinated
to read Michael Shmith’s account of Guardian crossword
setter, Araucaria. Araucaria (Latin for the ‘monkey puzzle’
tree) is really the Reverend John Graham MBE, a 91-yearold vicar. Recently, he announced his terminal cancer in
the cryptic clue; ‘sign of growth’. Michael Shmith writes,
‘For the cryptic solver of average mind (i.e. me) this clue
is fairly straightforward. You just have to deconstruct it to
arrive at the right answer. Thus, ‘’sign’’ is not an indication
or a printed notice but, rather, astrological - a sign of the
zodiac; ‘’growth’’ is not positive expansion but something
darker and anatomical. Answer: cancer.’
As a paragraph above the grid explained: ‘Araucaria has
18 down of the 19, which is being treated with 13 15.’
In other words, he has cancer of the oesophagus and is
receiving palliative care.’ Araucaria creates six crosswords
per month for The Guardian, several for The Financial
Times and two a month for the magazine he founded in
1984, 1 Across, where his premature death-notice crossword
first appeared last month. Until then even his brother did
not know he was Araucaria. He will be sorely missed.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/
enigmatic-to-the-last-crossword-king-araucaria-will-besorely-missed-20130116-2ctoy.html
Index to Nevada’s Legal Brothels by Region
A useful little site for aficionados. Speed Racer has divided
the state into four regions; click on these for more detail or
click on the map of Nevada alongside. Both options take you
to the same page; a local map and a list of bordellos within
local areas. For example, the trail would go as follows: Main
Page - Southern NV - Pahrump-area Brothels (Chicken
Ranch & Sheri’s Ranch). Once here, there are very detailed
directions from Las Vegas and Southern California to the
chosen brothel. A potted history of each establishment adds
a lot of interest to the site.
Additional information includes weather links for
Nevada and surrounding areas, information on major
Nevada Road Construction Projects, and tables listing
Nevada’s Legal Brothels & Locations (by house name) and
Nevada’s Legal Brothel Websites (by house name). One
imagines a visit would be no small matter when wayward
roads and weather are thrown into the mix.
http://www.sex-in-nevada.com/directions/index.html
Historic Timbuktu texts saved from burning
As French tanks were closing in on Timbuktu on the night
of 23 January, the al Qaeda-backed militants who had
governed Timbuktu since April left a departing blow. They
broke into one of the world’s most valuable libraries, ripped
centuries-old manuscripts from shelves, and began burning
the priceless artefacts. However, to the relief of bibliophiles
the world over, the vast bulk of the library was saved
by wily librarians and a security guard—and help from
modern technology. About 28,000 of the library’s artefacts
were smuggled out of town by donkey cart, stashed into
bedrooms and over the next few days were carted to small
boats along the nearby Niger River. From there, the boats
(Indexing degustation, continued from previous page)
sailed four days south to the first town under government
control, Mopti. A truck carried the priceless artefacts to
the capital, Bamako, where officials with the University of
Cape Town said they were safe.
The rescue mission was yet another example of local
determination to preserve their heritage from invading
armies. Locals have long stashed ancient documents under
the brick floors of their houses, or under furniture to keep
them safe. Others were plastered into the house’s walls
by a great-grandfather who had accused French soldiers
of stealing and destroying his parchments when they
conquered this desert in 1905.
More recently, technology offered a way to put
Timbuktu’s ancient manuscripts out of reach of pillagers. In
2008, the University of Cape Town helped finance a multistory, glass-panelled library and preservation complex,
whose staff sought to digitize Timbuktu’s written heritage.
It was fortunate that the the papers burnt by the gunmen
had been digitised.
However, locals were slow to bring in their papers and
only 2000 texts were stored at the centre. About 28,000
parchments stayed in Timbuktu’s older, more modest
library nearby.
Both institutions came under threat in April, when the
city fell to separatist rebels fighting to carve this northern
half of Mali into an independent nation for the Tuareg
people. The gunmen looted the town, and several tried to
break down the doors of the new library.
AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) and an allied
militia called Ansar Dine stopped the looting. Islamists
sent a more-menacing message on 30 December, when
they came to the old library, which housed the bulk of the
literature. They had plans to convert the building into a
Quranic school, but, to the relief of all involved, these plans
were thwarted.
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732392610457
8276003922396218.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories>
Jane Purton
Website Indexer & Metadata Analyst needed ...
• Great central Sydney location
• Be responsible for indexing NPS digital content
• 12-month maternity leave contract
We are a highly regarded not-for-profit organisation aimed at
making Australians more medicinewise.
Forward-looking, with a culture of innovation, we develop
evidence-based, unbiased information about medicines and
medical tests. We connect people with this knowledge, to
enable more informed conversations and healthier decisions
about medicines and medical testing. We can offer you a
number of benefits including salary sacrifice, a professional
development allowance, additional leave arrangements and
flexible working conditions.
The team
Our Content Development and Distribution unit manages the
creation, editing, production and distribution of external print
and online publications and resources. The Digital Producer
will fulfil a key role ensuring the ongoing development of
NPS’s presence and effectiveness in the digital environment,
working in a collaborative team which delivers to the needs of
stakeholders across the organisation.
The role
For the duration of this 12-month maternity leave contract
you’ll be responsible for indexing NPS digital content, training
and mentoring others in the optimal use of metadata tagging
and maintaining the NPS website thesaurus.
This role assists in showcasing NPS content to effectively
help consumers make the best decisions about medicines and
meeting the organisation’s key performance indicators (KPIs)
on audience reach.
You will have
•
•
•
•
ACT Region Branch
Conference catch-up, Canberra, 22 April
CT Region Branch members are cordially invited
to attend a ‘Conference catch-up’ meeting in
Woden Library meeting room, Monday 22 April, from
5.30 to 7.00 pm. Members who attended the Conference
in Wellington will share information and opinions about
its papers and proceedings. Please RSVP (for catering
purposes) by close of business Thursday 18 April to
See: <www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=312>.
Sherrey Quinn
A
•
•
•
Tertiary or industry certifications in a relevant discipline
(information management or information architecture), or
experience equivalent to same.
Demonstrated indexing and abstracting skills.
Proficiency in MultiTes or other thesaurus construction
software.
Demonstrated ability to manage and maintain an electronic
database.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office, internet and email.
Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a
team.
Excellent communication and negotiation skills.
More information: Ami Khandhar on 02 8217 8619
For a full position description and to see why NPS is such a
great place to work at, please visit:
<http://www.nps.org.au/careers/job-opportunities>
You must be eligible to work in Australia.
Please note that while NPS appreciates the effort you have
taken to submit your application we will only be contacting
those candidates who have successfully been shortlisted for
further consideration.
Consult a higher authority
When space permits, the Editor would like to look back occasionally
to earlier issues of the newsletter to see what concerned us then.
This item is taken from the Jan-Feb 2005 issue.
onsult a higher authority’ was the title of a discussion
held by AusSI ACT on 17 August 2004, on problems
posed by indexing. We had notified our members of our plans
and several people had sent queries, which Geraldine Triffitt,
the ACT President, passed on to experts in Australia, NZ,
USA and UK. Thirteen people attended, including local experts
Michael Harrington and Barry Howarth.
Max McMaster opened the discussion with his ‘Thoughts
on speeding up the indexing process’:
• The major determinant of indexing speed is the quality
and style of writing of the text. If the document is well
structured, with appropriate headings, and is well edited
then it will be considerably easier to index. Unfortunately
the indexer has no control over the quality of the original
text.
• Ensure you have a reasonable knowledge of the subject
before you begin. If you don’t, maybe you shouldn’t be
compiling the index.
• Skim the text to get a feel for the content.
• Know the audience for whom the text has been written.
• If there are page constraints on the length of the index,
calculate how many entries you can include in the index,
and then determine the approximate number of entries
per indexable page. If you are only allowed five pages for
an index, there is no point wasting your time compiling a
10-page index, as you will have to spend further time
cutting it back.
• During the indexing, make one pass through the text only,
rather than going through the pages several times.
• If highlighting text is slowing you down, don’t highlight.
Key the entries directly into the indexing software, and
if you need to go back and check what you have indexed
from a given page/series of pages, use the software to put the
index into page number order.
Tracy Powell, Thesauri Administrator, Bibliographic
Services, National Library of New Zealand gave the following
tips for indexers and managers:
Indexers:
• Use your system as much as possible for those things at
which computers are much better than humans; spell
checks, validations (e.g. start every text field with a capital
letter), macros, run reports to check for common errors,
etc.
• Aim for perfection but focus on the important stuff; how
is the usefulness of your indexing going to be measured?
We focus on the ‘searchable’ data; cosmetic stuff comes
second.
Managers:
• Ensure that your Quality Assurance process and accuracy
and timelines standards are the basis around which your
indexers work. They need to know what you expect of
them.
‘C
• Design your QA process to be flexible enough to work
around the strengths and weaknesses of individual
indexers – no point in treating them all the same if
they produce work of differing standards.
• Recruit carefully – we give interviewees an indexing
test to assess their comprehension and literacy skills.
• Give them constant feedback until they reach the
required level of competence and then give them some
space.
John Simkin said, ‘I don’t aim to speed up jobs while not
allowing them to stretch indefinitely. If this was my concern I
would have invested in the niftiest indexing software I could
find. In fact I take the point of view that I am part of the
team creating the book ... It means that I do whatever grows
out of the indexing job which will put the work in the best
possible shape for publishing.’
Garry Cousins keeps copies of old indexes, so that if
he gets a new edition, he can load the old version into
the computer, delete the page numbers and add new
ones. (Michael Harrington does this as well, especially
annual report indexes). Garry uses Cindex. He recommends
frequent breaks, every hour or so, which he finds increases
his productivity. Michael disagrees but this is obviously an
individual preference ...
Glenda Browne wishes she had practical answers to this
for herself, and suggests the following: ‘Editing a bit as you
go probably saves time as you are indexing to a consistent
structure from early on. I try to keep a bit of extra detail in
my entries in case later indexing shows a need for a different
approach ...
'Certain types of indexes lend themselves well to the use
of macros. If you have a lot of acronyms, for example, and
they all need to be entered as acronyms and doubled as full
text, or as acronyms with See references from full text, this
can be done quickly by entering only one form and letting a
macro do the rest. Similarly with treatment of common and
scientific names of plants. Some people use the Grouping
function in indexing software to good effect ...
'For simple well-structured texts (e.g. with subheadings
throughout chapters) don’t read first. Mark up page ranges
for chapters and sections then start indexing.
'Work to the brief from the beginning. Always find out
space limits, specific requirements for appendixes, notes,
names, etc. from the beginning. Overindexing wastes time at
the entry stage and at the editing stage. So if there are four
pages for the index, calculate roughly the average number of
entries per page and then try to stick to a bit above this as
you enter (as some will usually be discarded at the editing
stage). Target indexes to the budget available. A cheap index
can often be OK if it is a good index to a more limited scope,
rather than a quick index trying to cover everything.’
Barry Howarth suggests that a computer indexing
software program would help an indexer work more quickly.
Some of the other experts have taken for granted that an
indexer would have one.
(Consult a higher authority, continued from previous page)
Madeleine Davis indexes many different kinds of
publications, relies on dictionaries, suggests asking for full text,
including abbreviations, glossary, etc.
Frances Lennie sent tips on using Cindex to best
advantage.
Michael Harrington started off the discussion by
commenting that all the tips were mechanical things, and
what was needed was practice and experience. However we are
trying to help new indexers, and all these tips would do that.
Barry Howarth said we had all had the problem of working
to deadlines, and how to do that was a matter of individual
preference. On the question of checking names, raised by
Madeleine, Michael and Barry differed, Michael saying he
would not check them for annual reports unless it could be
done quickly but would for other publications. Barry said it
depended on the economy of the situation, that sometimes
double entry can be quickest.
Another question was, ‘What authorities do indexers use?’
Most of the experts present cited Indexing from A to Z by
Hans Wellisch and Book indexing by Nancy Mulvany. Also
mentioned was the chapter on indexing in the Style Manual for
authors, editors and printers; 6th edition edited by Loma Snooks.
Tracy Powell uses an in-house manual and Glenda Browne uses
clients’ style manuals. Hazel Bell, long associated with The
Indexer has written a bibliography for indexers, published in
Logos, which we hope to reproduce in our newsletter.
Lynn Farkas spoke next on how and where cataloguing
and indexing diverge. She sees the two disciplines as having
a difference of purpose, and being different ways of accessing
information. Every kind of indexing is matching up information
access with the needs of the user. Cataloguing has standard
rules, e.g. MCRl, LC Name Authorities, and is used to enable
the sharing of cataloguing information. Indexing does not, and
each data base has its own manual. These manuals should be
more standardised and shared. There are indexing standards,
though they do not apply to data base indexing. Perhaps
indexers should be consulting the cataloguing rules more.
Prue Deacon asked about the problems of website indexing.
If a website is fairly static, then a good back-of-book index
will suffice. However if terminology changes, then global
changes will have to be made, which is what Prue does with
metadata. Do websites change much? Yes, they do, and the
index entries must change with them to be useful to readers.
Website managers need to know how to create thesauri, and to
have a concept of good searching. Links between web managers
and indexers would be useful. Perhaps this work is the job of
the information architect. Prue suspects that the work flow
problem is not solved and doesn’t think the issues outlined
above are solved yet.
All of those present found this discussion very helpful, and
we hope that our fellow members who could not attend will
do so as well.
Edyth Binkowski
Quiet achievers: Sherrey Quinn
Who has been the greatest influence on
your career?
y working life has been spent in libraries or working
with libraries, and indexing has been part of that
work for many years. I learned the principles of information
organisation from rigorous teachers like Carmel Maguire
and Jack Nelson whilst studying for my post-graduate
library qualification. These principles underpin much of
the most interesting work I’ve done in libraries, including
database design and indexing, back-of-book indexing and
work with controlled vocabularies.
At the Australian Road Research Board I was fortunate to
learn from Mary Bays (I’ve tried to emulate her achievements
in information service delivery) and from Max Lay, former
Executive Director ARRB, whose leadership and strong
belief in the value of information services is admirable. I’ve
learned a great deal from my partner, Ian McCallum, with
whom I’ve worked on many projects in libraries and in our
consulting business.
M
How did you come to an indexing career?
I came to indexing via librarianship. My first job, at
the National Library of Australia, was in cataloguing
(descriptive and subject cataloguing) and I recall that
my first boss, Frances Rose, was a stickler for accuracy
and thoroughness. I also worked after-hours in the main
reading room dealing with readers’ enquiries. So whilst
I received a solid grounding in the practice of cataloguing
and information description, early on I also learned another
fundamental lesson – why it matters, that accurate and
consistent indexing is vital in helping people find relevant
information.
Next I worked for many years in special libraries
and information services in research organisations, where
amongst other duties I indexed for various Australian and
international databases and in-house ones as well – subject
matter such as roads, transport, vehicles, engineering,
general science, physics, metallurgy, earth sciences and
natural resources exploration and conservation. My interest
in controlled vocabularies stems from this period – as well
as using them in online searching in a wide range of online
databases, I also used thesauri in indexing and developed
them for databases I worked on.
I became interested in creating back-of-book indexes
in the late 1980s, and I joined AusSI in the late 1980s
or early 1990s, I think at the suggestion of colleagues at
what was then CSIRO Information Services. The flexibility
I had when working on various databases and indexing
projects at CSIRO was invaluable to me when my children
were small. I’ve been a Registered Indexer (now Accredited
Indexer) since 1992. Since the late 1990s I’ve worked as a
library and information consultant through my company
Libraries Alive! Indexing projects of various types have
always been a significant part of my practice.
What do you see as your greatest
achievement?
In life, bringing up my daughters – two bright, intelligent
and independent young women.
In work in indexing and libraries – making a
contribution to research projects; connecting people with
the information they need, whether that is by finding
the answers (‘the thrill of the chase’), or creating the
information resources they need to make the connections
themselves; and helping libraries refine their services and
their customer focus. Specific projects of which I am
particularly proud include: helping to make Australian
information more easily findable through specialised
subject databases; developing a large corporate glossary
(the Australian Defence Glossary), involving specifying a
host system, managing its development and overseeing its
implementation and population with diverse vocabularies
from across a very large organisation; developing a whole-ofgovernment thesaurus (TAGS – Thesaurus of Government
Subjects); and, with Ian, writing the services specification
for a public library branch to replace a 25-year old
demountable temporary building, and a few years later
attending the opening of the brand new library.
I’m proud that our company is successful in our chosen
line of work. I’m proud of winning the RD Williamson
Award for contribution to information science in Australia,
and of being made a Fellow of the Australian Library and
Information Association (ALIA).
My professional associations ALIA and AusSI/ANZSI
have been major sources of learning, encouragement and
comradeship and it’s been important to me to find time to
contribute to them by serving on committees and in other
ways.
What has been your biggest challenge?
My biggest work challenge is estimating how long it will
take me to do something. Fortunately my partner has an
innate and precise sense of time, which I rely on a lot. I
also keep detailed records of indexing projects to help in
tasks like quoting and planning. I have no trouble meeting
deadlines – I do the job to the best of my ability in the time
available, and have the flexibility to work late or early to get
things done.
How do you try to achieve work–life
balance?
This is another big challenge. I’ve worked in my own
businesses for a total of more than 25 years, and I have
learned that work can consume all time if you let it (and if
you love what you do). It’s certainly easier to manage peaks
and troughs of work demands in my current two-person
business than when I worked alone. Work-life balance? This
(Quiet achievers: Sherrey Quinn, continued from previous page)
is especially important when your work partner is also your
life partner – we make time to read, cook, garden, spend
time with family, walk the dog, go motorcycle touring
(me as pillion), spend days at the south coast of NSW
(two hours’ drive from home in Canberra). The flexibility
of working from home is great – you can work as long as
you need to get the job finished, then take time off as the
opportunity arises. The downside is that work stuff can take
over. Good lessons to learn – shut the door on the home
office when you’ve finished for the day and regularly cull
accumulated records.
What do you like most about your work?
What do you like least?
I most like the range of different library and indexing
projects that I do. I love indexing – it’s endlessly interesting
to read books on all sorts of subjects, and I enjoy the
intellectual challenge of making the information accessible
in an organised way. I bore my family with fascinating, odd
(and occasionally useful) facts. I like to learn how to use
new software.
We do many interesting jobs for libraries – services
reviews, strategic plans, and various other projects and
training for libraries all over the country. We have fun
running workshops for readers’ advisers in public libraries
– the staff who help people identify books that they are
likely to enjoy reading – we work and talk with library
colleagues about books, reading, authors, genres, and related
information resources. Biblio Turismo, ‘The Mild Ones’
annual tour for librarians (and friends) on motorcycles to
promote regional public libraries, is also enormous fun.
I like working at home and I like
the flexibility that has enabled me to
be available when my family needs me,
compensating by working late or at
weekends.
Like everyone else in the indexing
world I’m usually juggling deadlines.
All deadlines can slip, but I like least
the jobs in which the time allocated for
indexing is eaten up so much by deadline
slippage earlier in the project that there
is insufficient time to do a thorough
index. I also dislike it when a late project
(that is, late for external reasons) has a
major impact on my other projects and
deadlines. This can lead to late nights and
very poor work-life balance!
What advice would you offer to
indexers just starting out?
Join ANZSI (of course), network and talk
about indexing with your colleagues. Buy and read the
standard textbooks (especially Browne & Jermey, Booth,
and Mulvany). Practise indexing (perhaps start with a
pro bono or collaborative index). Find a mentor. Read
indexes and look at indexes in a constructively critical way
so that you learn from them. Practise time management
– it’s vital that you can meet deadlines. Learn some basic
(at least) editing skills. Be flexible. Foster contacts with
other indexers with whom you can share work and balance
workloads when projects and deadlines change.
If you could dine with a famous historical
figure, who would it be?
I’d like to dine with Queen Elizabeth II. Her reign has
spanned almost my entire life, and I’d like to hear her
insights into the enormous social and political change
that has taken place since the 1940s. If Edyth Binkowski
agrees I’d also like to join her dinner party with King
Richard III. After being colleagues on the ACT Region
Branch Committee for some years I discovered only
through Edyth’s Quiet Achievers column that we share
an interest in Richard III. Indexing always leads to the
discovery of unexpected things.
If you were a letter of the alphabet, which
letter would you be and why?
I think I’d stay with ‘Q’, because I have an enquiring mind
so – question, query, inquiring/enquiring, quiet (I’m not
an extrovert), quite and quibble (I’m pedantic and I ‘do
detail’), quality (always striving for quality), quantity (I get
through a lot of work), quick (at indexing); I like quizzes
and quinces. But I’m conciliatory rather than quarrelsome,
and independent rather than quiescent.
[For motor cycling enthusiasts: the bike is a Honda VFR,
1994 model (750cc, V4, sports-tourer). I asked specially! Ed.]
Date and time
Organiser
Name of
activity
Venue
Contact details
Wed 6 March
6.00 pm
Vic Branch
The VIC: multiple
authors
Kew
Details at
13–15 March
ANZSI
ANZSI 2013
Conference
Wellington, NZ
Details at <www.anzsi.org/site/2013Conf.asp>
Tues 26 March
6.00 for 7.00 pm
Qld Branch
Palaeontology
Dr Susan Turner
Wed 3 April
6.00 pm
Vic Branch
The VIC:
indexing software
Salisbury Hotel,
668 Toohey Rd,
Brisbane
Kew
Mon 22 April
5.30–7.00 pm
ACT Region
Conference
catch-up
Woden Library
meeting room
Details at
Details at
ANZSI Newsletter
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI News
ANZSI 2013 Conference – final update
ANZSI Newsletter
The VIC – Indexing with gusto
NSW Intermediate indexing workshop
NSW Branch
News from Queensland Branch
Indexing degustation
ACT Region Branch – Conference catch-up
Consult a higher authority
Quiet achievers – Sherrey Quinn
Details at
1
1
2
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in April 2013.
The contribution deadline is Thursday, 28 March.
Postage
paid
Volume 9 | number 3 | April 2013
ANZSI News
The 2013 ANZSI Conference in New Zealand –
‘Intrepid indexing: indexing without boundaries’
group of over 70 intrepid people
interested in indexing set out on a
three-day voyage to explore all aspects
of indexing. The voyage was led by Jan
Wright with her keynote paper on intrepid
indexing. Various excursions explored
ebooks and EPUB3 indexes. Publishers,
editors and typesetters were included in discussions on these
aspects of book production. Excursions into database and
electronic indexing explored Index New Zealand, archives of
Samoa and Niue, as well as Indigenous collections.
Several excursions explored Asian and Māori names
as well as Japanese indexing. There were excursions into
the ethics of indexing, running an indexing business and
plenty of tips and hints on how to use the various indexing
software packages and how to prepare for accreditation,
as well as how to cope with numbers in your index and
exploring the metatopic. You could also learn how to index
military histories, mystery fiction and a thesis on creative
writing.
There were opportunities to take non-indexing excursions
with an afternoon tour focusing on Lord of the Rings filming
sites and a visit to Weta Cave where all the special effects
were done. Dinner at the Roxy Cinema provided an
opportunity to dust off 1920s clothing and to enjoy the
theatre sports type entertainment followed by a seemingly
never-ending flow of dishes piled high with tasty food.
The voyage concluded with a presentation on indexing
without boundaries, the other part of the Conference title.
This focused on visual indexes and how these can cope in
the new world of user interfaces where linked magazines
and books are being read on tablets and apps are presenting
books, such as the Oxford Dictionary of English and simple
databases, in very different and accessible ways.
Contrary to popular perception, Wellington is not
always windy. In fact the sunny days in the low 20s were a
very welcome relief from the record run of days in the 30s
Melbourne was going for when I left.
A
Many of the papers, presentations and summaries
of these excursions are already up on the website at
<http://www.anzsi.org/site/2013Confpap.asp>. The rest
will be added as they become available.
The leaders of this intrepid voyage were the organising
committee of Tordis Flath, Elizabeth Fisher, Jill Gallop
and Meredith Thatcher, with assistance from nearly all the
members of the New Zealand Branch, who came together
to assist in making sure the Conference ran smoothly and
we were all made to feel very welcome. A VERY BIG
THANK YOU to you all.
Write, Edit, Index
This is the theme of the 2015 Conference to be held
in Canberra, 6–9 May 2015, and jointly hosted by the
Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) and ANZSI.
Lock these dates in for the next voyage into all aspects of
indexing.
ALIA ebook and elending
ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association) held
a think tank at the Information Online 2013 Conference
in Brisbane on ebooks and elending. They prepared an
issues paper <http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/Ebooks.and.
Elending.Issues.Paper.v4.130107.pdf>. ANZSI Council
Executive asked Glenda Browne for assistance to prepare
a submission. This was prepared and submitted. ALIA will
be adding the submission to their website. For ANZSI
members the submission is available at:
<http://www.anzsi.org/site/council_mins.asp>.
Mary Russell
Jan Wright and Glenda Browne
at ‘The Matrix’
Carol Dawber and Sandy Liddle were the two lucky people who ANZSI supported
to go to the Conference. The downside for them was having to write reports on
what they had experienced, but from the happy accounts that follow this wasn’t too
dreadful a chore ...
Carol Dawber’s report on the Conference
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
T
he motif for this Conference was the Royal Albatross, Diomedea epomophora,
whose giant three-metre wingspan lets them cross the southern oceans and
soar the world without boundaries. We New Zealanders know the albatross as
toroa and their only mainland breeding colony in this country is just across
the harbour from where I live in Dunedin, one of our southernmost cities. For
me therefore the motif had a special resonance, not least because like so many
indexers I work alone and seldom have the opportunity to interface across
geographical and cultural boundaries. It was inspirational to do so.
Jan Wright’s opening address inspired on many levels. She used well-chosen
examples of a sailing ship, an aircraft carrier and a spaceship, each called Intrepid,
to emphasise the bold and adaptable yet logical and disciplined nature of the
craft of indexing. She set the scene for the Conference by referring to paper as
another interface, and carried on the voyaging and adventuring metaphor by
discussing the potential of online navigation tools and information retrieval
systems and the necessity for indexers to upskill and move forward. She made
it clear that controlled vocabularies and standardised formats are essential to
online indexing strategies, that the index has moved on from being useful to
being essential, and that the time has come for indexers to step up and shine.
The theme of birds was carried through by Claire Stent and Trish O’Kane,
‘outsiders’ to indexing, whose presentation on digital technologies I particularly
enjoyed, not least because of their analogy of IT workers as battery hens, barn
dwellers or free-range chickens. I was interested in the number and nature of
freelancers at the Conference, confirming my suspicions that we Australians
and New Zealanders tend to multi-task more than most because our markets
are small and our margins slim. Interesting too to realise that the ‘number-8
wire’ approach (‘you can fix almost anything with 8-gauge fencing wire’) we
New Zealanders take for granted really does define us culturally and as indexers
– it was very apparent that many conference attendees are equally comfortable
in writing, editing, publishing or marketing roles and that we cut our cloth
to suit.
As always, dual sessions make for difficult choices, and although the ill health
of two presenters meant some last-minute reprogramming it was pleasing to
note that concern for their well-being far outweighed any disappointment or
frustration. Birds again – the organisers moved like serene and graceful swans
with little sign of what must have been at times frantic paddling beneath the
surface.
I chose to attend sessions with a
multicultural focus. I was impressed with
the work of Takashi Matsuura (at left)
on Chinese classical poems, and awed by
the manual effort involved in building an
index with card and paper. Indexing across
boundaries took on a new dimension as
we discussed the German occupation of
Samoa with archivist Uili Fecteau, learned
about Japanese, Chinese and Korean names
from Lai Lam and Nellie Bess, enjoyed
(Report on the Conference, continued from page 1)
Margaret Pointer’s discussion of Niue Island history and
were fascinated by Judith Cannon and Jenny Wood’s
explanation of the careful protocols of the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Index.
Frances Lennie’s intermediate session on CINDEX was
particularly helpful to me. It was good to focus on practical
skills for an hour or so – and the pen in my goody bag is
beautiful to write with, thanks. Once again the message
was clear – upskill and get to grips with the process.
Publisher Fergus Barrowman commented during a panel
discussion that while we are concentrating on academic
issues we should also be leading the technology change,
and Glenda Browne and Jan Wright underlined that with
their zippy and challenging session on ‘The Matrix’. Mary
Russell brought the Conference to an end very cleverly by
reminding us that visual indexes have been around for a
long time and touch-screen technology is simply a natural
progression of a familiar process.
For me the highlight of the week was hearing Jan, David
Ream and Pilar Wyman describe their pro-active work with
software designers and device manufacturers to ensure that
indexes are not only fixed into the equation but also coming
out from the backs of books to become critical marketing
tools. New Zealand is a long way from the centre of things
and we seldom hear directly from those in the front line, so
it was exciting to feel included in cutting-edge technology.
Also on a parochial level, it was interesting to see
Wellington through the eyes of international visitors and
to realise that things we value, such as multiculturalism,
bilingualism and stunning scenery, really do matter even
if we are still naive about promoting ourselves. It was
great to be part of a small, friendly group of highly skilled
professionals, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one used to
working alone who came home exhausted by the valuable
interchange of information and ideas. The Conference was
stimulating and challenging and I feel very privileged to
have been part of it.
Nga mihi ki a koutou – my best regards to you all.
Carol Dawber
Sandy Liddle’s report on the Conference
W
ith a Maori welcome and introduction, the first
day of the 2013 ANZSI Conference began on a
beautiful day in Wellington, New Zealand. The rest of the
week was to see the beautiful weather continue.
Jan Wright’s Intrepid indexing: from the sea to the stars
presentation was a fabulous way to begin the Conference.
Jan spoke about indexers being on a voyage of change and
that to survive the change we need to ensure we are one step
ahead. We therefore need to keep on top of new technology
and tools and place ourselves in a position to provide input
and act as advisers and educators to technology makers
and publishers. Twitter is a valuable information tool for
indexers to stay informed and keep up to date with current
trends as well as opening up contact with publishers and
others. Jan contends that it is unusual these days for
indexers to just be undertaking simple back-of-the book
projects. We therefore need to be ‘brave’ and adaptable and
ready to take on the challenge of indexing in the new age.
One piece of advice from Jan that rings true is to ask other
indexers for advice and input. They may have already had
to cross the bridge you are approaching. I would be remiss
if I didn’t use these great quotes from Jan:
‘Go boldly where no indexer has gone before’ and ‘Be
intrepid – the ship is sailing now and we are on board’.
Being a recent convert to ebooks (especially when
travelling), I opted to learn more about the future of EPUB
and ebook indexing. David Ream discussed the EPUB3
standard for publishing ebooks and the impact for indexers.
The draft specifications for EPUB3 have been written and it
is expected these will be open for comment later in 2013.
The EPUB3 platform will be a global platform and
EPUB2 will be compatible with it. According to David,
EPUB3 is expected to be better for non-fiction. Mention
was made of current indexing software not being able to
support EPUB3. David also believes that indexers should
be asking publishers if they are intending to publish as
an ebook and if there is any way they can help. This last
question scared me as I do not know much about ebook
publishing; however, David said that you should ask
anyway, and if you have no idea then ask others within the
indexing circle who may know.
Following on from David’s EPUB presentation, Glenda
Browne spoke about EPUB3 indexes and the future of
indexing. As Glenda pointed out, ebook indexes to date
have only provided the bare bones with bad links or no
links at all. As I am familiar with coding, I am quite excited
about the future of ebook indexing, although I can see
I still have a lot to learn about it. The potential is there
for greater usability for ebooks (non-fiction in particular)
having searchable indexes that are able to take users straight
to the information they are after. The cross-referencing and
filtering capabilities are also exciting.
The Metatopic Menace or Indexing in the age of search
presentation by Kay Schlembach resulted in some discussion
and gave attendees something to think about. With my
librarian’s hat on, I found myself agreeing with Kay that
indexers need to think like the user when creating an index
and that sometimes indexers need to break the conventional
indexing rules in order to meet the needs of the user. Who
(Report on the Conference, continued from page 1)
is the user? Academics and non-academics tend to think
differently. Kay’s suggestions were to do a mind map before
doing the index and to look at other indexes of similar
genres as well as Wikipedia. Most importantly, always ask
yourself what you would expect to see in an index if you
were the user.
In his presentation, Converting legacy books to ebooks with
linked indexes, David Ream discussed a project he worked
on and described some of the issues to consider when
relinking a print index to an ebook. A few of the issues
David came across included page numbering, viewable
text being smaller than in the print book, and page breaks
landing further away from the index target.
Sadly, Madeleine Davis was ill and not able to present
her paper on Biography indexing: different approaches and
challenges. This is one session I had been very much looking
forward to attending particularly following on from Kay
Schlembach’s presentation the previous day when she
discussed biographies and her belief that metatopic is
important for biographies. I am hoping Madeleine will
make her paper available for us to read.
Mary Russell very ably filled in for Max McMaster for
the Roundtable – Numbers in indexing. This session was
a hands-on one. It was great to see how others deal with
numbers (e.g. popes, kings, wars, telephone numbers) and
the reasoning behind their decisions.
The SKYIndex workshop run by Jon Jermey provided
some very handy tips and tricks that I was not aware
of. I am keen to experiment with some of the advanced
functionality of Sky that until now I had not utilised such
as swapping acronyms and creating reciprocals. Jon also
pointed out some of the SkyIndex macros created by John
Beale which are worth looking at purchasing as add-ons.
At lunch on Day 2, those of us booked on the Lord of
the Rings tour, headed off on the bus for this – dare I say it
– ‘intrepid’ adventure. We had a very knowledgeable tour
guide/bus driver who took us to Helms Deep, Rivendell
and Weta Cave. It was fabulous to see just where the
filming took place and to hear some of the trivia behind the
shooting of the Lord of the Rings movies.
The Matrix: Indexing techniques and EPUB was presented
by Jan Wright and Glenda Browne. Once again electronic
publishing (this is definitely something to bear in mind is
happening) was discussed. Some of the indexing techniques
described by Glenda are well worth noting and I would
encourage members interested in ebook indexing to view
the paper on the ANZSI website.
The Conference certainly challenged many perceptions
I had about indexing and opened my eyes to some of the
issues facing indexers in the 21st century. It was a shame
I could not be in two places at once as it was hard to
choose which presentation to attend. I had a wonderful
time, met some great people and learnt so much. Thank
you to ANZSI for giving me the opportunity to attend the
2013 Conference.
Sandy Liddle
The 1920s–30s costume dinner at the Roxy Theatre saw some very imaginative outfits,
but Tracy Harwood just danced away with the prize for the best costume. Here she is
receiving her prize from President Mary Russell.
(Photos in this issue are by Denise Sutherland and Ray Price)
... and some more from the dinner ...
Nikki Davis and Glenda Browne having a great time!
Jan Wright and Pilar Wyman en route in
all their finery.
A pensive Tordis ... ‘How is it all going?’ But
there was no need to worry – it was all going
marvellously!
Pilar Wyman, Sarah Lester and Tordis Flath.
Indexing Indaba
The Most Beautiful Books – Australia and
New Zealand
he winners of the inaugural
‘Most Beautiful Books
– Australia and New Zealand’
(‘MBBANZ’) award have just been
announced. Presented by Monash
Art Design & Architecture,
this biennial award program
was established to recognise
innovation and excellence in
book design and publishing in
Australia and New Zealand. Its
aim is to emphasise the most innovative contemporary
book design and publishing activity, including titles from
independent and small press publishers. The program also
seeks to minimise barriers so there are no entry fees and
nominations are welcome from readers and collectors in
addition to those from designers and publishers.
Over 315 nominations were
received for the 2013 awards and
judges selected a shortlist of 37
books before narrowing this down
to 11 winners. All the books were
published in Australia and New
Zealand during 2011 and 2012. The
judging panel included architect
Peter Corrigan, UK designer James
Langdon, design lecturers Denise
Whitehouse and Warren Taylor,
and Auckland’s split/fountain
director Layla Tweedie-Cullen.
Take a bow if you had anything
to do with the following books
which are currently being exhibited
at Monash University’s MADA
Gallery:
Anthology of New Zealand
Literature (edited by Jane Stafford
& Mark Williams, Auckland
University Press); A Bell is a Cup
(Matt Connors, Rainoff); Incomplete Discography (Karl
Nawrot, Horizon Pages); Louise Menzies’ Local Edition
(Louise Menzies, DDMMYY); Luminous: Celebrating
50 Years of the Australian Ballet (edited by Kate Scott &
Lorelei Vashti, Australian Ballet); Form Next to Form Next
to Form (Nova Paul, Gwynneth Porter & Karl Steven,
Clouds and Dent-de-Leone); Owl Know How (Cat Rabbit
& Isobelle Knowles, Thames & Hudson); Ildiko Kovacs:
Down the Line 1980-2010 (edited by Daniel Mudie
Cunningham & Terence Maloon, Hazelhurst Regional
Gallery); The Anatomy of Business (Louis Porter, Twenty
Shelves); Institute Zagreb 1986 & The Air Of Conquerors
T
(S T Lore, HRH Publishing); My Abuela’s Table (Daniella
Germain, Hardie Grant).
<http://www.artdes.monash.edu.au/gallery/>
Books + Publishing Daily 21 March 2013
Reviving an Australian tradition
The tradition of planting a memorial avenue of trees or
‘Avenue of Honour’ is an important part of Australian
culture and has its origins in the Victorian Goldfields
during the time of World War 1. Because soldiers were
grouped according to the place where they were recruited,
many Australian towns suffered tragic losses with entire
populations of eligible men being killed in military defeats.
A tree would be planted for each man lost and many avenues
include metal plaques with the names of the victims.
Concerns about the disappearance of many of these
avenues were raised at the Inaugural National Street Tree
Symposium in Adelaide in 2000. It was clear that no
comprehensive national survey of memorial Avenues had
The entrance to the Avenue of Honour at Ballarat
ever been undertaken, meaning that many had probably
disappeared and that many more whose significance had
been lost were also likely to follow.
In 2004, the Avenues of Honour 1915-2015 Project
was launched as an initiative of Treenet, the not-for-profit
national urban tree research and education organisation
based at the Waite Arboretum, University of Adelaide.
With principal researcher Sarah Cockerell at the helm and
aided by the support of the community, the project has been
working towards documenting, preserving and reinstating
(Indexing degustation, continued from previous page)
avenues where possible as well as establishing new Avenues
of Honour by the centenary of Anzac in 2015.
A total of 567 avenues have been recorded - 2 in the
ACT, 67 in NSW, 52 in Qld, 38 in SA, 69 in Tas, 312 in
Vic and 27 in WA.
With large amounts of arboricultural and historical
data being collected, Treenet is working on developing an
interactive database that will allow anyone to access the
research as well as to add to it. This one is definitely worth
keeping an eye on as the centenary approaches.
<http://www.avenuesofhonour.org/>
The photo of the memorial arch at the head of Ballarat’s
Avenue of Honour is from <http://kitger.deviantart.com/art/
Avenue-of-Honour-256951097>
Planet ARCHI
Sometimes the thing that inspires someone to create
a database is as interesting as the information in it.
ARCHI, a database of the positions of more than 200,000
archaeological sites and worldwide landscape features
is the culmination of eight years of work by a modest
archaeologist known only as Chris. It grew out of the
frustration he experienced as a university student.
‘A well presented assignment would require a knowledge
of the distribution of UK archaeological sites and how
the landscape/geology/availability of materials etc. could
influence that distribution. However, one could not begin
to discuss the latter without a knowledge of the former
and as it was very difficult at the time to find precise site
locations within the literature, it was necessary to create my
own database holding this information.
This lack of information also contributed to a missed
opportunity in my early youth to ‘discover’ archaeology. It
was known that ‘somewhere’ on the moors was a Roman
Fort. This notion obviously inspired all sorts of imaginings
and was a distraction from the sometimes grim reality
of life on a council estate in a Northern town. However,
despite attempts to find its location from teachers, the
local library etc, myself nor my equally inspired friends
could find where it was. Hence, at least the opportunity to
challenge the stereotypical view that a ‘gang’ of kids from
the town could only be up to no good was missed.
The above are the initial reasons for ARCHI’s conception,
however, this initial concept became a labour of love and
desire for completeness. Further, technological advances
such as the rise of the internet and the ability to integrate
information from different databases hosted by different web
sites coupled with my passion for all things archaeological,
presented a challenge which could not be resisted. Hence,
the continued development of the database.‘
<http://www.digital-documents.co.uk/archi/archi_search_world.html>
Beyoncé’s ‘crazy archive’
American singer Beyoncé Knowles caused an uproar
earlier this year by lip-synching her way through ‘The
Star-Spangled Banner’ at President Obama’s inauguration.
Here’s another surprise…
Beyoncé employs a personal archivist to catalogue and
maintain the 50,000 (and growing) hours of video footage
that she has of herself. Her ‘crazy archive’, as she calls it,
covers ten years and includes intimate private events, public
appearances and interviews she has conducted.
The superstar is said to be very proud of the digital
archive which is stored in a temperature-controlled room
in Los Angeles, and delights in being able to locate items
very quickly.
<http://www.noise11.com/news/beyonce-employs-videoarchivist-20130204>
Nikki Davis
ACT Region Branch
Conference catch-up, Canberra, 22 April
CT Region Branch members are cordially invited
to attend a ‘Conference catch-up’ meeting in
Woden Library meeting room, Monday 22 April, from
5.30 to 7.00 pm. Members who attended the Conference
in Wellington will share information and opinions about
its papers and proceedings. Please RSVP (for catering
purposes) by close of business Thursday 18 April to
See: <www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=312>.
Sherrey Quinn
A
Frances Lennie and Pilar Wyman at the
Conference dinner
Quoting to a budget
The March Newsletter reprinted a record of a discussion held by AusSI ACT in 2005, ‘Consult a higher authority’, which included
a comment by Glenda Browne, ‘Target indexes to the budget available.’
There are other issues with respect to estimating and
It prompted this response from Don Jordan:
quoting that I’d appreciate some feedback on, also. In looking
was asked by an editor to quote for indexing of three
more closely at, for instance, the number of words per page
books of a fairly solid nature, all of them pretty high-level
I found there is a huge variation from book to book, largely
textbooks, with one of them being a first edition. I had not
due to page size, how much white space is left and, more
indexed previous editions of the other two. I asked for, and
importantly, what font size is used. The first edition book that
got, a sample chapter from each book, marked them up,
I’m indexing is almost unreadable because of its tiny font.
and guesstimated the likely size of what I thought would be
There are roughly 770 words/page – about twice the number
suitable indexes. I went through my records of similar books
in my informational books. The other two texts had around
I’ve done in the past and checked times taken for them, and
550 words/page, so there’s a huge range here that I hadn’t fully
worked out the number of indexable pages/hour I’d take for
appreciated before. I hadn’t thought to estimate the words/
the jobs, calculated the resulting hours of work, multiplied
page of books I’ve worked on in the past, so my database is
that by $65/hour going rate, and sent off my quotes.
lacking in that regard. Can I get some guidance from others as
My quote for the first edition book was accepted, but for
to what records they keep of their indexing work, and in what
the other two the editor said that my quotes exceeded the
detail, so that they have ready access to reliable and useful data
indexing budget for the books (by 17% in each case, quite
on which to base quotations for work?
fortuitously). I had some email discussion with the editor
regarding the times I calculated to do a professional index and
Glenda replied,
on what I’d based my calculations.
I have no one approach, but deal with each situation as it
I’ve done a number of indexes for this publisher on a
arises. Quoting and negotiation depend on the nature of the
series of informational books that are very straightforward
book and the client. There are some books where I know I
to index, and I told the editor what my average charge per
will be able to work quickly - usually because the book is wellindexable page for these tended to be. For some time now I’ve
structured, but sometimes because I have experience with the
been working to a budget for these, which the editor of the
topic or approach. There are others where I know the work
series has, at least partly, been basing on figures I had given at
will take time; here I am unwilling to agree to a lower price for
one stage. When I told the editor of the textbooks what this
a quicker job because I know I won’t be able to do it.
page rate was, I was told that this sounded fine for estimation
I have clients who I know will provide me with well-edited
purposes. However, the number of words per page in the
books, on time. I am more likely to agree to their proposals
informational books is much less than for the textbooks and
than I am to a client who is unreliable. Self-published authors
I checked my calculations for the quotes by proportionally
might be treated more strictly or more gently than the average
increasing the rate/page according the number of words/page
client, depending on circumstances. This is because they often
and got a similar result to my estimates based on a trial
have jobs that demand extra time (eg, in the discussion of
indexing of the chapters.
requirements), but, on the other hand, they are usually driven
I communicated this to the editor, but my pleas for
by the desire to communicate and I am happy to share in
consideration of this were in vain. I stuck to my figures, and
that.
lost the jobs! Did I do right?
I have been surprised over the years to find that the depth
In 2005 Glenda Browne recommended readers to 'Target
of indexing I consider to be ideal is considered by some
indexes to the budget available. A cheap index can often be
clients to be unnecessary. Discussions about expected depth of
OK if it is a good index to a more limited scope, rather than
indexing sometimes show that for what they want, the client’s
a quick index trying to cover everything.' Should I have
price is reasonable. It’s just that we were planning to give them
accepted the jobs and only spent the hours on it that a division
so much more.
of $65 into the budget figure would give? If this is thought to
In my view the quality of the index with respect to the
be OK, should I tell an editor that that’s what I propose to do
brief is my responsibility, but the quality of the brief (e.g. the
and that the index will not be as good or comprehensive as I
depth being paid for) is up to the editor. I might suggest that
would like for the book? I feel a bit out of my depth in trying
I think the book needs more, but I leave it up to them.
to negotiate this sort of thing with an editor, particularly as I
don’t know on what the budget figure is based. Should I have
Even after 25 years indexing I still struggle to quote
asked that? I would appreciate some guidance here, please, and
at times. There are always new topics and new formats to
I imagine there might be a number of other indexers who feel
consider. This, of course, is one of the things that make such
the same way.
a wonderful career. But it also means you never get to sit on
your laurels and think you know everything. When I first
Should I now ask the editor to keep me on his list, as I still
quote for a new client I might give a range of quotes with
want to have the opportunity to index his books? How do I do
a range of possible depths. Most easily defined are indexing
this without grovelling, or letting down the rest of the indexing
just from section headings and indexing in full. I explain
community? There’s not so much work about that I can afford
to lose jobs, so I’d love some guidance here, please.
I
(Quoting to a budget, continued from previous page)
that ‘from section headings’ still involves analysis, rewording,
multiple entries etc, but that it means specific concepts that
can only be derived from a detailed reading of the text won’t
be indexed.
If I quote for an index and the client says it is too expensive,
I might say ‘for the money you are suggesting I can do a briefer
index from section headings’. Or if they mention a price and
give a sample from a previous edition, I might say ‘I can index
for that price but not for that detail.’ When I can see a past
index for an annual report, previous edition etc, I also use my
rule of thumb of $1 to $2 per locator as a guide.
If the client insists on a low price for a detailed index,
I’ll say I’m sorry I can’t do that but I am happy to suggest a
beginner indexer who might be interested. While I don’t want
to promote the idea of beginner indexers undercharging, the
first few jobs are crucial for building a business, and they can be
hard to get. Some of the jobs I have recommended beginners
for have been self-published local histories which are being
written for love rather than money. These give a beginner the
opportunity to get an index published, while also ensuring
that a community book has a useful index. (These jobs can,
of course, be more challenging than the average trade book
index and newbies may find they have been thrown in the
deep end.) If I feel a request for a cheap index is unreasonable,
however, I might just decline with no offer of help.
I think editors sometimes apply inappropriate considerations
when budgeting for a book. To be fair, I also think indexers
are probably extremely inconsistent and editors must often be
bewildered by the variation in quotes they get.
I have lost two jobs recently for over-quoting. I would
rather say ‘No’ than do a bad job quickly or do a good job but
be underpaid. But I’ll always negotiate if there is a chance of a
satisfactory compromise.
I try to be consistent, but if the job is wonderful (e.g.
index ‘snorkelling holidays in the South Pacific’) I might
negotiate less toughly.
If I have underquoted I accept that I only get paid
what I quoted, but I might mention to the editor that I
should have quoted more, so that my low figure doesn’t
go down in history as the appropriate price. Twice this has
resulted in a $100 increase (still didn’t mean the job paid
the ANZSI recommended rate, but a welcome gesture
nonetheless).
than someone else’s.
Negotiation over quoting in indexing involves swings
and roundabouts. Sometimes you need to work at a lower
rate, or include less detail, to secure a contract, but that is
counterbalanced by other jobs where you can earn a higher rate
for less effort, and hence boost your profit. What I am saying is
be flexible in quoting. However, this does not mean taking jobs
at say $30/hour. As has been said many times before, 'if you
pay peanuts, you get monkeys'! Leave these jobs for someone
else. The publisher will be the loser in the long run, with
poorer sales, and in many cases, a very disgruntled author.
And a final word from Don
Thanks, Glenda and Max,
I appreciate those comments very much, and they will be of
great help to me in the future.
I’m gaining so much from this, and I’ve had further
correspondence with the editor of the books that sparked all
this, which I’ll share at a future date. The basis for the budgets
for the two books I didn’t get to index (which were 2nd and
5th editions) was what the indexer of the previous editions
charged, upgraded in line with inflation. It seems to me that’s
not a very good basis, as that puts later indexers at the mercy
of what their peers have charged, and we don’t know what
standard those peers have edited to. I was sent indexes to the
previous editions, together with a representative chapter of
each, but I didn’t take much notice of them as I prefer to index
each book from scratch. I’ve had some bad experiences trying
to update earlier indexes, even my own, so I tend not to use
them. However, if editors are basing their budgets on these,
then obviously I’ll need to look at them at quoting time!!
What do other members think? ... Join the discussion!
Max replied
The principled approach you have taken with the editor
is quite reasonable. However, Glenda’s 2005 advice also
makes good sense. Once you have been told that you
are 17% over the production budget for the index (for
example you may have quoted $1500, but the publisher
has only allowed $1300), you have to decide whether you
can do a competent indexing job for $1300. Although
this lower figure will mean a less than ideal level of detail
within the index, providing you can live with slightly
lower standards, then go with a lower quote. You also
need to decide whether $1300 is better in your pocket
Queensland Branch’s recent general meeting welcomed
palaeontologist Dr Susan Turner.
At the meeting were (back row l to r): Teresa Hayward, Jane Douglas,
Franz Pinz, Cate Seymour-Jones; (front): Moira Brown, Vicki Law,
Dr Susan Turner, Graham Potts, Beryl Macdonald.
Quiet achievers in indexing – Nikki Davis
your career?
definitely owe a lot to my former boss Christopher Walton,
Managing Editor of the Book Editorial Department of
Reader’s Digest (South Africa) during the 1980s. Chris’s
idea to have a member of staff undertake an indexing
course in order to have a trained indexer in-house propelled
me down the path to an indexing career.
My husband Sid was responsible
for revolutionising my method of
working by tossing out my shoebox
and replacing it with (to the best of my
knowledge) the first custom-written
indexing software program in South
Africa.
I’m also very appreciative of the
support I received from Max McMaster
when I resumed the indexing career I’d
given up in favour of part-time library
work, while my sons Jared and Asher
were growing up.
I
it is something that all indexers should aim for, so I’m very
pleased to have this under my belt. Serving on the Council
of ANZSI has also been a privilege and is very rewarding.
The earliest days of my career were definitely the hardest.
As one of only a handful of indexers in South Africa in
the 1980s and with no formal networks (ASAIB was yet
to be formed) it was hard not to feel a
little bit isolated. I got through sticky
situations by reading lots of other
published indexes and by consulting
The Chicago Manual of Style.
How do you try to achieve
work-life balance?
I haven’t always been able to avoid
it, but I definitely don’t like having
more than one book on my desk at
any one time. I’m very conscious of
pacing myself, particularly because of
my other busy life in peer support
work with breast cancer patients and
How did you come to an
as a consumer advisor for two clinical
indexing career?
trials groups.
I first discovered indexing while
To maintain balance in my life I
working at Reader’s Digest. In those
need
human contact, exercise, and a bit
pre-internet days, the commissioning Nikki and Timmy, her indexing companion, of time to dabble in yet more reading
of an index always involved face-to- who likes to put in an appearance at Vic and hobbies. For human contact I
face contact between the indexer and Branch Committee meetings.
make time for family and friends. For
in-house staff and I got to know Ethleen Lastovica, a
exercise I do heaps of walking and I make the very most
librarian and SI Registered Indexer, who wrote most of our
of living just a stone’s chuck from Port Phillip Bay. My
indexes.
reading tastes are quite varied but one of my favourite
Indexing always appealed to me. This is probably not
areas of interest is Australia, especially books that help to
surprising – I was working as an editorial researcher which,
fill in the gaps in my knowledge of Australian history and
like indexing, requires a love of information and an ability
literature. I realise that I will probably never entirely catch
to pay attention to detail.
up but I’m having fun along the way! I also have the sewing
At that time indexers were few and far between in South
and knitting bug that seems to afflict so many indexers.
Africa and Ethleen was in high demand. This issue was
the catalyst for our Managing Editor’s idea that it would
be useful to have a trained indexer in-house. It didn’t grab
I enjoy being my own boss and having the ability to set
my colleagues but I leapt at the opportunity. As training
my own working hours and leave entitlements, as well as a
was not available in South Africa, I sought advice from SI
jeans and t-shirt dress code. I like that indexing can expose
and enrolled in Ann Hall’s BIPT course. (An article about
you to all sorts of areas that you might not otherwise have
my experience of indexing in South Africa in the 1980s
delved into. I also like the project nature of the job – you
was published in the August 2010 edition of the ANZSI
can see the results of your work very quickly. I still get a bit
Newsletter.)
of a kick seeing a book that I have indexed in a bookshop.
Some of my best experiences have involved working
achievement?
directly with authors. Many of them like face-to-face
Building up an indexing business is an achievement in
contact (the demise of which I lament) and really do see
itself and I’ve managed to do this twice on two different
you as part of their team.
continents at two very different phases of my life. I’m a
strong believer in the accreditation process and think that
(Quiet achievers: Nikki Davis, continued from previous page)
The things I dislike most are the long hours spent at the
computer, and the often fluid nature of publishers’ dates (in
their favour) that can throw a spanner in the works.
What advice would you offer to indexers
just starting out?
Being a newbie indexer is a little bit like being a P-plate
driver. You have the skills to manoeuvre your car but you
have yet to confront all the hazards of being on the road.
It takes time to develop good indexing skills and to do this
you’ll need to have the experience of indexing a few books
with a variety of challenges.
Invest in a good library of indexing books. My most
consulted books have been Glenda Browne and Jon
Jermey’s The Indexing Companion and The Chicago Manual
of Style chapter on indexing.
I can’t stress enough the value of being a member of
an indexing society and the networking opportunities that
it will offer you. Apart from being a great form of social
contact, it’s the best way to build on your knowledge about
indexing and to keep informed of the changes happening
in publishing.
Get involved with volunteer indexing projects as this
is a very good way to kickstart your career. When offers
of paid work do come your way, and this may be slow in
happening in the beginning, be sure that you can manage
the topic and the deadline. Something that my indexing
teacher said has always stuck with me – you can’t nibble at
indexing in odd hours.
You also need to present yourself as an indexer right
from the start. So avoid saying things like: ‘I’m trying to get
into indexing.’ Be brave and call yourself an indexer.
figure, who could it be?
Thomas Hardy because it was through the The Mayor of
Casterbridge that I experienced that first sense of wonder
at how a book could transport me to an entirely different
time and place.
I would talk to him about his self-education, his work as
an architect, and his writing of course, especially his poetry
which I discovered later. Despite the often hideous taste of
the Victorians, it would be fun to learn more about Hardy’s
numerous visits to the Great Exhibition of 1851. I probably
also wouldn’t be able to resist asking him how he came to
name one of his large troop of cats KiddleywinkempoopsTrot.
If you were a letter of the alphabet, who
would you be and why?
The letter ‘A’ because it represents the beginning, with the
promise of more to come. I’m an optimist. It’s also the first
letter in the names of the two continents where I’ve spent
my life, Africa and Australia.
Branch events
Date and time
Organiser
Name of activity
Venue
Contact details
Mon 22 April
5.30–7.00 pm
ACT Region
Conference
catch-up
Woden Library
meeting room
Details on page 7 and at
Tues 23 April
6 for 7.00 pm
Qld Branch
5th birthday dinner party, with
Jane Douglas speaking on the
2013 Conference
Venue is still to
be confirmed.
RSVP by 22 April <[email protected]>
or 0416 097 629. Details at:
Sat 11 May
2.30 pm
Vic Branch
Indexing Asian names
State Library of
Victoria
RSVP for catering via
ANZSI Newsletter
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI News
ANZSI Newsletter
Conference report from Carol Dawber
Conference report from Sandy Liddle
Conference photos
Indexing indaba
ACT region Branch – Conference catch-up
Quoting to a budget
Quiet achievers – Nikki Davis
1
2
2
3
4–5
6
7
8
9
10
Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in May 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 26 April.
Postage
paid
Volume 9 | number 4 | May 2013
ANZSI News
NZ Conference papers now on web
ost of the NZ Conference papers
or reports on presentations have
been added to the website <www.anzsi.
org/site/2013Confpap.asp>. Worth a look,
particularly if you were unable to attend
the Conference.
M
Web indexing award for 2013
Members are invited to enter the Web and Electronic
Indexing SIG’s Web Indexing Award for 2013. Details at
<www.web-indexing.org/web-indexing-award.htm>. The
winner will be announced at the ASI annual conference in
April 2014.
SI Publishing Technology Group website
If you haven’t explored this website, you are in for an
informative time. To quote SI ‘The UK Society of Indexers
Publishing Technology Group (PTG) website goes public
at <www.ptg-indexers.org.uk/>!’
The PTG is a working group set up by the Society of
Indexers (SI) in 2011, its remit being to advise SI members,
publishers and authors on reconciling powerful text retrieval
techniques with emerging publishing technologies.
The website covers topics such as linked and embedded
indexes for use on devices with fluid pagination, embedded
indexing to cut turnaround times and to facilitate
multiplatform delivery, and the prospects opened up by
the arrival of standards like EPUB3.
It also looks at widespread misunderstandings about
ebook indexing; explains why many non-fiction ebooks are
barely usable and looks forward to a maturing of retrieval
technologies that builds on but goes beyond existing
techniques.”
I would say this is essential reading to help you to
understand all the various aspects of ebooks <www.ptgindexers.org.uk/>. Well done, SI.
International Digital Publishing Forum
ANZSI Council has decided to renew membership to
IDPF while the work on indexes in the EPUB standard
continues.
ASI Conference
I am just back from an enjoyable time in the US attending
the ASI Conference. Details of the Conference are in a
separate article on pages 6–7.
Mary Russell
The VIC in April – Indexing software
W
hile you may have compared the three indexing
software packages (Macrex, CINDEX and SKY)
when you started out indexing and selected one to purchase,
have you gone back and looked at the others again?
This was the basis for The VIC session in April. We had
the three indexing packages loaded with the same sample
index and asked users of each software package to explain
how they would enter entries and edit the index. We also
asked them to show features of their software they could
not live without.
I am not sure many will be changing their software
packages, but it was very interesting to see how differently
the packages handled basic and advanced indexing processes.
Also expert users of each package were able to answer
questions from other users in that package. It turned out to
be a very informative session for all present.
Mary Russell
at ‘The Matrix’
Queensland Branch is five years old
W
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
e were born on 28 April 2008, so last month we celebrated our fifth
birthday. In this time we have been ‘staying alive’ and keeping afloat
because our solid achievements in the service of our members convince them
to pay their annual fees – and to keep doing so, year after year. Without them
there would be no branch.
It all began with Jean Dartnall, our current North Queensland contact. She
managed to hold several meetings of indexers in local Brisbane hotels or at the
University of Queensland back in the 1990s. Then, in 1997, the Society of
Editors (Qld) President, George Bernard Sterling, invited local indexers to join
his editors at their meetings, to give them an avenue to network with colleagues
in the industry, because at that time they had no branch of their own.
A well known and respected indexer, Ian Odgers, was the Queensland
contact for ANZSI for many years in the 1990s up until the 21st century,
when I (Moira Brown) came along and was keen to network with fellow
indexers. I became the ANZSI contact in Queensland in 2006.
It was not until March 2008 that things started to move, when Max
McMaster of the Victorian Branch came up to Brisbane for a ‘nuts and bolts
of indexing’ meeting and to run five indexing training courses. With the
support of over 25 industry colleagues (editors and librarians) and six brave
souls who came on the night and made it happen, the Queensland Branch was
inaugurated on 28 April 2008. This was some 32 years after the Australian
Society of Indexers (AusSI, now ANZSI) was formed in 1976.
Venues and Branch activities
The meeting rooms of the Toowong and Carindale Libraries, and the Salisbury
Hotel in Brisbane, have been the free venues for our General Meetings over the
last five years, in which time we have enjoyed 25 different guest speakers.
ANZSI President John Simkin was our first guest speaker on a rainy
Wednesday evening in June 2008. John travelled up from Melbourne especially
to celebrate with us. His knowledge of his field was impressive and we all had
a great thrill from his attendance. The photograph shows John and Moira on
that auspicious day with the brand-new Branch logo.
Well-known and highly regarded indexers and published authors Mei Yen
Chua and Max McMaster have spoken to us several times, along with Franz
Pinz (editor, indexer, records manager, librarian), Alice Stephens (librarian,
researcher, indexer), Wendy Sargeant (editor, poet, author, publisher), Carl
Craig (editor, musician, publisher), David Mason (librarian, researcher,
Secretary of the Historical Society of Beaudesert Museum), Margaret Shand
(teacher, librarian, indexer), Colin Sheehan (ex-John Oxley Librarian,
(Queensland Branch is five years old, continued from previous page)
researcher, historian), Hazel Bell (UK indexer, ex-President
of SI – via DVD), Frances Lennie (owner of CINDEX
computer software, indexer, ex-ASI President), Elisabeth
Wheeler (archivist, research consultant), William S. Kitson
(surveyor, ex-Curator of the Museum of Lands, Mapping
and Surveying) and his successor Curator Kaye Nardella,
and Gary Thorpe (Manager of 4MBS FM Radio Station
and Museum).
It was also a great honour when Mary Russell (our
own ANZSI President, mathematician, librarian, author
and indexer) came especially from Victoria to be our guest
speaker at Queensland Branch’s AGM held on 26 July
2011.
Other guests have included Adam LeBrocq (editor, writer,
indexer), Sue McQuay (editor, indexer, publisher), Belinda
Weaver (University of Queensland research data strategist),
Lesley Bryant (researcher for University of Queensland,
librarian, indexer, author, historian), Amanda Greenslade
(graphic designer, website maintenance, copywriter,
editor and PR communicator), Lisa Jones (Master in
Museum Studies, archivist, Curator of the Queensland
Police Museum), and Dr. Susan Turner (science historian,
palaeontologist, Fellow of The Geological Society, Fellow of
The Linnaean Society of London, editor, indexer).
For our fifth birthday our guest speaker was Jane
Douglas, a freelance writer, a blogger, a student in the home
stretch of a Bachelor of Arts in Writing and Publishing and
an indexer-in-training, who was lucky enough to attend the
ANZSI Conference in Wellington, New Zealand in March
2013.
Regional Branch meetings
These have been held in Townsville in North Queensland on
two occasions. Firstly, Jean Dartnall and her husband Allan
provided a luncheon at their home for seven interested
members and industry colleagues in September 2008, just
five months after our new Queensland Branch had been
formed. I, as Queensland Branch President, was lucky
enough to travel to Townsville for the occasion where I met
Branch members. Many thanks again to Jean Dartnall for
her continuing assistance to our Branch.
In August 2012, indexing guru Max McMaster
conducted a ‘Dinner with an indexer’ at a local Townsville
restaurant. Max, along with local indexers Jean Dartnall
and Suzie Davies and other industry colleagues enjoyed a
successful evening discussing indexing and networking.
Over the years, items included in the ANZSI Newsletter
have been written by visitors (i.e. industry colleagues
attending our meetings) or by new indexers, who had
undergone indexing training with Jean Dartnall, Max
McMaster or Glenda Brown. Among these authors were
Jacinda Wilson, Maureen (Mo) Dickson, Mary Trabucco,
Mei Yen Chua and Des Stephens (ex-Queensland
State Librarian). Our thanks to all of you for your
contributions.
Indexing training
A number of courses have been held by Queensland Branch
for the benefit of its members and interested industry
colleagues in 2008, ’09, ’10, ’11 and ’13.
This year, our Branch has a new project for members’
continuing education. It is an online indexing training/
mentoring project running from March to June 2013. We
have 12 colleagues who are undergoing this pilot project,
using an Australian-written and -designed textbook by
Glenda Brown and Jon Jermey. Mei Yen Chua, a very
experienced indexer, is coordinating the online training.
Anyone is welcome to join us in future projects of this
kind.
As you know, indexing training can only be held when
you the indexer makes a show of interest in different
training spheres, so keep a look out for our future plans.
Our interest in EPUB and its adjuncts, pointed out
by those Queensland members who attended the ANZSI
Conference in New Zealand (Jane Douglas and Sandy
Liddle), is another path which we in Queensland hope to
pursue.
Thanks to Max McMaster, Jean Dartnall, Glenda
Brown, Mary Russell and Mei Yen Chua (to mention but
a few in ANZSI), for their care and concern for others to
gain and maintain their continuous professional education.
We are well aware that a professional indexer needs to stay
ahead of the many challenges facing our industry today.
The Future
Queensland Branch currently has 29 members scattered
about the State. Seventeen of these are in and around
Brisbane. We are urging them to consider helping to run
their State indexing branch. If no one helps or makes an
effort, it will fall over!
General Meetings: We need members’ continuing
support – by attending ‘General Meetings’ for just one to two
hours a month they can network with industry colleagues,
editors or publishers who may become prospective
employers, while being entertained and educated by a
guest speaker.
Queensland Branch Committee
We hope that Branch members will continue to offer
their time and knowledge in the Branch Committee. Here
they have the chance to put forward their opinions and be
at the decision making end of the Branch activities. The
Branch has worked hard to help and support its members
ever since it was formed five years ago. It needs their help
to secure and develop the future.
Moira Brown (President, Queensland Branch)
Queensland Branch’s birthday meeting
O
n our fifth birthday, we welcomed our new indexerin-training, Queensland member Jane Douglas, as our
guest speaker for the evening. Jane had just returned from
the 2013 ANZSI Conference in New Zealand, bringing
back the latest news in the indexing world as told by fellow
indexers from America, Canada, the UK and Australia.
What great tidings she brought back to us. It was a mind
blowing evening, but oh, so enlightening. We wished that
we had all had the opportunity to attend the Conference.
EPUB, EPUB Standards and electronic indexing and
techniques are the way forward for indexers in this 21st
century. ASI Digital Trends Task Force updates were also
on the agenda – Jane involved us all in these fascinating and
intriguing conference sessions.
Jan Wright’s wonderful keynote address, Mei Yen Chua’s
'Publishers, Editors and Indexers' panel session, together
with Mary Russell’s closing address on ‘Indexing without
boundaries’ were the highlights of our evening.
We thank Jane for a very comprehensive, entertaining
and educational evening on this important birthday date.
Moira Brown (President, ANZSI Queensland Branch)
At the fifth birthday celebration were (left to
right): Cate Seymour-Jones, Jane Douglas
(guest speaker), Jeni Lewington (standing),
Moira Brown, Franz Pinz, Graham
Potts (kneeling) and Marisa Trigger.
Lesley Bryant took the photo; David
Crosswell also attended but left early.
Queensland Branch entertains a palaeontologist extraordinaire
P
ressure on space prevented publication last month of
this account of Queensland Branch’s March meeting,
where they welcomed Dr Susan Turner, a distinguished
palaeontologist (the photo shows her relaxing with us after
her talk).
Dr Turner gave a lively account of her scientific career
and work, which began in post-war England and eventually
brought her to Australia. Palaeontology as a discipline does
not have a very high public profile, so it was fascinating to
hear a first hand account of what palaeontologists do, as
well as learning about the environment in which they work.
Dr Turner was a student of geology and palaeontology, who
became interested in vertebrate palaeontology and pursued
an interest in fossil fish throughout her career.
So the audience quickly learned about living fossils.
One such example is an ancient species called a Coelacanth,
which has survived over hundreds of millions of years in
a few isolated locations, such as the Comoro islands, and
also in Queensland. Palaeontologists go into the Australian
bush in their hunt for ancient bones and fossils. They love
it and have all sorts of stories to tell. But they are not rough
Indiana Jones types, fighting dramatic battles to recover these
treasures. They are ordinary – yet extraordinary – people,
dedicated to their scientific
work, often poorly paid,
with no fixed tenure, who
pursue their interest under
tough physical conditions.
Dr Turner is from a
generation where women
scientists, and especially earth
scientists, were an extreme
minority. Most of the time
they were the only woman
in their university year and
then, if they pursued a career
in their field any further, at
the workplace.
In this regard, Brisbane has a proud tradition of being
somewhat of a trailblazer. When our guest speaker Dr
Susan Turner arrived here in the early 1980s, following
her new university lecturer husband, she found some
exceptional women palaeontologists at the Queensland
Museum and the University of Queensland. Mary Wade
and Dorothy Hill are widely recognized role models for
successful women scientists.
(A palaeontologist extraordinaire, continued from previous page)
Dr Turner also spoke about the precarious financial
situation of scientific niche subjects. Traditional employers
for palaeontologists are universities and natural history
museums. In the last 20 years or so many of these
institutions have closed these ‘unprofitable’ departments.
Scientists who may have spent a lifetime of work in the
field lose their livelihood and have to find outside project
funding, consulting work or career opportunities abroad.
This situation led Dr Turner to China, where she was
able to pursue her teaching and research interests, and to
Canada. Through UNESCO, she is now also involved in
the establishment of geological parks at places all over the
world that have interesting geological features.
Strong and supportive personal relationships are a
feature in the life of scientists pursuing a common interest.
It starts with strong teacher-student relationships and
continues amongst these dedicated professionals, ignoring
political or racial boundaries, demonstrating the truly
international scope of science. Building upon earlier work
as an editor of scientific journals, Dr Susan Turner has also
developed a freelance career as editor and indexer in her
scientific fields.
It was an absorbing evening, hearing a first hand
account of the problems and successes in the life of a
dedicated scientist.
Franz Pinz (Branch Treasurer)
Quoting to a budget
Don Jordan adds a postscript to last month’s discussion. Is there anybody else out there with strong views on this topic?
n looking more closely at this issue, I became aware of
had 20 indexable pages and only 4 pages of end-matter in
several things. One was that the number of words per
this chapter. This makes a big difference to the calculated
page varies enormously from book to book, for a variety of
proportions – 22/29 x 100 = 76% compared with 20/24 x
reasons. The first edition book that I’m indexing is almost
100 = 83%. The number of pages that I was given for the
unreadable because of its tiny font. There are roughly 770
book was 544, whereas it finished up at 598. The indexable
words/page – about twice the number in my informational
pages then calculated are 413 and 496, respectively. As
books. The other two texts had 450 and 550 words/page.
I based my estimate on the average number of entries
It is obviously unwise to use a rate per page as a basis for
per page for the manuscript version of chapter 9, it can
estimating unless you are sure that the new book has the
be seen that my estimate was going to be seriously wrong.
same number of words per page. Also, many books include
After I had finished the index, I discovered that chapter 9
pages containing material that is not indexable, so in
contained proportionately more entries than the other
keeping records of books indexed, this statistic should be
chapters, so that led to a considerable estimating error also.
included. I hadn’t thought to estimate the words/page of
Don Jordan
books I’ve worked on in the past, so my database is lacking
in that regard. I would love some guidance from others as to
what records they keep of their indexing work, and in what
detail, so that they have ready access to reliable and useful
data on which to base quotations for work?
The editor of the books that sparked all this subsequently
told me that the basis for the budgets for the two books
I didn’t get to index (which were 2nd and 5th editions)
was what the indexer of the previous editions charged,
upgraded in line with inflation. But that puts later indexers
at the mercy of what their peers have charged, and we
don’t know what standard those peers have indexed to.
I was sent indexes to the previous editions, together with a
representative chapter of each, but I didn’t take much notice
of them as I prefer to index each book from scratch. I’ve had
some bad experiences trying to update earlier indexes, even
of my own, so I tend not to use them. However, if editors
are basing their budgets on these, then it’s obviously going
to be a good thing to look at them at quoting time!
Another potential trap I discovered was that I was given
a manuscript copy of a chapter of the first edition book,
and not a page proof. The manuscript chapter contained
22 indexable pages of text and 7 pages of end-matter, which
the editor said could be used to estimate the proportion of
indexable pages for the book. However, the final page proofs
I
ASI Conference in San Antonio 18–19 April
A
bout 100 people attended the ASI Conference, spread
over Thursday and Friday with workshops on the
Saturday. While most were from the US, there were several
from Canada, three Australians, a couple from UK and one
from The Netherlands.
ICRIS meeting
On the Wednesday afternoon the ICRIS group met. This
is a great opportunity to hear what the other societies are
doing. One topic that was discussed was the various societies’
equivalents to Indexers Available, as the Society of Indexers
prepares to launch their updated version. I was surprised
to learn that ANZSI is the only society that doesn’t charge
their members to advertise in their IA. Costs to advertise
your services on the list range from about $40 to $150 per
year. ASI has found that while their membership numbers
had dropped their revenue from their IA equivalent has not
dropped.
Hines Award
The ASI Hines Award is ASI’s highest
award and is given in acknowledgement
of services to the Society. This year the
award was presented to Jan Wright,
seen receiving it at right. This was such
a popular choice that Jan received a
standing ovation. The citation can be
found at:
<www.asindexing.org/i4a/pages/index.
cfm?pageID=3341#hinesrecipients>.
Wilson Award
The Wilson Award was awarded to Kate Mertes for her
index to My Thoughts (Mes Pensées) by Montesquieu,
translated and edited by Henry C Clark and published
by Liberty Fund. A section of the index can be found at
<www.asindexing.org/files/Wilson/Wilson_2013_Mertes.
pdf>. In future this award will be known as the Ebsco
Publishing Award.
Order of the Kohlrabi
Members and non-members of ASI are recognised for their
contribution to ASI beyond the call of duty. In recognition
for their services they are presented with a certificate
and membership to the Order of the Kohlrabi (yes the
vegetable). One of this year’s recipients was Glenda Browne
for her work on the IDPF Indexers Working Group. For
the history of the award and the reason for the kohlrabi see
<www.asindexing.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3604>.
Papers
ASI Conferences start with a group breakfast before the
speaker starts at 8.00 am. The Plenary sessions were good.
Judith Pascoe, author of the article ‘My last index’ in
The Chronicle of Higher Education <http://chronicle.com/
article/My-Last-Index/131162/> spoke about indexers and
indexes mentioned in books, particularly books by Barbara
Pym.
Joshua Tallent then spoke on ebooks from the point of
view of ebook producers, which was interesting. He was
tagged by Dave Ream on EPUB3 Indexes 1.0 draft.
I then went to a session by Kate Mertes on indexing
historical documents from before about 1850. This type
of indexing has many problems not typically faced by
indexers indexing present-day books. Obviously seeking
guidance from the author is not possible, but are you
actually working with original texts or is it a translation of
a translation, for example translated from Latin to French
and then to 18th century English. Terminology of the day
could have different meanings today and the spelling is
sure to be different. Kate provided useful tips on what to
look out for, how to cope with spelling variations by using
square brackets in the index and the
importance of qualifying entries.
Knowing the period in which the
book was written is important, as is
knowledge of what present readers
are likely to be interested in. For
example it may be of interest to
index every quote, as this gives an
indication of what literature the
author had access to. I found it a
fascinating session and full of useful
tips and hints.
Another interesting session was
by Kay Schlembach explaining how
the indexing company Potomac compiled a subject index
to Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations to assist the development
of it as an App. There were approximately 20,000 quotes.
There were five facets: aboutness, emotional content,
positive/negative, use for special occasion (e.g. Mother’s
Day) and special qualities, such as humour. The indexers
needed to assess each quote against each of the five facets.
They ended up using 16 indexers, who were paid $0.75 per
quote and expected to index 18-20 quotes per hour with
entries expected in up to five fields. In addition they had to
develop their own controlled vocabulary and all in a three
month time frame. An amazing accomplishment. The App
can be purchased in iTunes for A$4.49. Further details on
the project can be found in Seth Maislin’s article at <www.
potomacindexing.com/newsletters/The%20Slice%20Vol%
206%20No.%201%20.pdf>.
Friday was another early start with breakfast and ASI
Business meeting. Next was a presentation on DTTF (the
ASI’s Digital Trends Task Force), which was very similar to
the Wellington presentation.
(ASI Conference, continued from previous page)
person buying the supplies and
ASI has created a publications
the school, who may have also to
index mash-up to a few of their
prepare lunches? Quickly thinking
publications, something publishers
of things and putting them on
are becoming very keen to do. This
post-it-notes enabled us to group
gives you a wonderful idea of what
these in to two or three main
they are talking about and how it
themes. This exercise would then
could look <www.asindexing.org/
assist in determining the various
files/mashup/default.htm>.
options for the fields.
Kay Schlembach presented
At the international session I
a session that was written by
promoted the ANZSI Conference
Seth Maislen on image tagging
6-9 May 2015. A few ASI members
strategies for business. This was
told me they were keen to visit
really how you would set up a
Australia ‘one day’ and would keep
database for images for a company
those dates in mind.
and determining the sort of fields
you would require and developing
The Conference concluded for
an input screen including setting ANZSI at ASI (l to r): Elizabeth Riley (QLD Branch), Terri me with an Alamo Battlefield
specific options for the various Mackenzie (V-P Vic Branch, who provided the photos) and Mary tour. I hadn’t known much about
Russell (ANZSI President).
fields. This was a very new area
the Alamo and so I was able to
for most in the room. To assist, Kay ran a very useful exercise
visit the buildings later with greater understanding.
to highlight and explain how stakeholders in a project like
Attending an ASI Conference is a wonderful
this can have very different requirements. Dividing us into
opportunity to combine a holiday with your continuing
four groups we had to come up with things that would
professional development. In 2014 the ASI Conference
be important to each of four different stakeholders for
will be 30 April – 3 May in Charleston <www.asindexing.
school lunches. What would the child consider important
org/2014AnnualConference/>. Why not consider going?
factors in their lunch? How would these requirements vary
Mary Russell
from the person preparing the lunch (such as parent), the
ZAKUSKI
H
i, I just wanted to welcome you to my new column entitled Zakuski, which is taken from a Russian
word meaning ‘appetisers’. I feel honoured to be following in the footsteps of Jane Purton, who has
decided to step down from writing this column. I will alternate with Nikki Davis every other month, and
provide you with quirky snippets about indexing and other matters which take my fancy.
I thought of many different titles for this column but decided that since most of our indexing events take
place around a meal, this would be appropriate.
Volunteering in indexing
I happen to be a member of my local U3A and just recently
an advertisement appeared requiring an indexer at the Box
Hill Historical Society. Needless to say I jumped in and
said ‘yes’.
The project requires me to create an index to their
ratebooks from 1947 to 1953 using Microsoft Access
database, and to key in data from original handwritten rate
assessment books, which are held at the society’s premises
at the Box Hill Town Hall. I am also going to create
indexes /indices to any of their books that do not have one.
Volunteering with a historical society is the best way to
practice one’s indexing skills.
(Their website is at < http://u3aboxhill.com.au>.)
From the Box Hill U3A home page…
We have just observed another ANZAC Day. In 2015 it
will be the centenary. To commemorate this occasion an
Avenues of Honour research project is being set up.
This is a national initiative to honour with a tree the
memory of every individual who has fought in wars.
This involves documenting, preserving and reinstating the
original and establishing new Avenues of Honour .
The first stage is sourcing out the existing and lost
Avenues and the people commemorated by them. The
project will use all aspects of digital media such as blogs,
mobile apps, wikis in order to collect and share information.
Darren Peacock and David Lawry are the coordinators of
this project. (Website <http://u3aboxhill.com.au>.)
(Zakuski, continued from previous page)
Barbara Pym
A few weeks ago I was lunching with some friends and
we were talking about indexing. One of them mentioned
the books written by British author Barbara Pym, who
actually has characters in her books who are indexers.
While my friend could not mention the title of her books,
the following day I went on the web and looked her up.
On the Barbara Pym website there is a very detailed index
which has been created by our English colleague Hazel Bell
(pictured below).
Hazel was one of the delegates at
the San Antonio Conference and
let me say what a pleasure it was
to meet her.
Coincidentally, Barbara Pym
was discussed in great detail in
the ASI’s keynote address, The
secret lives of indexers, delivered by
Judith Pascoe.
Check out Hazel’s index on <www.barbara-pym.org>.
Are you an evil indexer?
At the recent ASI Conference in San Antonio a postConference celebration took place: The League of Evil
Indexers Pub Crawl and River Walk Extravaganza.
The league originated at the previous ASI conference in
San Diego in 2012. Paul Sweum, Steve Ingle and myself got
up to some mischief one night and were discussing in the
light of the session on Ethics in indexing who could be an
evil indexer. Think about it – have you been tempted to put
something in your index that may or may not be kosher?
Needless to say it was a fun event and 16 evil indexers
enjoyed the fun and frivolity at a nearby pub. Due to the
fiesta it was impossible to get a table by the River Walk.
We adjourned to the Hotel Contessa later in the evening
so that I could read a poem dedicated to evil indexing.
This poem is written by Graeme Turner, a Melbourne poet
and writer who has a very quirky sense of humour and has
recently attended some indexing events. Everybody enjoyed
the poem immensely. Here it is ...
Literary Ethics
So you’ve morphed in your career,
From a dubious librarian
From a suspect primary teacher
To a palpably terrifying evil indexer of books.
I thought that sinister actuaries, spooky museum
attendants,
Corrupt curators, anarchic archivists and chilling
children’s authors are bad.
When you with your macabre scheming
File every human reference
Under D for dead.
You turn over an old leaf,
Use the blackest ink,
Print in .6 gray on gray
And before you’re finished
You’re drinking quantities of what they call cold tea.
You play Scrabble to the death or at least
Some grievous bodily harm, where it is more
Than a figure to triple score.
You’re filing with a fiendish intent,
Labelling lasciviously,
Ordering content orgiastically
And engaging in unprintable things between covers.
You are the indexer who can’t be named
Who embraces the dark side of the page,
And can only be defeated
By the white cataloguer of light
Whose mind is perfectly ordered.
You are the arch organizer
The perpetrator of bibliophilia
At least until arrested.
And I’m going to place you under N
For naughty.
Graeme Turner (2013)
Queensland Branch General Meeting
Terri Mackenzie
Tuesday 28 May at 6.00 for 7.00 pm
At The Ward Office, 2/63 Annerley Road (corner of Crown Street) Woolloongabba, Brisbane (office of Cr. Helen
Abrahams of BCC). Entrance to the meeting is through the Meeting Room back door entrance, which will be
marked with the Queensland Branch logo.
Free parking will be found at the back and side of the building, so please enter via Crown Street. Entrance fee
and supper is $2.00.
Program
6.00 pm: Networking & nibbles with Queensland Branch members & industry colleagues, including registration.
7.00 pm: Elizabeth Riley – Highlights of the 2013 ASI Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Quiet achievers – Jenny Restarick
your career?
can't really pinpoint anyone in particular - perhaps my
mother who found my first job for me (CSIRO Dairy
Research Laboratory at Highett – on the train route) after
years of my childhood obsession with stamping books and
setting up a small lending library for the neighbourhood
kids – with my books and paper recording systems
I
just starting out?
Join and attend as many clubs, workshops as you are
interested in, to enlarge your network of friends and
contacts; offer to assist these groups to organise their
records, publish their newsletters etc. Marry someone
whose subject speciality is different to yours so you can
always ask for advice re terminology etc.
I saw the approaching demise of special libraries, so
I enrolled in the late 1980s with Michael Ramsden at
RMIT. Fortunately, with a knowledge of scientific terms
and how to spell them, work came along in regular bursts.
achievement?
Encouraging the use of the invaluable tool SSAL (Scientific
Serials in Australian Libraries) by library staff, in the days
when one ‘looked up’ paper-based finding aids.
SSAL, in its huge looseleaf format, contained amazingly
invaluable information regarding serials titles and their
publishers, authoritative institutions etc. – a veritable
treasure trove of knowledge in alphabetical order, complete
with see and see also references – also useful for standing
on, in the absence of steps, and as door stops !
Changing roles in 1997 from front-of-house Librarian in
a CSIRO Library to Information Officer in a world-wide
one-call answering service for the organisation meant losing
personal contact with the scientists and support staff who
had supported me, to gaining a wider knowledge of the
‘whole’ of CSIRO and, with my years of service, I became
a keeper of its corporate memory.
balance?
I have been fortunate to get job-sharing, short stay locums
for 9-day fortnights, recreational and confinement leave
positions for 25 years whilst my family was growing up.
This was the era of social change in the workplace and I was
lucky to be a part of it.
Least: Confinement to barracks during the working day
– little interaction with scientific staff and fellow indexers.
Most: Meeting peer groups (indexers, editors etc.) at
conferences, visits, meetings etc
Jenny with husband Cliff.
Dame Elisabeth Murdoch – for the patience she showed
over the years, for the never-ending acts of generosity
and her personality, which somehow seemed to rise above
politics and petty ‘gossip’ and made her such an endearing
lady.
All of them – A to Z – I love words, languages and order
which is most appealing to an indexer.
Authors’ lists of keywords
F
ergus Barrowman, a publisher-speaker at the ANZSI
conference in Wellington, said that he asks authors
to provide a keyword list for indexers. I commented that
many indexers find these lists useless and time-wasting, but
was told by another indexer (Frances Paterson) that she
sometimes asks for lists of keywords when indexing complex
post-graduate texts. Why the different experiences?
Determining what terms to include is usually the
simplest step in indexing. Choosing when to include
them (i.e. selecting important discussions) and creating
meaningful subheadings and useful cross references are
more difficult, and are not aided by a simple list.
Indexers usually work through texts in page number
order, so an alphabetical list means the indexer has to take
their focus away from the book to the list and then back
again. A list organised chapter by chapter, or better still,
page by page, is more useful.
The most frustrating thing about these lists – which
happens with surprising frequency – is their inclusion of
terms for concepts that are not in the book. When authors
are finally queried they check and say ‘Sorry, I forgot that
I had removed that section’. The lists are also inevitably
incomplete, so exclusion from the list doesn’t necessarily
mean that the concept shouldn’t be included in the index.
When the lists have been structured they sometimes
break indexing rules, e.g. by using adjectives as main
headings (‘social’ as main heading with ‘class’ and ‘studies’
as subheadings).
Indexers who are provided with these lists may look
at them before indexing and then load them into their
indexing software. Here they can function as prompts, and
the indexer can check at the end that they have all been
included in the index (if appropriate). When used in this
way they are more an aid to quality control than an aid to
index construction.
Some of the guidance that could be provided by authors
would be especially useful for multi-author works, but this
is when lists are least likely to be available.
Lists of terms are more important for books that assume
knowledge rather than leading the user through the topic
step by step (as a textbook should), especially when they are
academic works on obscure topics.
Useful information to provide to indexers
Rather than receiving a list of keywords, I would like to
have a brief that:
• articulates the general ideas that a keyword list might
display;
• describes the author's preferences for index structure;
• describes the author's preferences for language use in the
index;
• includes guidance on new concepts and potential problem
areas;
• provides information that the author has found useful in
their own work with the text.
General ideas
One keyword list that I was provided with informed my
indexing because I discovered that the author was interested
in providing access to brand names of all equipment, rather
than to the categories to which the equipment belonged.
This preference could have been more directly provided
to me as the instruction ‘Please index brand names of all
equipment’. Similarly, it is useful to know whether the
author wants pharmaceuticals indexed by brand name
and drug name, and whether plants should be indexed
by common name and/or scientific name, but the indexer
doesn’t need to see them all listed.
I have also had useful instructions from an author that
included suggestions on how to decide which of the many
place names in the book should be indexed.
Index structure
If the author has preferences for the way they would
like terms displayed in the index they should say so.
Suggestions could include treatment of names (e.g. single
and later married names of students in a biography of a
school principal) and grouping of entries (e.g. indexing of
artworks under the name of the artist or as entries in their
own right or both).
Language use
If the author has preferences for the use of language in
the index, they should say so. Suggestions could include
sensitivity issues (eg, use of people-first language such as
‘people with disabilities’ not ‘disabled people’ and use of
terms such as ‘half-blood’) and the use of foreign languages
(eg, Indian translations of recipe names in a cook book).
New concepts and potential problem areas
When terminology has recently changed, it is useful
to indicate to the indexer the version that is preferred
(e.g. when ‘appropriate dispute resolution’ started to
replace ‘alternative dispute resolution’ the journal I indexed
included both options, so I changed my index entry to
‘alternative/appropriate dispute resolution (ADR)’).
It would be difficult for an author to identify all problem
areas, but if they are aware of concepts that often get
confused, they should mention them. For an information
management book, for instance, they might explain to the
indexer that IEE and IEEE are different, and note that the
acronym OCLC has changed its meaning over time.
For legal works it is important that the indexer knows
that some words and phrases are used with specific legal
meanings and should not be changed (e.g. a ‘Charge and
Summons’ is one single document, even though the words
(Authors’ lists of keywords, continued from previous page)
‘charge’ and ‘summons’ can also be used individually).
In most cases, however, a legal dictionary is likely to be
more useful than a selective list from the author.
Supplementary information
General supplementary information that the author has
gathered– even if it is not to be eventually published – can
be the most useful material. This includes family trees,
timelines, military hierarchies, lists of abbreviations, and
glossaries (including alternative terms). The concepts and
relationships that the author has struggled with are likely to
be those that the indexer also needs guidance on.
So many decisions in indexing and the commissioning of
indexes depend on the nature of the book and the indexer.
Communication between editor and indexer, rather than
simply relying on one standard set of guidelines, will help
to ensure the best possible indexes for all books.
Glenda Browne
A different insight into the
ANZSI New Zealand Conference.
W
e have just received this photograph, taken by
Jan Wright, which is too good to miss, showing
Uili Fecteau (NZ archivist) and Ray Price absorbed in
professional discussion during a lunch break. You have to
admire their choice of seats!
Branch events
Date and time
Organiser
Name of activity
Venue
Contact details
Sat 11 May
2.30 pm
Vic Branch
Indexing Asian names
State Library of Victoria
RSVP for catering via
Tues 28 May
6 for 7.00 pm
Qld Branch
The Ward Office,
Highlights of the 2013
2/63 Annerley Road
ASI Conference in San
(cnr Crown St)
Antonio
Wooloongabba, Brisbane
Wed 5 June
6.00 pm
Vic Branch
The VIC:
Visual indexing
Details at
Thur / Fri
Introductory Book
11/12 July
NSW Branch
Indexing Course
9.30 am–4.30 pm
Holy Trinity Anglican
Church, Kew
Sydney Mechanics School
Queries to <[email protected]> and see
of Arts (smsa.org.au),
280 Pitt Street, Sydney
ANZSI Newsletter
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI News
The VIC in April
ANZSI Newsletter
Queensland Branch is five years old
Queensland Branch’s birthday meeting
Queensland Branch entertains a palaeontologist
Quoting to a budget
ASI Conference in San Antonio
Zakuski
Queensland Branch May General Meeting
Quiet achievers – Jenny Restarick
Authors’ lists of keywords
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Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Opinions and statements expressed in the Newsletter are
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in June 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 31 May.
Postage
paid
Volume 9 | number 5 | June 2013
ANZSI News
Full Council meeting
he May Council meeting is a chance for Branch
Presidents as ex-officio members to join Council
members, to discuss matters face-to-face. I’ll spare you all
the details of the meeting as the Minutes will be placed,
along with all the other Council documents, in the
members’ area of the website. This will occur after they are
approved at the next Council meeting, so late June.
The photo shows full Council members: (l to r): Moira
Brown, Alan Eddy, Glenda Browne, Michael Ramsden,
Shirley Campbell, Mary Russell, Julie Daymond-King,
Nikki Davis and Iris Bergmann. Max McMaster took the
photo and Karen Gillen was absent.
T
Glenda Browne joins Council
Glenda Browne has joined Council and we welcome her
input into Council.
Financial management
The financial management of ANZSI was one of the main
items for discussion. Managing the Council budget is
always a tricky job as we look for ways to increase Council
revenue and reduce expenses. If income and expenditure
remained unchanged we would be in deficit in 2013/14.
Council to adopt GST
While decided at an earlier Council meeting, I remind you
that Council will adopt GST from this month.
Membership rates for 2013/2014
There is always reluctance to increase membership rates.
Membership rates for 2013/2014 will not increase, but will
include GST.
Membership fee will be $88 for Australian members
and NZ$80 for New Zealand members.
Organisational members will pay A$110 for Australian
members and NZ$100 for New Zealand organisations.
Pay to advertise on Indexers Available
Council decided that from 1 July a fee will apply for
advertising in Indexers Available. From 1 July 2013 any
at(continued
‘The Matrix’
on next page)
(ANZSI News, continued from previous page)
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
member wishing to have an entry in Indexers Available will pay $35 (A$38.50
inc. GST or NZ$35). This will be an annual cost and, like all fees, will be
reviewed each year. This fee will apply to all members, regardless of when their
membership is due for renewal.
When will Indexers Available improve? The NSW Branch is working on
improvements to IA including trying to set it up so you will have a unique
URL that you can use to promote your business and being able to list more
than three books you have indexed.
Whilst we are asking you to pay before the changes are implemented,
this was thought by Council to be a more palatable option than increasing
membership dues that would apply to all members.
Don’t forget this is advertising and you can probably claim it on your tax.
NZ members able to pay in NZ$
Working with Australian and New Zealand dollars means that while we try to
set the A$ membership rate at something approximating NZ$80 (currently
set at A$73), members in New Zealand can sometimes pay up to NZ$95
when bank fees are added. Council is working with the New Zealand Branch
to develop a way to enable NZ members to pay membership dues and fees in
NZ$ directly into the bank account of the NZ Branch. Funds will then be
transferred to ANZSI Council. New Zealand members will be notified of all
the details of this via email.
Financial year membership renewals
Adding GST and new Indexers Available fees together with new payment
arrangements for NZ members will take some time to set up. We know there
are many members who like to pay their membership renewals before the end
of June. I ask for your patience as we bed all these changes down as quickly as
we can before the end of June and for your understanding if you have to make
two separate payments for renewal and Indexers Available fee. We will let you
know via email about your renewal process as soon as it is set up.
Calendar year memberships
Managing calendar and financial year memberships has been causing headaches
for the Membership Secretary and members are confused as to when their
membership is due. Council has decided to abolish calendar year memberships.
There are about 25 members who have calendar year membership and from
1 January they will be asked to pay $40 (plus GST for Oz members) for the
first half of the year to bring them into line with financial year memberships.
Newsletter to be email only in 2014
Council decided not to continue with a print version of the Newsletter from
the first issue in 2014. There is no thought of cancelling the Newsletter as
Council knows members enjoy reading it. It will be continuing, but only in an
electronic form via email. This will save $3,000 in a full financial year.
Did you know that the email version is in full colour and you receive it
quicker than the print version? You can opt for the email version by ticking
‘Receive Newsletter by Email’ box when you ‘Update your details’ in the
members’ area of the website. Make sure you scroll down and save your
request.
Renewal of Accreditation
Renewal of Accreditation has caused lively debate amongst Council members.
The main reason was the proposal, while called ‘renewal of accreditation’,
did not include any form of assessment of the quality of the indexer’s work.
Accredited indexers were being asked to list two indexes
they had done in the last five years. These indexes would
not be checked to ensure the quality of the indexes or even
that they existed. The proposal gave additional options if
accredited indexers could not list two indexes they had
completed in the last five years, and was to that extent a
proposal to ensure Professional Development rather than a
renewal of accreditation. Council members are supportive
of the idea of a Professional Development scheme, but not
in the form being suggested.
Council decided that renewal of accreditation will
no longer continue. Only about 20% of members have
Accreditation. The 2012 survey revealed that over 55%
of non-Accredited indexers earned some income in the
previous year from indexing and 25% earned between
$5,001 and $90,000. Council will focus on encouraging
more non-accredited members to become accredited.
ANZSI Constitution
With changes to legislation and wording updates (such as
Registration now called Accreditation), quite a few changes
are needed to the ANZSI Constitution. Michael Ramsden
has been working to incorporate the necessary changes and
to improve the layout of the Constitution. Full details of
the changes will be available well before the AGM.
Victorian executive not seeking re-election
The Victorian members of Council will not be seeking reelection at the AGM on 2nd October. This was announced
at the May meeting to give ANZSI a chance to determine
the best way for Council to be formed and plan for the
handover for 2013/14.
Victorian Branch has been leading ANZSI Council
since March 2007. I thank all Victorian Council members
for the tireless way they have donated their time to the
Council and for all their support.
If you are interested in being part of Council or have
any suggestions, please contact your Branch Committee or
Council.
Ebooks and your August Newsletter
Peter Judge will be away for the preparation of the August
issue of the Newsletter, so Denise Sutherland has kindly
agreed to prepare the issue. We hope to have a focus on
ebooks. We welcome your comments and observations of
indexes in ebooks. Have you seen a good index? If so, please
write a few paragraphs and let us know. Do you know of
any publishers who are producing indexes in ebooks? Have
you had personal experiences of producing an index to an
ebook? We would love to hear from you. Content for the
August issue is due at the end of July – contact Denise at
Style Manual questionnaire
The Department of Finance and Deregulation is seeking
feedback on the sixth edition of the Style manual for authors,
editors and printers as it prepares to develop a seventh
edition. To quote the email they sent out: ‘The current 6th
edition is over ten years old and requires updating to reflect
changes in electronic publishing, language and style.
‘As part of this exercise we are seeking input from users
of the Style manual to identify areas of content that need
to be revised and added to create a 7th edition. In order to
collect this information we have developed a short survey.
We would appreciate your assistance by completing the
survey at <www.research.net/s/2NS7M3B>. If you have
any questions in relation to the survey please contact us at
<govstyle@finance.gov.au>’.
Order of the Kohlrabi
ANZSI Medal
It is time to look back at the indexes you created in the
past year and consider entering one you are proud of for
the ANZSI Medal. If you have seen a great Australian
published index as you browse new books, why not suggest
it for the Medal. Details for submission are at <www.anzsi.
org/site/medal.asp>
What is ICRIS?
You have seen the acronym in the Newsletter, but what
does it mean and what does the group do? Answers and
past minutes of meetings can be found on a new webpage
located at <www.theindexer.org/index.php?option=com_co
ntent&task=view&id=115&Itemid=69.>.
In our last issue we reported that Glenda Browne had been
presented by ASI with a certificate and membership of the
Order of the Kohlrabi (yes the vegetable), for her work on
the IDPF Indexers Working Group. Here I am handing her
the certificate.
Mary Russell
ACT Region Branch
T
he ACT Region Branch currently has 35 members and
is the second largest branch of ANZSI after Victoria.
The Branch Committee meets regularly. Workshops
and activities for members are scheduled from time to
time; popular workshops include annual report indexing,
thesaurus construction, update sessions on indexing
The ACT Region Branch was well represented at
the recent Wellington conference. Five of our members
attended: Shirley Campbell, Sherrey Quinn, Denise
Sutherland, Geraldine Triffitt, and Tracy Harwood. Sherrey
Quinn gave a very practical paper on the final day about
ANZSI accreditation, and what to look out for when
submitting an index for assessment.
Our next major event is the 2015
joint national conference for indexers and
editors. The ACT Region Branch will be
hosting this conference along with the
Canberra Society of Editors. The Write,
Edit, Index conference will run from
6 to 9 May 2015, at the Rydges Lakeside
Hotel in Canberra. There is close
cooperation between the two societies as
most of the organising committee belong
to both. Planning is already underway,
and we look forward to welcoming you to
Canberra in 2015!
Our history – the beginning
The idea of a Canberra Branch of the
Australian Society of Indexers (AusSI)
was discussed at a weekend back-of-book
At the Bowral conference (l to r): Denise Sutherland, Shirley Campbell (President), indexing course organised by the Online
Users group of the Library Association of
Frances Paterson (NSW President), Sherrey Quinn, Tracy Harwood (seated)
Australia in the winter of 1992.
This idea did not come out of the blue, because there
software, and discussion sessions with the Canberra Society
were
a number of members of AusSI in Canberra. Over
of Editors. We have occasional excursions to places like the
the years there had been some membership recruitment
Parliament House Library. In 2012 we enjoyed hosting
drives by AusSI interstate committee members particularly
visits from Frances Lennie (from CINDEX), and American
targeting librarians. In 1986 there were 22 members in the
indexer Diana Witt. Some members met with ANZSI
ACT, but the number had declined to 15 in 1992.
member John Simkin, who is writing a history of ANZSI.
An inaugural meeting was held in October 1992 at
The current committee consists of Shirley Campbell
the
University of Canberra, at which 30 people attended.
(President), Sherrey Quinn (Treasurer), Edyth Binkowski,
The
motion to form a Canberra Branch of the Australian
Geraldine Triffitt, Barry Howarth, and Denise Sutherland.
Society of Indexers was carried unanimously by the
The secretarial role is shared amongst members.
financial members of the Society.
The ACT Region Branch collaborates with NSW
An interim committee was appointed to examine the
Branch in biennial seminars held at Bowral, a central
National
Constitution and to draw up a constitution for
location in NSW. These seminars are significant professional
the Branch. The first meeting was held in November 1992.
development and networking events, well-attended by
A questionnaire was given to all participants to fill in their
members of both branches. Topics covered have included
preferences for activities, particularly courses.
epubs, cookbook indexing, indexing aids we can’t live
Because of the proximity of Queanbeyan, and the
without, and criteria for index evaluation. In July 2012 the
possibilities
of indexers from other parts of southern New
seminar theme was ‘From pbooks to ebooks: Focusing on
South Wales being able to attend functions in Canberra, it
digital publishing’; 23 indexers attended.
was decided to name the branch the ACT Region Branch,
Our members are involved in a wide range of indexing
rather than Canberra Branch of the Society.
projects, from academic projects, volunteer indexes, to trade
The Canberra Online Users Group and the embryo
books. We are always particularly busy in the third quarter
ACT Region Branch of AusSI jointly sponsored a one
of the year with ‘annual report season’. Canberra is home
day seminar held at the National Library of Australia, in
to many national and government institutions, who need
indexes for their annual reports and other publications.
(ACT Region Branch, continued from previous page)
In 2001 it was the ACT Region’s turn to host the
November 1992, which 45 people attended. Issues and
Biennial Conference, and it was decided to host a joint
problems of indexing, indexing of certain databases and
conference with the Canberra Society of Editors. This
a comparative demonstration of Macrex and CINDEX
was the first joint national conference ever held between
indexing tools were on the program.
Australian editors and indexers. The second such conference
The Branch Constitution and the collated questionnaire
will be held in 2015, also hosted in Canberra.
were ready for the first Annual General Meeting in February
1993. By then we had 25 members, and 20 people attended
National Committee of AusSI/ANZSI
the AGM, which took the form of a dinner and meeting.
On 26 February 2002 the ACT Region Branch Committee
That has been the pattern since for our AGMs.
was elected as the National Committee for 2002–03,
The activities for the Branch that year were a 'Meet the
taking over this responsibility from the NSW Branch. We
Indexers' panel in May, a 'Meet the Data-base Indexer'
continued in this role until 18 October 2006. Under the
panel in June, a dinner for members in September, at
inspired leadership of Lynn Farkas as President during
which the speaker was Peter Judge, formerly head of
this time, two significant changes to the Society occurred.
CSIRO Information Services (and now the Editor of the
Firstly, on 17 November 2004, following the formation of
ANZSI Newsletter), and a talk about indexing videos at the
the NZ Branch the name of the Society was changed from
National Film and Sound Archive and the Sports Video
the Australian Society of Indexers to the Australian and
Library at the Australian Institute of Sport in October.
New Zealand Society of Indexers. Secondly, on 18 October
At our AGM in February 1994, the President commented
2006, the Constitution was altered to change the name
on difficulties of publicising activities to reach potential
‘Committee’ to ‘Council’ in order to remove problems of
new members. During that busy year work had started
nomenclature when referring to the main body responsible
on indexing standards and the criteria for registration for
for the affairs of the Society.
document indexers. Local member Robert Hyslop was a
On 8 March 2003 the National Committee held an
finalist for the Society’s medal.
Outlook Workshop in Canberra to which all members
In 1994, the Branch held four activities as well as
of the National Committee including ex-officio members
the Annual General Meeting and dinner. There was an
were invited. Its purpose was to determine a blueprint
Abstracting Workshop in April, a panel discussion on
for the Committee’s activities for 2003. The issues
database indexing in June, a talk by Max McMaster on
discussed included goals for 2003, the role of the National
becoming a freelance indexer
Committee, membership,
in September, and ‘Indexing
website, Constitution, and
and editing from a publisher’s
education and training.
perspective’, by the publisher
These formed the basis
Pat Woolley from Wild and
for issues and tasks to be
Woolley, as well as a dinner for
dealt with by the National
members in November.
Committee.
In 1995, ACT Region
Following an interim
member Barry Howarth won
period without a Newsletter
the Society’s Medal. Eleven
Editor, a position previously
ACT Region members went
held in a voluntary capacity
to the Indexers – Partners
by a member of the Society,
in Publishing conference at
Committee members Edyth Binkowski and Barry Howarth an experienced editor, Peter
Marysville, presenting four
Judge, was appointed to this
at our 2012 AGM dinner
papers and chairing two
position in October 2004.
sessions.
Peter has been Editor ever since.
An idea had been canvassed for the following year to
Website redevelopment was an important project and
hold a weekend meeting about ‘Indexing in the electronic
was funded in a shared arrangement by the national
age’ for the NSW and ACT Region Branch to meet, at a
committee and branches. The NSW Branch developed
venue between the two areas in the Southern Highlands.
the proposed information architecture and input from
This developed into a major conference attracting eighty
members was sought by means of a survey. On finalisation
participants from the Eastern States and New Zealand
of the information architecture and tender specifications,
at Robertson. It included the presentation of the Society
quotes were sought for the design and implementation of
Medal at the dinner. The papers were published in LASIE,
the redeveloped website. On 15 May 2006 the successful
with some papers in the AusSI Newsletter. This gave the
ACT Region Branch valuable publicity.
(ACT Region Branch, continued from previous page)
tenderer, Link Digital, was awarded the contract and has
been responsible for the development and management of
the website since that time.
A special meeting was held in Canberra in May 2006,
named the GAMES (Guidelines, Archives, Mentoring for
the Society) meeting to differentiate it from other meetings.
Sherrey Quinn was chairperson and the participants
included the National Committee as well as representatives
of all branches. The principal aim of the meeting was to
examine the current guidelines and policies of the Society.
Some policies were endorsed without further discussion,
some were revised (including a significant revision of
the Registration Policy), while others were referred for
further work. Other topics discussed at this meeting
were mentoring, the Society’s archives and the role of the
Education Committee. Lynn Farkas and Shirley Campbell
completed the production of the endorsed and revised
policies and procedures before handing over to the new
committee in October 2006.
And finally …
Throughout its history, our members have contributed to
ANZSI National Committees and Subcommittees, such
as various incarnations of the Education Committee, and
the Registration Committee/Board of Assessors. And, no
doubt, we shall continue to be actively involved in ANZSI
activities and the development of the Society into the
future.
Denise Sutherland
A multiskilled ACT indexer
C
anberra indexer Denise Sutherland is also a wellestablished puzzle writer. She is the author of
such books as Solving Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies
and The Canberra Puzzle Book.
Denise recently became the ‘captive cruciverbalist’
on ABC regional NSW radio, on Chris Coleman’s
‘Statewide Afternoons’ program. In this spot, she
challenges the audience with her cryptic clues, and
chats with Chris about solving cryptic crosswords, and
with listeners about their answers. You can hear her on
ABC Radio across regional NSW every Wednesday,
just after 2:30 pm.
You can also listen online, live or later, on the
‘Statewide Afternoons’ website: <www.abc.net.au/
riverina/programs/south_east_nsw_afternoons/>.
Shirley Campbell
2013 ANZSI Medal Applications
T
he Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers
Medal is offered annually for the most outstanding
index to a book or periodical compiled
in Australia or New Zealand.
The index must be in print and
published after 2009. It must have been
compiled in Australia or New Zealand,
even though the text to which it refers
may have originated elsewhere. The
index should be substantial in size; the
subject matter should be complex; and
the language, form and structure of the
index should demonstrate the indexer’s
expertise, as well as serving the needs of
the text and reader.
The publisher of the winning index
will be presented with a certificate recognising
their promotion of work of outstanding quality. The judges
may also make ‘Highly Commended’ awards. Nominations,
with bibliographical details and a copy of the book (which
will be returned if requested) should be sent to the address
on the nomination form.
Publishers, indexers and all interested
people may nominate indexes, and
indexers may nominate their own work.
We invite you to have a browse around
your local bookshop too. If you find an
Australian or New Zealand title with
an index, which looks as though it
could be a Medal contender, complete
the nomination form on the ANZSI
website and send it to Garry Cousins,
Chairman of the Awards Committee.
Entries close on 31 July 2013. A
nomination form is available on the
ANZSI website:
<www.anzsi.org/site/medal.asp>
Contact: Garry Cousins, Chairman, Awards Committee,
41 Gould Avenue, Lewisham NSW 2049,
Tel: (02) 9560 0102; email <[email protected]>
Indexing Indaba
Thank you Adobe!
SI’s Jan Wright and Leverage
Technology’s
Dave
Ream
are to be congratulated for their part in
an exciting new development for Adobe
InDesign. The next version, InDesign CC
(Creative Cloud), will be able to use embedded index markers
to create live linked ebook indexes, using the EPUB export.
Jan and Dave met with InDesign engineers to help facilitate
this new feature, which you can see demonstrated by Terry
White, Adobe’s Worldwide Development Evangelist.
Creative Suite Design Evangelist at: <www.youtube.com/
A
watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4pWMKGDpbnc>
Adobe is listening to indexers and the DTTF is
encouraging us to thank them. You can let them know
how exciting this new feature is and how much indexers
appreciate it by leaving a note for Terry on his blog at:
<http://terrywhite.com/whats-new-in-photoshop-ccillustrator-cc-indesign-cc-and-muse-cc/#comments>
Style Manual’s 7th edition – have your say
The Department of Finance and Deregulation’s Style
Manual for authors, editors and printers is to go into its 7th
edition to reflect changes in electronic publishing, language
and style. The manual includes a chapter on indexing and
the Department is seeking input from users to identify areas
of content that need to be revised and added. Information
is being collected through a short survey available at:
<www.research.net/s/2NS7M3B>. Questions relating to
the survey can be directed to <govstyle@finance.gov.au>.
Come fly with me
If you fall into that lucky group of Qantas’s ‘most valued
passengers’, you’ve probably just received a nice surprise
– a set of paperback books timed to be read on 10 of the
airline’s main flying routes. Qantas has teamed up with
Hachette Australia and Sydney creative agency Droga5 to
produce the ‘Stories for Every Journey’ set.
In a statement Hachette said that ‘with the average
reader reading approximately a page per minute, the
shorter reads will take you from tarmac to tarmac, while
the longer flight-timed books also allow for a great meal, a
glass of something delicious and a rest break’.
And according to David Nobay, creative chairman of
Droga5, ‘in this world of Kindles and iPads, it seems that
the last bastion of the humble paperback novel is actually
40,000 feet. You only have to look at the bulging shelves at
any airport bookstore.’
Book + Publishing Daily, Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Amazon the behemoth
Amazon’s newest acquisition is the social reading site
Goodreads founded in 2007. Goodreads co-founder Otis
Chandler says that the deal with Amazon means that
‘we’re now going to be able to move faster in bringing
the Goodreads experience to millions of readers around
the world’, and that ‘we have no plans to change the
Goodreads experience and Goodreads will continue to be
the wonderful community we all cherish’.
Others are not so sure. American writers’ organisation
the Authors’ Guild says the acquisition is a ‘truly devastating
act of vertical integration’ meaning that ‘Amazon’s control
of online bookselling approaches the insurmountable’.
Its president, bestselling legal thriller author Scott Turow,
says that it is a ‘textbook example of how modern internet
monopolies can be built’.
‘The key is to eliminate or absorb competitors before
they pose a serious threat,’ says Turow. ‘With its 16 million
subscribers, Goodreads could easily have become a
competing online bookseller, or played a role in directing
buyers to a site other than Amazon. Instead, Amazon has
scuttled that potential and also squelched what was fast
becoming the go-to venue for online reviews, attracting far
more attention than Amazon for those seeking independent
assessment and discussion of books. As those in advertising
have long known, the key to driving sales is controlling
information.’
Incidentally, indexers who believe that our profession
tends to attract the less outgoing among the general
population might be interested in the Goodreads top nonfiction book for 2012 as voted by its members - Quiet: The
Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by
Susan Cain.
<www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/apr/02/amazonpurchase-goodreads-stuns-book-industry>
If you can’t say something nice…
Renowned pioneer of blogging, Jason Kottke, began back
in March 1998 and now has the support of paid advertisers
and involvement from guest editors, including one Sarah
Pavis. A mechanical engineer who designs hydraulic systems
she also has an in interest in writing about technology and
culture. A couple of months ago she had a go at us…
‘“The index of a book. Sometimes it’s, uh, not great, you
know? But like, eh.” That about sums up my thoughts, and
I’m guessing most people’s thoughts, about the indexes of
books. But not everyone. No, for the Society of Indexers,
book indexes are a topic that holds endless fascination. And
I do mean endless.
'The Prime Minister of the UK wrote to the Society of
Indexers at the society’s founding back in freaking 1958.
“I can scarcely conceal from you the fact that I am at
present somewhat occupied with other matters, so that
I cannot say all that comes into my mind and memory on
the subject of indexing.”
‘Nice dodge, Mr Prime Minister.’
(Indexing Indaba, continued from previous page)
‘One of the longest running features of the society’s
publication, The Indexer, is its reviews of indexes which
are snippets culled from book reviews that pertain to the
book’s index.
‘Finally, the four-page single-level index is a joke. In a
book entitled Satan, what possible use is the entry ‘Satan’
with 84 undifferentiated page numbers, or ‘Devil’ with
102, or ‘demon’ with 79, out of a total of 190 text pages?
You’d think a scholar would know the importance of a good
index”.
‘The reviews of indexes are only a small part of
the publication. They also regularly publish articles that
meditate on what it means to be an indexer, defend
indexing, and look at the history of indexing societies.
‘I really hope the Society of Indexers is actually a
front for some creepy Eyes Wide Shut sex cult because
the possibility that people have been earnestly compiling
and discussing indexes for 54 years is too depressing to
contemplate.
‘The complete December 2012 issue of The Indexer isn’t
available online, but you can buy it for only $17.89. For 52
pages of reviews and discussions of indexes? A bargain.
‘If everyone buys it and leaves reviews about the
index of the book of reviews of indexes, I can review
your index reviews and combine them into a review
of reviews of indexes in index form that –HELP PLZ
SEND ORIGINAL CONTENT ASAP I’M DYING OF
RECURSIVE CURATION ASPHYXIATION.
‘UPDATE: The Society of Indexers are not a creepy sex
cult and are in fact a serious society as is proved by them
having a Twitter account.
‘Jason [Kottke] told me to stay away from politics but
he never mentioned the partisan kerfuffle I’d encounter by
taking a cheeky view of indexes.
‘For all the fans of indexes, here’s a short story in index
form written by J.G. Ballard which was originally published
in The Paris Review [link supplied].
‘I’ll go back to engineering with my indices and leave
the indexers their indexes.’
<http://kottke.org/12/11/the-international-journalof-indexing>
Probably a good idea, Sarah. Not much we can say
except… engineering see boring
Nikki Davis
Victorian Branch presents
Peter Dowling
on his
Index to imagery in Australian colonial illustrated newspapers
Saturday 6 July, 2.00 – 4.00 pm, State Library of Victoria Conference Centre
When Peter Dowling began his PhD on imagery in Australian colonial illustrated newspapers, he went on a journey
through the wonderful pictorial accounts of this era. He discovered an extraordinary visual resource, sadly neglected
because it was too difficult to access the images. Peter’s passion for rectifying this became the impetus for a fifteen year
project – an index to the images in almost all of Australia’s colonial illustrated newspapers.
Free event but RSVP is essen�al
Afternoon tea provided
Contact: Nikki Davis 0414-758712
For more details and to RSVP online:
Quiet Achievers in Indexing: Mary Coe
your career?
y mentor, Maria Coughlin. Without her, I may never
have discovered indexing or believed that I could
make a living as an indexer.
Another great influence has been Helen Ochej, my
mentor at the National Institutes of Health when I was
working as a PubMed (MEDLINE) contract indexer. Helen
not only helped me with database indexing skills and
medical knowledge but became a great friend.
M
Almost by accident! My husband and I returned to the US
after three years running pubs in the UK as managers for
Bass Brewery and one year of travelling around the world.
I was looking for work and my brother mentioned that one
of his clients might be able to help me. He thought that she
might be some sort of science editor. Although my bachelor’s
degree is in English literature and history, I had started out
with a great interest in biology, and my brother thought that
she might have some ideas for me. Well … it turned out that
she was an indexer, specialising in health sciences. She agreed
to take me on as an apprentice.
I started out typing entries into CINDEX from her
marked-up pages and eventually moved into writing indexes
under her guidance. I was very lucky to start this way, with
paid work and an excellent mentor. Maria also had other
employees at the time, including Pilar Wyman, who is
currently president of the American Society for Indexing
(ASI). Another of Maria’s employees, Dina Dineva, has
won the Wilson Award, which is the ASI equivalent of the
ANZSI Medal.
achievement?
I consider my greatest achievement to be maintaining
full-time work as a freelance indexer for over 20 years. I
think that I have achieved that by both specialising (in
health sciences topics) and by diversifying between book
and database indexing as well as with different topic areas.
Although I have considered adding editing or writing to my
list of skills, I have never had to do so.
My biggest challenge has been managing an indexing
business, Potomac Indexing LLC. After years of freelance
work, I decided to start a partnership in 2006 with three
other indexers in the Washington, DC area (John Heffernan,
Suzanne Peake, Richard Shrout). We decided not to pursue
a model similar to Maria Coughlin’s (e.g. hiring employees
or new indexers) but to use established freelance indexers as
subcontractors. In 2006, shortly after starting the business,
I moved from the US to Sydney, and then in 2007, the
partnership dissolved and reformed with two new partners
(Seth Maislin and Kay Schlembach, and with Richard Shrout
and myself remaining). We managed to survive all of this
upheaval and settle into building the business.
In 2011, I decided to leave the partnership as I had
established my own freelance business in Australia and it no
longer made sense for me to juggle this with management
of a US company (and the associated tax headaches!).
Establishing and running Potomac Indexing was a challenge,
mainly because I had to spend so much time working ON
the business instead of working IN the business. It did
reinforce for me that I love indexing first and foremost. I
am happy that the business had continued over the years,
despite many changes and only one remaining original
partner (Richard Shrout). My original goal was to establish
an indexing business that was not reliant on my name and
reputation only, and that has certainly taken place.
Since leaving the business, I have started working on a
Masters Degree in Information Studies, and I am hoping to
do research on index usability. No doubt that will be another
challenge, but at least I am back to my first love…indexing!
balance?
I don’t always achieve this…just ask my children! When
they were younger, it was difficult to find a balance and
I would often be working at odd times or into the evening.
Now that they are teenagers, I am able to work much more
to a schedule. My usual routine is to start work early in the
morning, take a break at lunchtime (which might include a
walk to the shops or something away from the computer),
then back to work through the afternoon. I also try to take
short breaks throughout the day, doing small chores. It’s
amazing how attractive hanging out the laundry can seem
when you are deep in the middle of a chemistry textbook!
Since I work full-time from a home office, I find that
I need to schedule activities away from home in order to
relax and socialise. I love sports, and I am often out in the
evening playing something (futsal, netball, tennis, hockey, I
will try just about anything!) or walking with friends. I find
that keeping active and scheduling time away from my desk
really helps to keep me focused and more productive when I
am at work. I also try to lock the office door on Sundays and
give myself a full day off (though I don’t always succeed…).
I like the variety of topics and the ability to manage my own
time. Time management can be a huge challenge, but I am
always thankful that the amount and timing of work I do
is under my control. I still get excited when a new project
comes in, especially if it is a topic that I am not familiar
with. I also enjoy the challenge of learning new skills, such as
embedded indexing.
(Quiet achievers – Mary Coe, continued from previous page)
What I like least about my work is quoting for jobs and
doing the bookkeeping. At one point, I was the bookkeeper
for Potomac Indexing, and I learned a lot during that time.
Eventually, I outsourced some of the work, however, and
I was very happy to get back to indexing and leave that
job to someone else! Doing the bookkeeping for my own
freelance business is not nearly as onerous, but I still don’t
enjoy it. And, quoting for jobs always makes me nervous.
It was particularly difficult
when I first started in Australia,
as the system differs somewhat
from the US. Before I came
here, I had rarely been asked to
quote on a job or to calculate
hours worked. In the US,
indexers are usually paid by the
page or by the entry, and the
publisher usually determines
the rate. It is up to the indexer
to accept it or not when
they take on the job. While
I like the Australian system
(and especially the ANZSI
recommended rate!), I still get
nervous about quoting.
just starting out?
Be patient, network, find a mentor, and be willing to learn.
Getting those first good clients, who will hopefully come
back to you with repeat work, will take some time. Don’t
give up your day job just yet, but do believe that you can
make a living as an indexer. Get involved in ANZSI and
other related societies. Talk to everyone and anyone about
indexing, in whatever context you can. I found one of my
first clients in Australia when I discovered that a soccer
teammate was an editor at a major publishing house, and
I recently discovered that one of my tennis partners is an
editor, too! It’s these kinds of connections that have helped
me to build my Australian business.
I was very lucky to have Maria Coughlin as a mentor.
While I don’t want to follow Maria’s business plan and hire
employees, I do sometimes subcontract out work to new
indexers or offer some mentoring. I’ve been asked countless
times about indexing as a profession, often by people with
little idea of what is involved, and I am cautious about giving
away my time. If I see someone at an ANZSI event or course
and sense that they truly are interested in indexing, I am
more inclined to work with them. Finally, be willing to learn
throughout your career, not just as a new indexer. I have
constantly had to adapt – learning new software, figuring
out different ways of quoting, tackling topics that I don’t
know much about – but, as I said earlier, that is one of the
reasons that I like indexing as a profession!
Ernest Shackleton. I love reading about Antarctic exploration,
especially the early explorers’ journals. South is one of my
favourites. I would like to know what was going through
Shackleton’s mind as he watched his ship, the Endurance,
being crushed in the ice and how he managed to successfully
bring his crew back alive. He was not only a brave explorer
but an excellent leader.
I have been following
Tim Jarvis’ recreation
of Shackleton’s voyage,
and I am pleased to
see that events such as
the Shackleton Epic
Leadership Round Table
in Sydney have been
inspired by this tribute.
I would love to go to
Antarctica one day and
go into Shackleton’s hut
at Cape Royds (from
his second Antarctic
expedition). It’s amazing
how much of it has been
preserved in the Antarctic conditions. Who knows if that
will happen, but it’s top of my bucket list!
(Can I also mention that anyone out there writing
anything on Antarctica who needs an index, please call me!
Sadly, I have yet to index a book on that topic ... L)
The photo is of me with the James Caird, the small
boat that Ernest Shackleton and five other men sailed from
Elephant Island to South Georgia, when it was on display
at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney in
2002.
Z – it comes at the end of the English alphabet, like indexes
at the end of books. No one is quite sure what to call it
(‘zee’ or ‘zed’?), a bit like indexers, who don’t seem to fit into
any ATO occupation code, let alone any other professional
box. There aren’t many ways you can use it in Scrabble, but
when you do, it’s worth lots of points! And, when anyone
sings the alphabet song, they always sing it out loudly when
they get to the end. I think that Z is the quiet achiever of
the alphabet, as indexers are definitely the quiet achievers
in publishing. And, as one of the youngest members of a
big family (number six out of seven children), I’m used to
going last, and I’ve discovered that sometimes keeping your
head down and waiting for your opportunity can be an
advantage!
T
Indexing software
he VIC software comparison session in April,
summarised in our May Newsletter, sparked a
lot of interest. We thought we would examine each
package in greater detail, asking users of each software
package to answer specific questions in a similar way to
the ‘Quiet Achievers in Indexing’ articles.
If you have any specific question you would like
answered or if there is a feature you would like
highlighted or explained, please contact Mary Russell:
<[email protected]>
Queensland Branch
General meeting
Tuesday 25 June, 6.00 pm for 7.00 pm start
Show & Tell indexing evening
bring your indexes to share
We meet in the Helen Abrahams Ward Office,
2/63 Annerley Road (corner of Crown Street),
Woolloongabba, Brisbane
Contact: Moira Brown 0416 097 629 or
<[email protected]>
and see
ACT Region Branch
Working with words
Saturday 6 July, 2.30 - 5.00 pm
Come along to ACT member Denise Sutherland’s
home in Gordon, ACT, to discover how she writes
crosswords, cryptics, and other puzzles.
RSVP by Wednesday 3 July to Denise, on
6294 1732 or <[email protected]>.
Address details will be supplied when you RSVP.
Branch events
Date and time
Organiser
Name of activity Venue
Tues 25 June
6.00 for 7.00 pm
QLD Branch Show and Tell
Sat 6 July
2.00–4.00 pm
Vic Branch
Contact details
Contact: Moira Brown 0416 097 629 or
2/63 Annerley Road
<[email protected]>
(cnr Crown St),
Details on p. 11 and at
Indexing images in State Library of Victoria
colonial newspapers Conference Centre
Free, but RSVP essential, See page 8; details at
Sat 6 July
ACT Region
Working with words
Branch
2.30–4.00 pm
Thurs/Fri
Introductory Book
11/12 July
NSW Branch
Indexing Course
9.30 am–4.30 pm
Wed 7 August
6.00–7.30 pm
Vic Branch
Denise Sutherland’s home RSVP by 3 July. Details on p. 11 and at
in Gordon, ACT
Sydney Mechanics School
Queries to <[email protected]>; details at
of Arts (smsa.org.au),
280 Pitt Street, Sydney
Old Op Shop, Holy
The VIC:
Details at
Trinity Anglican Church,
indexing numbers
Kew
ANZSI Newsletter
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI News
ANZSI Newsletter
ACT Region Branch – our June featured branch
2013 ANZSI Medal applications
Indexing Indaba
Vic Branch meeting 6 July: indexing images
Quiet achievers – Mary Coe
Indexing software comparisons
Queensland Branch in June – Show & Tell
ACT Region Branch: Working with words
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Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in July 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 28 June.
Postage
paid
Volume 9 | number 6 | July 2013
ANZSI News
Membership renewals due for
Financial Year members
f your subscription fell due on 30 June,
your renewal email was sent on 18 June.
New Zealand members can pay into the
NZ Branch bank account and details are
on the form included in your email or via
<www.anzsi.org/site/join.asp>.
I
Update your details
Sending out renewals highlights members with old email
addresses. Please could all members take a moment to
update their details on the ANZSI database?
To update your details:
1. Go to the ‘Update your Details’ webpage in the members’
area <www.anzsi.org/site/update_details.asp>.
2. Scroll down and check we have your latest contact
details.
3. Make any changes required.
4. Scroll to the bottom and save changes.
Advertising in Indexers Available
As mentioned in the last Newsletter, Council decided
to charge members for advertising in Indexers Available.
Information and payment details are available at
<www.anzsi.org/site/IA_advert.asp>.
• What happens if I do nothing?
If you do nothing, your entry in Indexers Available will be
removed after 1 October 2013.
• Can I still pay after 1 October 2013?
Yes, you can pay and advertise in Indexers Available for
2013–14 at any time.
To list or update your details on Indexers Available:
1. Go to the ‘Update your Details’ webpage in the members’
area <www.anzsi.org/site/update_details.asp>.
2. Make sure there is a tick in the Indexers Available box.
3. Tick items you want included.
4. Add details of recent publications indexed.
5. Scroll to the bottom and save changes.
National Family History Month
August is National Family History Month. Family historians
are big users of indexes and are big fans of indexers. Have
a look at what is on, as there are events listed for all states,
plus New Zealand. Why not go along to an event and
promote indexing? Or approach your local history group
and offer to talk about indexing. Let Max McMaster know
if you require some ANZSI bookmarks to hand out. Details
at <www.familyhistoryweek.org.au>.
The Indexer
The March 2013 issue of The Indexer (Vol 30, No 1) is now
available for free on Ingenta <http://tiny.cc/j1nmyw>. This
is an extended issue, dedicated to consideration of issues
relevant to indexing in the digital age.
The latest issue of The Indexer June 2013 contains all
sorts of articles of interest:
• The National Index to Chinese Newspapers and Periodicals
(NICNP) in the digital age (Han Chunlei)
• The Chinese Periodical Full-Text Database (1911-1949):
searching the literature of the Republic of China (Xu
Shu)
• Ereaders: exploring how well they work (Pierke
Bosschieter)
• Newcomers: readers’ comments (Adam LeBrocq,
Sylvia Coates, Ann Hudson, Elena Gwynne and Linda
Stumbaugh)
• XIndex: a cautionary tale (Denise Sutherland)
• EPUB3 versus HTML5 (Ori Idan)
• Tools of Change (Pilar Wyman)
• Portrait of the indexer? (Susan Curran)
• Letter: A tale of two cultures?
• ANZSI conference 2013 (Carol Dawber and Sandy
Liddle)
• Bibliography and the indexer; cullings from the Almanacco
bibliografico (Maureen MacGlashan)
Jan Wright
and Glenda
Browne
(continued
on next
page)
at ‘The Matrix’
(The Indexer, continued)
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
Plus a Centrepiece featuring:
• Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) names: resources for the indexer
(Lam Lai Heung)
• Asian names in an English-language context: negotiating the structural and
linguistic minefield (Fiona Swee-Lin Price)
If you don’t subscribe, details can be found here: <www.theindexer.org/index.
php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=27>
Mary Russell
Q
ueensland Branch members enjoyed General Meetings in May and June
at our new venue in Woolloongabba, Brisbane.
In May our long-standing member Elizabeth Riley told us that she had
made a dream come true by attending the American Society for Indexers
Conference in San Antonio,Texas. Elizabeth, currently a Metadata Librarian
with the Learning Place (the eLearning environment of the Queensland
Department of Education, Training and Employment), seemed quite at home
talking about the database fields which many of us are totally uneducated
about. Sadly the evening was too short, as our guest was double booked for
another event. Thanks Elizabeth for sharing your trip to the ASI Conference.
The June meeting was a great networking session. We discussed different
approaches on how to index books on Burmese history, family histories of the
Kilcoy area, Queensland Transport Department histories of North Queensland
and Mackay areas, a book on Captain Bligh and his Breadfruit, a beautiful
pictorial gardening book, as well as a history of the Brookfield Show Grounds,
a two volume Danish family history and St Hilda’s School Centenary book
also full of photographs. Special thanks to Lesley Bryant, Cate Seymour-Jones
and Beryl Macdonald for their contributions to our ‘Indexing Show & Tell’
evening.
Tuesday 23 July 2013 is our AGM, so please return your application forms
and help run our Queensland Branch. All positions are open.
See <www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=331>.
At the May meeting, l to r: Elizabeth Riley (Guest Speaker), Jeni Lewington, Mary
Ann Martin, Beryl Macdonald, Cate Seymour-Jones, Teresa Hayward, Moira Brown
(photo Franz Pinz)
A new branch library! See page 8 ...
P
ANZSI Annual General Meeting
reliminary notice is given that the Annual General
Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Society
of Indexers Inc. will be held at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday
2 October 2013 at the Elsternwick Club, 19 Sandham
Street, Elsternwick Victoria (Melway 67, F2).
Any members wishing to propose a resolution at the
meeting must give prior notice of motion. A copy of the
resolution to be moved, signed by a proposer and seconder,
must be received by the Secretary at the address below no
later than Wednesday 14 August 2013.
The Council will be proposing amendments to
the Constitution, consequential on the passage of the
Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic). These
amendments, with commentary, will be posted on the
website well before the AGM and there will be a facility for
members to comment on the proposals.
Office bearers and council members (other than the
ex officio members) will be elected at the meeting.
Nominations are therefore called for the positions of
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and five
ordinary council members. A nomination form may
be downloaded from the ANZSI website <www.anzsi.
org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=319>. Nominations must
be mailed to the Returning Officer at PO Box 2059,
Wattletree Road LPO, Malvern East, Vic 3145 to arrive no
later than Wednesday 14 August 2013.
Michael J Ramsden, Secretary
Introducing ANZSI South Australia
J
ane Oliver is the SA contact for ANZSI. She has a
background as a librarian working in health libraries in
Melbourne and moved to Adelaide in 2005 to be closer to
family. While in Adelaide, Jane has reindexed a book on the
history of the Parliament of South Australia and has indexed
two editions of the SA Department of Health’s publication
‘You’ve got what?’, which is intended for the public. There
have been a couple of ANZSI SA Christmas get togethers;
you may have seen the photos in the Newsletter. Jane,
together with Janet Wilkinson and Silvia Muscardin, was
also involved in organising the indexing courses ANZSI
held in Adelaide in August 2012 and, after the success
of the courses, hopes to encourage enough new members
to form a SA branch of ANZSI. There is a plan to hold a
networking dinner in Adelaide in August this year.
Jane was a Victorian Branch committee member but,
as there is no ANZSI branch in Adelaide, she has joined
the Society of Editors SA and attends their committee and
members meetings. The Society of Editors SA recently
held an interesting workshop, presented by Elizabeth
Spiegel from Tasmania, on editing for the web that had
some indexing content. ANZSI and IPEd (Institute of
Professional Editors, the national body for editors) will be
holding a joint national conference in Canberra in 2015.
Judy Richter is a cataloguer for a library cataloguing firm
and is looking forward to attending a meeting of the ACT
Indexers in early July and plans to go over to Melbourne in
August or October to attend one of the Victorian Branch’s
monthly meetings.
Janet Wilkinson is Metadata Coordinator at the State
Library of South Australia and has written a separate
article (see page 5) on the ANZAC indexing project at
the State Library. Janet joined the Society in 2007, when
she accepted a new position in the State Library to index
a myriad of hard copy vertical files of previously answered
reference enquiries and convert pre-computer created
index cards into electronic catalogue records. In searching
for a professional source of support and expertise on
indexing, Google easily found ANZSI. The newsletters and
networking with like-minded people have been invaluable
in creating, hopefully, high quality avenues of discovery
of buried South Australian contemporary and historical
details that were previously recorded only in paper or card
format.
Silvia Muscardin is the librarian at the Adelaide Zoo.
Silvia has been calling South Australia home since 1980,
when she migrated from Italy. She arrived at the world of
librarianship a bit late in life after trying other careers in
the fields of scientific research, teaching and motherhood.
In 1996 she landed the job at the Adelaide Zoo by sheer
serendipity; she considers herself incredibly lucky to work
for a group of fine and dedicated people (the Zoo staff
and volunteers) in pleasant settings and surrounded by
animals. Silvia has written a separate article on indexing at
the Zoo.
I would like to thank the above for their assistance and
we all look forward to the formation of a SA Branch of
ANZSI.
Jane Oliver
(Our featured branch, ANZSI SA continues on pages 4 and 5)
Indexing the historical documents of the Adelaide Zoo
I
is carried through the entire database, and in this Library
am the Librarian of the Royal Zoological Society of
Bookmark is used for cataloguing. So it was a matter of
South Australia Inc., a conservation organisation that
‘fitting’ index entries into software designed and used for
runs Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Zoo, as well as a variety of
cataloguing. To overcome the problem, I created a simple
field conservation programs.
manual, which explains the difference between cataloguing
In 1996 Adelaide Zoo embarked on a major
and indexing and gives guidelines on the use of Bookmark
redevelopment that saw the demolition of some old exhibits
in this context.
and buildings and the conservation of heritage listed sites.
That resulted in the collection, re-housing and recording of
As part of my work I am called upon to answer questions
a mass of historical photographs held in parts of the Zoo
about Zoo animals, staff, Zoo buildings and events. For the
about to be redeveloped.
first few years many questions were common and I created
fact-sheets that have served me well. In the last decade,
The promotional value of this material became
though, the demand for information about Adelaide Zoo
immediately apparent: old photos in particular have an
and Monaro Zoo increased many-fold: historians, people
undoubted charm that appeals to all of us, especially when
writing their family history, historical societies have been
they come with a ‘story’ that explains them and enhances
requesting more detailed information. The fact sheets
their inherent power to evoke memories and feelings.
were no longer sufficient for the task. The need to have
Thus started the huge project of collecting and re-housing
the information directly from the primary source at my
these objects, and of capturing the information contained
fingertips was plain. This called for a comprehensive index
in a mass of historical documents: from photographs to
and this is the next stage of the project.
animal records and from departmental diaries to newspaper
The job proceeds in
clippings.
leaps and bounds. The
For the first lot of
migration of the manual
photos the Adelaide Zoo
records created by the
employed the assistance
three volunteers is nearing
of staff of the History
the end and we are on to
Trust of South Australia,
scanning the departmental
who carried out the rediaries. With volunteers
housing and description
undertaking scanning,
of
that
collection.
I can focus on making
Although this effort
available the information
ensured these precious
that is in the indexing.
historical
documents
I started with a book
would be preserved, the
published
by
the
accessioning approach
Society in 1978 on the
lessened the effectiveness
100th anniversary of its
of the records. In keeping
formation. The annual
with the method used
The Minchin family, that gave the Zoo its first three Directors, outside the
reports will be next, as
by photographers, some
Director’s House, Adelaide Zoo, circa 1890. Courtesy RZSSA.
they are the best source
photographs were allocated
of ‘stories’ for the photos.
batch accession numbers
At the request of keepers, I will tackle the departmental
so that it was impossible to identify a single frame; the
diaries soon and that will imply the creation of a controlled
‘subjects’ assigned in the records were often too broad. So,
vocabulary.
when a few years later three Zoo volunteers offered to review
The choice of indexing software fell on SKY Index as,
the work done and to accession a second lot of photographs,
after a few trials, it proved to have the right versatility to
I jumped at the opportunity. Together the volunteers, two
cope with different types of locators. Each type of resource
retired librarians and a retired schoolteacher, did a sterling
(book, diaries and, in the future, newspaper articles) will
job of reorganising the collection and indexing it. Only
be indexed separately; the separate indexes will then be
one problem remained: this was a manual record, thus time
manually merged into a comprehensive index.
consuming to use.
In conclusion, what they say about an index not only
After a hiatus of some years, another volunteer, trained
leading
a person to specific information in a haystack
as a library technician, offered to migrate the records into
of data, but also enhancing the material indexed is
the Library computerised database. This introduced us
true. Without an index a treasure trove of records is an
to another hurdle in the shape of Bookmark, the library
software used in this Library. Any change in the field names
(ANZSI SA, continued from previous page)
amorphous mass without head or tail. It is the index that
makes it come alive and speak to us.
I wish to thank all the volunteers who contributed
and continue to contribute to this project by dedicating
thousands of hours of their time to scanning, cataloguing,
re-housing, collecting, naming, labelling, documenting,
re-naming, re-labelling, listing, and typing all the historical
material they have been presented with. And for doing it
always with a smile.
Silvia Muscardin
SA Red Cross Information Bureau records
A web resource and indexing project at the State Library of SA to commemorate the
Centenary of ANZAC
n the first World War the Red Cross Society established
Metadata Harvesting) standards will be applied enabling
information bureaux in Australian capital cities to
linking of information and contributing to rich networks
provide a communication and tracing service between
of information, linking knowledge in ways SLSA never has.
the families of serving soldiers and the overseas bases.
The Imperial War Museum (UK) and the National Archives
Advertisements were placed in newspapers and enquiries
of Australia are also building new web resources based upon
flooded in. In SA, 8000 queries were answered, resulting
these new standards which will enable connections between
in a ‘packet’ of information for each soldier enquired upon,
our records.
included in envelopes which made up the main work of the
This web resource will enable researchers and family
SA Red Cross Information Bureau. A typical card from a
historians worldwide to interrogate and contribute to the
packet is shown below.
database and further understand South Australia’s role in
In 1922, the Bureau closed its doors and donated its
the conflict. The records digitised for this resource will feed
records to the State Library of SA.
into other SLSA projects and can be used by other agencies
and cultural institutions.
To mark the centenary of ANZAC, the State Library is
digitising and indexing the 8000 plus packets to create a
The State Library of South Australia is currently utilising
web resource that will be launched in time for the centenary.
its internal resources to digitise the Bureau’s records as well
Indexing will initially be carried out by a team of volunteers
as managing all aspects of this project where the Library
who will use a controlled vocabulary developed with advice
has the necessary skills. And the Library will continue to
from the Australian War Memorial. The Library will also
manage this site once it has been completed.
endeavour to introduce crowd sourcing techniques like
To learn more about this project, see the short film at
Trove to complete the indexing.
<http://youtu.be/85S1TYOXZO4>.
The web resource that is produced will comprise three
Lest we forget.
elements, namely:
1. The original packets of information related to the 8000
Janet Wilkinson, Metadata Coordinator
requests made through the Bureau – digitised so that
Andrew Piper, Project Manager
the community can see the original
documents
2. A place for members of the community
to contribute additional information.
This may range from family photos
of the subjects, or letters and diaries
that the family may hold, to personal
reminiscences of loved ones.
3. An automated “harvesting” of data from
3rd party sources such as the National
Archives, Commonwealth War Graves
Commission and Trove which directly
relates to the soldiers who are the
subjects of the Bureau’s enquiries.
Linked Open Data and OAIPMH
(Open Archives Initiative Protocol for
I
Draft vision for a multi-location ANZSI Council
T
he next election of Council on 2 October this year is
an excellent opportunity for the discussion of issues to
do with communication between Council and branches,
and for a proposed multi-location structure for the ANZSI
Council. The NSW Branch has developed some ideas about
how this might work. Our main purpose is to stimulate
discussion of all the options, and to hear from all branches
and current Council members what works for them and
what doesn’t.
Once comments and ideas have been exchanged it is then
proposed to publish a summary online and in the September
issue of the ANZSI Newsletter, to encourage participation
in and nominations for Council at the AGM in October.
The summary paper will not be a final blueprint, but an
outline of the first stages toward developing a Society that
recognises the geographic distances, the voluntary nature of
Council/committee membership, and the juggling of work
demands and at times onerous committee responsibilities,
and tries to put in place a structure for decision-making
that alleviates some of these problems.
Communication between Council and branches is
time-consuming for both Council and branches, yet it is
highly valued, and worth the effort.
Council has systems for seeking and incorporating
feedback from branches in its decision-making process,
however the ultimate decisions have nearly always been
made only by people who are able to attend the regular
meetings (currently held in Victoria). Rather than continue
the tradition of handing over Council to different states,
we would like to see decisions made more broadly across
the whole of ANZSI. Below are a few things that could
facilitate this:
• Meeting documents could be grouped online so they are
available to all Council and branch committee members
at the same time
• Documents could be amended/developed online
- by a Working Group or Committee
- during or following a Council web conferencing
meeting
• Meetings:
- use of teleconferencing or web conferencing
- monthly? bi-monthly? minimum requirement ie
quarterly?
• Communication between Council members – a dedicated
email facility
• The appendix in the long version of this paper on the web
is a case study of broad consultation.
The long version of the paper has been loaded on to
the ANZSI website on the ANZSI Documents page in the
members’ area at:
<www.anzsi.org/site/anzsi_docs.asp>.
Comments and any other ideas can be posted in the
members’ discussion area on the website at:
<www.anzsi.org/site/discussion.asp?task=view&id=82>.
Or, if you wish to add to, and see the ongoing
comments inserted in the document on Google Drive, let
me know at <[email protected]> and I can invite
you to ‘share’.
Madeleine Davis (on behalf of the NSW Branch)
2013 ANZSI Medal Applications
T
he Australian and New Zealand Society
of Indexers Medal is offered annually
for the most outstanding index to a book
or periodical compiled in Australia or New
Zealand.
The index must be in print and published
after 2009. It must have been compiled in
Australia or New Zealand, even though the
text to which it refers may have originated
elsewhere. The index should be substantial in
size; the subject matter should be complex;
and the language, form and structure of the index should
demonstrate the indexer’s expertise, as well as serving the
needs of the text and reader.
The publisher of the winning index will be presented
with a certificate recognising their promotion of work of
outstanding quality. The judges may also make ‘Highly
Commended’ awards. Nominations, with bibliographical
details and a copy of the book (which will be returned if
requested) should be sent to the address on
the nomination form.
Publishers, indexers and all interested
people may nominate indexes, and indexers
may nominate their own work. We invite you
to have a browse around your local bookshop
too. If you find an Australian or New Zealand
title with an index, which looks as though it
could be a Medal contender, complete the
nomination form on the ANZSI website and
send it to Garry Cousins, Chairman of the
Awards Committee.
Entries close on 31 July 2013. A nomination form is
available on the ANZSI website:
<www.anzsi.org/site/medal.asp>
Contact: Garry Cousins, Chairman, Awards Committee,
41 Gould Avenue, Lewisham NSW 2049,
Tel: (02) 9560 0102; email <[email protected]>
Zakuski
W
elcome to another tasty morsel of
Zakuski. I must say thank you to
those who emailed me and told me how
much they enjoyed my first column.
ABBA
I am not a regular watcher of Sunday Night
on Channel 7, but a few weeks ago they had an interview
with one of the singers from ABBA. During the course of
the interview they mentioned a very interesting museum
devoted to ABBA. This museum is on Stockholm’s island
of Djurgaarden. Its exhibits feature costumes, very kitsch
dance routines, childhood photos, gold records, replicas of
their recording studio, dressing rooms, stylist’s worktable,
as well as a computer simulation where one can dance to
the band’s very catchy tunes. It is open from 10.00 am to
8.00 pm and methinks ’twill be extremely popular with
locals and tourists: <www.abbathemuseum.com>.
To continue the pop theme
Country and Western singer Dolly
Parton has established an ‘Imagination
Library’, now 17 years old. Dolly was
keen to encourage pre-school underprivileged children to read, so she
posted high quality books directly to
children’s homes, to excite them about
the magic of books. Dolly’s library
now is in many US states, Canada,
UK and also Australia: <www.imaginationlibrary.com>.
Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen
Whilst planning a future journey to Scandinavia and
Russia, I came across another interesting museum. The
Musical History Museum of Copenhagen is presently being
renovated, but will open again in 2014. Hopefully I will
visit this fascinating place soon. This museum contains an
index of organs and organ builders in Denmark. The index
is only written in Danish: <http://natmus.dk>.
What the @!*&
Browsing through the 2013 Summer edition of SIdelights,
someone has been having a grand old time indexing this
title: Holy Sh*t : a brief history of Swearing. I had a look at
the index, where all the rude words are indexed in italics. It
makes for interesting reading!
<www.amazon.com/Holy-Sh-Brief-History-Swearing/dp/
0199742677#reader_0199742677>.
What are you reading?
I am a member of two book clubs, CAE and U3A, and
I’d love to hear what you are reading when you are not
indexing. Please email your current titles to me c/o the
Editor of ANZSI Newsletter, <[email protected]>,
and he will forward them to me for publication.
I have just finished reading Crossing to Safety by Wallace
Stegner, and Gillian Bouras’s A Fair Exchange. Away from
book club stuff I am hooked at the moment on Maureen
McCarthy’s The Convent. This a story woven around the
Abbotsford Convent, which the Vic Branch visited in
February 2011 for a tour of 3MBS.
Another recent book was Barbara Pym’s novel No Fond
Return of Love, where indexers get mentioned quite a lot.
I just want to leave you with some quotes from the book.
Here they are:
• The opening line: ‘There are various ways of mending a
broken heart, but perhaps going to a learned conference is
one of the more unusual.’ (pp. 1, 11)
• ‘It’s [an] unusual idea, having a conference of people like
us … Do we all correct proofs, make bibliographies and
indexes, and do all the rather humdrum thankless tasks for
people more brilliant than ourselves?’ (pp. 13–14)
• ‘People always look on indexers as unintelligent drudges …
but a book can be made or marred by its index.’ (p. 31)
I think the last quote is so true. [And reminds your Editor
of Samuel Johnson’s definition of a lexicographer (i.e. himself ),
‘A writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge.’]
This large print edition of Pym’s novel is published by BBC
Audio Books, 2009
Kohlrabi recipe
It is soup weather in Australia, and in a recent edition of
The Age’s Good Weekend magazine a recipe for Kohlrabi
Soup appeared. As you know the Order of the Kohlrabi
is an ASI award presented to indexers for work above and
beyond the call of indexing duty. Glenda Browne is a most
recent recipient for her work with the DTTF. Here is this
very timely and appropriate recipe:
Creamed kohlrabi
1 large kohlrabi cubed
1 small brown onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic cut in half
2 tbsp unsalted butter
¼ milk warm
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Bring a medium pot of salted water to the boil, add
kohlrabi, onion and garlic, simmer for 15 minutes, or until
kohlrabi is tender, then drain well.
Place the warm vegetables, along with the butter and the
milk in a food processor. Process until combined adding
a little more milk to get the desired consistency. Season
to taste. Return puree to warm pan and heat through as
needed.
Serves four people. Kohlrabi is not easy to find but an
organic fruit and vegetable shop may have it.!
The Age, Good Weekend, 15 June 2013.
Terri Mackenzie
Indexing Society of Canada Conference
H
alifax, Nova Scotia, was the location for this year’s
Indexing Society of Canada/Société Canadienne
d’Indexation conference. It was the first time the Conference
had been held in Atlantic Canada, and was run jointly with
the Editors’ Association of Canada from 7 to 9 June.
The Conference was held at The Lord Nelson Hotel in
Downtown Halifax, halfway between The Citadel, a fort
that overlooks the city, and the harbour front. The preconference activities included an ICRIS meeting as well as
a cocktail function for the launch of Macrex v9.
The keynote address was given by Nancy Mulvany, a
name familiar to nearly all indexers as the author of Indexing
Books (University of Chicago Press, 2005). Nancy’s paper
was titled ‘The repurposed book index and indexer’ and
looked at a way to repurpose a book index so that the book
itself is enhanced. She emphasised that for this process to
work, a well-designed, thorough index was paramount.
Pilar Wyman’s presentation was on ‘Metadata,
marketing and more: using indexes as discovery tools’. She
discussed using indexes as metadata as the basis for digital
search, discovery and recommendations. This will become
increasingly important for digital editions of books. As one
of the most detailed metadata sets available, indexes can
be used to search and explore, make recommendations to
buyers and increase sales.
Louise Spiteri, from the School of Information
Management, Dalhousie University, spoke about usergenerated metadata in Web 2.0 applications. In this
field of folksonomy, social tags are chosen and assigned
by users to any web-based information source, based on
terms they perceive as useful for information retrieval,
rather than relying on traditional indexing and controlled
vocabularies.
Caroline Diepeeven, from the Netherlands, spoke about
her experience of team indexing, as encountered during
the indexing of the five-volume Encyclopedia of Jews in
the Islamic World (Brill, 2010). The index was created by
a team of three indexers from the Netherlands, led by
Caroline, working with a content management system.
This was a most informative session on the process of team
indexing. She emphasised the importance of planning
prior to the commencement of indexing, and the need for
regular communication between team members whilst the
indexing was under way.
An indexing software session, outlining recent
innovations in CINDEX, Macrex, Sky and TExtract
rounded out the final session on the first day. This was
followed by the official ISC/SCI banquet at the Dalhousie
University Club. A very enjoyable evening was had by all.
The second day commenced with a presentation by
Elaine Ménard from the School of Information Studies,
McGill University, on image indexing, using TIIARA, a
bilingual (French and English) taxonomy. She compared
the indexing terms assigned by two indexers (one French
speaker and one English speaker) to an identical group of
images using the new taxonomy, and provided examples of
similarities and differences in the terminology chosen by
the two indexers.
The next session was described as a panel, but in
reality constituted three separate papers. The first paper,
by Marnie Lamb, offered a glimpse into the mind of an
indexer working on the memoir of a well-known and
controversial Canadian politician. The work, titled Michael
Bryant’s 28 Seconds, refers to the 28 seconds it took for
a cyclist to die following a road accident in which the
politician was involved. Indexing of the memoir, a form of
biography, raised issues such as whether the author’s name
should be indexed, and how an indexer can decide which
of the many proper names are worth including and which
are just passing mentions.
The second paper, by Mary Newberry and Margaret de
Boer, offered a taster about the indexing of 100 oral histories
recorded as part of the Harbord Village Oral History Index
<www.harbordvillage.com/hvhistory>. Harbord Village is
in Toronto. The most fascinating part of this project was
the use of time stamps within the oral histories as locators.
This project has just begun, and will be reported on more
extensively at next year’s ISC/SCI conference.
The final paper of the session was presented by Marjorie
Simmons, an editor of memoirs, who provided a highly
amusing presentation on the importance of an index. The
time allocated to her presentation was much too brief and
warranted a much longer session.
The final paper of the Conference was given by David
Ream, who provided a walk-through of the EPUB3 indexes
specification. As was typical of Dave, he gave a very polished
presentation that captivated the whole audience, even those
who had heard much of the information before.
The Conference was very enjoyable and very worthwhile.
The Canadian indexers are a hospitable bunch, so if you
have the opportunity in late May/early June next year,
make the effort to attend the ISC/SCI Conference in
Toronto and meet some of your fellow colonials!
Max McMaster
The VIC – new Branch Library!
T
he August meeting of The Victorian Indexing Club
(The VIC) will be extra special – in addition to Max
McMaster’s presentation on indexing numbers, we will
be launching the new Victorian Branch Library. Join
us and be among the first to borrow from this fantastic
collection of indexing resources. See the full list at:
<www.anzsi.org/site/victoria.asp>.
At 6.00 pm on Wednesday 7 August at The Old Op
Shop, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Corner High and
Pakington Streets, Kew. Further information at:
<www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=320>.
Indexing to a budget – letter to the Editor
I
was very disappointed that no-one other than Glenda
Browne and Max McMaster was willing to respond to
my calls for help and information on this topic in the April
and May Newsletters. Although Glenda and Max both
gave useful information, it only answered some of my
questions. If ANZSI is a professional organisation, I would
have hoped to have had a lot more responses from my
professional colleagues.
A question that appeared in both issues was: ‘Can I get
some guidance from others as to what records they keep
of their indexing work, and in what detail, so that they
have access to reliable and useful data on which to base
quotations for work?’ I’d have thought that other indexers
would have sought to contribute an answer for the common
good of everyone. I don’t believe I’m the only person who
would like to get their recording system into a more useful
state. Without writing a paper on the subject I’ve already
contributed a lot of information that I’ve discovered about
page and type sizes, MS pages, indexes to previous editions
of books, and so on, and their relevance to quoting. I’d
appreciate responses in kind, please, otherwise what’s the
point of the Society?
Our Newsletter is a very lightweight document compared
with, say, The Indexer, but it’s all we have. As a professional,
I’d like to see it used for sharing serious information about
our profession. Interesting though it may be, the ‘Quiet
Achievers’ item each month, for instance, doesn’t offer
much in the way of hard information. I’d much rather see
that space filled with material immediately relevant to my
work as an indexer.
I asked Mary Russell for a write-up by her, or someone
who attended, of the VIC in April (May Newsletter) meeting
where expert users of the three indexing packages (Macrex,
CINDEX and SKY) demonstrated the capabilities of the
ACT Region Branch
Working with words
Saturday 6 July, 2.30 - 5.00 pm
Come along to ACT member Denise Sutherland’s
home in Gordon, ACT, to discover how she writes
crosswords, cryptics, and other puzzles.
RSVP by Wednesday 3 July to Denise, on
6294 1732 or <[email protected]>.
Address details will be supplied when you RSVP.
packages and answered questions from attendees. I was
unable to attend that meeting (and neither were most other
members of ANZSI!) and I would dearly like to read such a
write-up. I’m a bit fed-up with Macrex, which I find timeconsuming and clunky, and I’d like to be able to compare
it with the other packages without the time-consuming task
of having to do it on my own through sample CDs. Would
other members appreciate access to such an article? I’m
afraid that Mary’s offer in the June Newsletter of members
submitting specific questions about the packages or asking
about a specific feature, while well-intentioned I’m sure,
is of little use if one has no experience of packages other
than one’s own and therefore can’t ask any useful questions.
Please would someone write-up this meeting for the next
Newsletter?
I’ve asked several times to no avail for a hands-on
workshop to be run for experienced users of Macrex, so
I’ll ask again now. As well, would any Macrex users in and
around Melbourne like to get together as a group for some
sharing on their use of the package? We may well each have
understandings, techniques and ways of using it that others
could benefit from. Contact me on <antipodindex@gmail.
com> or 0488 218 185 and we’ll find a suitable time. We
can have it at my place if you wish.
I’d like to see workshops or courses on e-publication
indexing, too. I’ve looked at the ANZSI website Courses
page and there’s no sign of anything there. How are we
going to come to grips with the rise of e-books if we can’t
do courses on indexing them?”
Please, let’s have some more rigour from the Society in
bringing much-needed services to members to address our
day-to-day, nuts and bolts concerns.
Don Jordan
Digital to print?
I
have been reading a book with a footnote format that
I have not met before. The book is The Book of Barely
Imagined Beings by Caspar Henderson, Granta, 2012,
very beautifully, and no doubt expensively, produced.
The word or phrase to be footnoted is printed in red
and the ‘footnote’ is actually an adjacent side bar also
in red; a hyperlink without even the bother of clicking!
This made me ponder if something similar could be
achieved in a less expensive format, and also, if some of
the new and exciting developments in ebook indexing
might contain ideas adaptable to print. Perhaps by
embracing new formats and new techniques, we might
also be able to enhance our more traditional practice.
Jean Dartnall
ALIA ebooks and elending think tank
O
n 28 May, Mary Coe and Glenda Browne attended
this think tank at the State Library of NSW. There
were 76 delegates, mainly from academic and public
libraries. The ALIA issues paper and the ANZSI response
to it can be accessed at <www.alia.org.au/advocacy-andcampaigns/advocacy-campaigns/ebooks-and-elending>.
Key points from the sessions were:
• The software platforms that public libraries use (e.g.
Overdrive) do not allow for the inclusion of locallyproduced materials (e.g. digitised items from local
history collections). Ebook collections are also difficult
to integrate with normal discovery services, meaning
libraries are locked into using one aggregator, and
users have to look in two places (library catalogue and
aggregator software) to find all formats of a book.
• There are high costs to discovery (i.e. making ebooks
findable to library users), especially because the quality
of MARC records for ebooks is often poor.1
• Collections of ebooks from overseas aggregators often
don’t include much Australian material.
• Licences for use of electronic materials limit interlibrary
lending and document delivery services that have been
traditionally allowed through exceptions in the Copyright
Act.
• Overdrive is the dominant aggregator in Australia, but
Wheelers has recently quickly grown its market share,
partly through competitive pricing.
• ALIA has a representative on BICC (Book Industry
Collaborative Council, <www.innovation.gov.au/
Industry/BooksandPrinting/BookIndustryCollaborative
Council/Pages/Membership.aspx>, largely due to support
from government agencies. Many publishers do not
think they have a place in the group, but apparently Greg
Combet and Kate Lundy have been very supportive.
• More discussions are needed between publishers and
libraries to find common ground in which the aims of
both sectors can be met. Publishers are concerned about
anything that will erode their already-challenged income
security. Libraries feel that the work they do can support
publishers, e.g. in the areas of literacy development,
encouragement of reading in general, and knowledge of
their users.
• The needs and situations in public and academic libraries
are quite different. Public libraries tend to focus on
fiction ebooks, and may lend devices to users.
• Both public and academic libraries offer technical support
to users. There is a need for broad education about what
is possible. E.g. one attendee said she had overheard a
shop assistant telling a purchaser that a certain ebook
reader would allow them to download ebooks from
libraries. In fact, only about half of public libraries
currently lend ebooks, and these are limited to certain
•
•
•
•
•
•
devices. We heard the phrase ‘Kindle regret’, referring to
people who had purchased a Kindle and found that its
proprietary reading system didn’t allow them to read the
range of books they would like to.
Device neutrality is a major priority – allowing users to
read ebooks on whatever device they own.
Both public and academic libraries have problems with
negotiation of licences and selection of material (e.g.
being pressured to purchase packages of material, not all
of which is useful to them). Some people spoke about
‘digital dust’ – the unused portions of bulk purchases.
Many academic libraries have an 'e-preferred' policy,
and will automatically choose an ebook over a print
book if one is available, assuming that both products are
equivalent as far as content goes.
The learning management system not the library
catalogue is the key starting point for information access
for students, so linking to resources from the learning
management system is crucial.
There are some unnecessary technical barriers to ebook
use in many corporate libraries, mainly caused by
unwillingness of IT departments to support new software
or services. Some librarians have been told that they will
have to register for new services at home, because their
organisation’s IT policies won’t support the process.
The market for ebooks in libraries is immature. The
librarians who had been through the process of introducing
electronic journals into libraries felt that we are going
through the uncertain stage, and there will be more
clarity in the future. Although cautiously optimistic, they
also agreed that the future is unpredictable.
Indexes in ebooks
The major issues for libraries are collection development,
licensing and other legal issues, and technology. The insides
of books, including full inclusion of all content (e.g. images
and maps) and quality indexes are not high priorities. I
asked a question about this. A colleague of the academic
library speaker2 said that this was not an issue in their
library (University of NSW) as the books they bought had
active indexes, and if the quality wasn’t there, their users
would have let them know.
The public libraries speaker (Margaret Allen) answered
that she envisaged the books of the future being quite
different, with multimedia and interactivity, and that this
was therefore a problem only in the transition period.
I think the academic answer is a reminder that the word
‘ebooks’ encompasses many different formats, and that
academic library ‘ebooks’ are often PDF documents (which
have fixed pagination, and are therefore easier to index) or
‘o-books’ (online books) – print book equivalents presented
as web-based documents. The problems of reflowable text
(Think tank, continued from previous page)
in handheld devices are therefore less common in academic
libraries than they may be for individual non-fiction book
owners. At the roundtable discussions, a special librarian
mentioned problems with lack of images in her ereader,
saying that tablets were better in this way, and another
special librarian agreed with my comments about the
internal quality of ebooks being important.
Two websites to keep an eye on for general ebook
information are listed below. Neither had any mention of
indexes that I could find.
• NSW.net from the State Library of NSW
<www.nswnet.net>.
• ebooks in libraries advocacy from State Library of
Western Australia Policy & Research
<http://ebookadvocacy.wordpress.com/>.
Notes
1
MARC is a standard format for the sharing of catalogue
records. See <www.slideshare.net/EResourcesLibraries/
ebook-marceting-how-do-your-ebooks-look, http://
scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1/323/
ebookMARC.pdf?sequence=1>
and
<www.overdrive.com/files/DLRMARCAvailable.pdf> for
some background information on MARC records for
ebooks.
2 The academic librarian who spoke was Andrew Wells,
but his colleague Janet Fletcher answered this question.
Glenda Browne
NSW Branch AGM
Tuesday 3 September 2013
6.00 pm for the meeting and 7.30 pm for dinner
At the Golden Cinnamon restaurant, first floor, above
Cafe Kasturi, 767–69 George Street, Broadway (about
a block downhill from Central Station).
$30 per head banquet menu, including drinks.
RSVP by 30 August to Frances Paterson at:
<[email protected]> or (02) 4274 2600.
We will be electing President, Vice-President,
Secretary, Treasurer and Committee members for the
year. An online version of the nomination form is
available. Details at:
<www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=329>.
The NSW Branch Committee meets by
webconferencing once a month. If you would like to
join the Committee from wherever you live, all you
need is an Internet connection to overcome the tyranny
of distance. New members will be very welcome.
Branch events
Date and time
Organiser
Name of activity
Venue
Contact details
Sat 6 July
2.00–4.00 pm
Vic Branch
Indexing images in State Library of Victoria
colonial newspapers Conference Centre
Sat 6 July
2.30–4.00 pm
ACT Region
Branch
Working with words
Free, but RSVP essential, Details at
Denise Sutherland’s home RSVP by 3 July. Details on p. 9 and at
in Gordon, ACT
Th/Fr 11/12 July
Introductory Book
NSW Branch
9.30 am–4.30 pm
Indexing Course
Sydney Mechanics School Queries to <[email protected]>; details at
of Arts
Tues 23 July
6.00 for 7.00 pm
Qld Branch
Wed 24 July
6.30 pm
WA Group
Wed 7 August
6.00–7.30 pm
Vic Branch
Tues 3 Sept
6.00 for 7.30 pm
NSW Branch AGM
Contact: Linda McNamara (08) 93674445 or
Dinner with
TBA
<[email protected]>. Details at
Max McMaster
The VIC:
Old Op Shop, Holy
And the new library! See page 8 and details at
indexing numbers Trinity Anglican Ch, Kew <www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=320>
AGM
Golden Cinnamon
Restaurant
ANZSI Newsletter
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI News
ANZSI Newsletter
ANZSI AGM – preliminary notice
ANZSI SA – our July feature
A multilocation ANZSI Council
2013 ANZSI Medal applications
Zakuski
Indexing Society of Canada Conference
The VIC and the new Branch library
Indexing to a budget – letter to the Editor
ACT Region Branch: Working with words
Digital to print?
ALIA ebook and elending think tank
NSW Branch AGM
1
2
2
3
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6
6
7
8
8
9
9
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Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in August 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 26 July.
NOTE: your usual editor will be away
Please send contributions by email to guest editor
Denise Sutherland <[email protected]>.
Postage
paid
Volume 9 | Number 7 | August 2013
ANZSI News — August 2013
Update your details
When we sent out the renewal
notices several emails bounced
back as unknown. If you have
updated your email address,
postal address or have a new
webpage, please take a moment
to update your details. It is your
entry in the ANZSI database,
and it is up to you to maintain it.
Advertising in Indexers Available
We have had a few queries about how to remove yourself
from Indexers Available:
1. Go to the Update your Details webpage in the members’
area: www.anzsi.org/site/update _ details.asp
2. Make sure there is not a tick in the Indexers Available
box
3. Scroll to the bottom and save changes
Information and payment details are available at:
www.anzsi.org/site/IA _ advert.asp.
Nominations for Council
If you would like to serve on ANZSI Council for 2013-2014
nominations must be received by the Returning Officer by
the 28 August. This is well before the AGM on 2 October,
so there is time for members to vote (should there be more
than one candidate for one position). Forms are available at
www.anzsi.org/site/calendar _ details.asp?id=319.
Society of Indexers Conference
I am just back from the Society of Indexers conference
12–14 July at Wyboston Lakes, England. The title of
the conference was ‘Revitalize your business; Refresh
your skills’. There were over ninety there, with quite a
few SI indexing students attending. Wyboston Lakes is a
purpose-built conference and accommodation facility a
few kilometres out of St Neots, west of Cambridge. It was
definitely warm with temperatures around 30ºC.
The conference started late on Friday afternoon with a
talk by Nicholas Hiley on the British Cartoon Archives
www.cartoons.ac.uk. The main focus of the archives
is on political cartoons, as this is how they justified
funding from University of Kent to set it up. Nicholas
highlighted the difficulties of indexing political cartoons,
particularly when a cartoonist uses illusions to depict
politicians. They also have the DPP archives of naughty
seaside postcards. This includes the card index of postcard
prosecutions associated with the Obscene Publications Act
www.cartoons.ac.uk/dpps-obscene-postcard-index. The
Archives website includes lots of images, and is sure to
raise a smile.
The next speaker, Eilidh MacGlone, spoke about
cataloguing the Scottish Screen Archive ssa.nls.uk. She
highlighted the additional challenges of indexing films
over 2D cartoons.
Saturday morning started with an update from the
Publishing Technology Group, including details of
their website at www.ptg-indexers.org.uk. Well worth
examining.
Parallel sessions followed, and I attended the session on
indexing personal names lead by Christopher Phipps.
Names are always tricky, even English-language names.
This session highlighted how to distinguish namesakes,
handling pseudonyms, Jan
nicknames
and
serialBrowne
nameWright and
Glenda
at
‘The
Matrix’
changers, and dealing with all the various English titles and honorifics.
For example, we learned when it is ‘Spencer, Lady Eliza’ (Lady by birth as
daughter of an Earl) and when ‘Spencer, Edith, Lady’(Lady by marriage).
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Guest Editor: Denise Sutherland
<[email protected]>
not necessarily reflect the opinions
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
Publishers and indexers were the focus of the sessions after lunch. Masoud
Yazdani spoke on how he, as a publisher, adds value to publications. This was
followed by a Publishing Panel of authors and publishers who were asked
questions about how they outsourced their indexing, whether the author had
a say in the indexing of their books, and their expectations of indexers with
technical matters.
The next session I attended was on the history of Cambridge University
Press and its archives presented by Ros Grooms. CUP was granted the right
to print in 1534, so has a long history and fascinating archives. CUP has
established a museum, which includes many oral history archives. They were
lacking pictures of CUP indexers, so this gap was fixed during the conference.
Ann Kingdom retired as Chair of the SI Executive Board. At the dinner her
contribution to SI was acknowledged by awarding her the Bernard Levin
Award www.indexers.org.uk/index.php?id=407.
The after-dinner speaker, Dr Joel Greenberg, gave a fascinating history
of Bletchley Park, the centre for the code breakers during WWII www.
bletchleypark.org.uk. Joel launched a detailed demonstration of the Enigma
machine and explained how codes were broken. It was wonderful insight into
the workings of Bletchley Park. I am certainly adding it to my list of places
to visit when I am next in the UK.
Sunday started with the international session with details about ICRIS
and the new webpage at www.theindexer.org/index.php?option=com _ co
ntent&task=view&id=115&Itemid=69, with news from the various societies
with the focus on training. The Association of South African Indexers and
Bibliographers have a new website www.asaib.org.za.
The next session I attended was given by Pamela Birch, a conservation
archivist, on how books are made, and how to care for books. Pamela had
several books on display to highlight how to handle and repair books to
ensure they are preserved for the next generation.
SI has also recently revised their publication Last but
not least: a guide for editors commissioning indexes. It is available at
www.indexers.org.uk/index.php?id=136.
If you’d like to look at the papers from the conference, they are available on
their website: www.indexers.org.uk/index.php?id=563
Next year’s SI conference ‘Tesserae to tablets, uncovering the future’ will be
5–7 September 2014, at Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester. Why not
consider adding it to your trip to the UK next year?
Mary Russell
Annual General Meeting
P
reliminary notice is given that the Annual General
Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Society
of Indexers Inc. will be held at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday
2nd October 2013 at the Elsternwick Club, 19 Sandham
Street, Elsternwick Victoria (Melway 67, F2).
Any members wishing to propose a resolution at the
meeting must give prior notice of motion. A copy of
the resolution to be moved, signed by a proposer and
seconder, must be received by the Secretary at the address
below no later than Wednesday 14th August 2013.
The Council will be proposing amendments to the
Constitution, consequential on the passage of the
Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic). These
amendments, with commentary, will be posted on the
website well before the AGM and there will be a facility
for members to comment on the proposals.
Office bearers and council members (other than the
ex officio members) will be elected at the meeting.
Nominations are therefore called for the positions of
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and five
ordinary council members. A nomination form may be
downloaded from the ANZSI website: www.anzsi.org/
site/calendar _ details.asp?id=319.
Nominations must be mailed to the Returning Officer
at PO Box 2059, Wattletree Road LPO, Malvern East,
Vic 3145 to arrive no later than Wednesday 28th August
2013. (NB: This is two weeks later than the date in the
preliminary notice that appeared in the July issue of the
newsletter. That date was in error.)
Michael J Ramsden
Secretary
NSW draft vision for multi-location ANZSI Council
T
here has been a lively discussion (as they say) in
the members’ area of the ANZSI website about the
‘NSW draft vision’ proposal outlined in the previous
Newsletter. Comments have been encouraging and
have also highlighted some misunderstanding about the
proposed process. There will be no additional expense
for individual Council members. Subscription to any
web-based conferencing service will be borne by Council,
and any additional equipment (e.g. headphones) will also
be covered. If there are technical capability problems, all
services offer both VIOP (participation via your home
computer’s communication system) or via your home
telephone linked with screen access. Where this involves
long distance or international phoning, all services offer a
dedicated phone number as part of the subscription.
Documents can still be downloaded, printed out and
perused as per normal, or can be viewed online with
comments inserted by individual members. All documents
will simply be placed in a ‘cloud’ deposit site by the
Secretary, for Council members to access from wherever
they are located. This incurs no additional expense. A
suggestion for a private Council blog or private Facebook
page has been mooted to also assist with discussion
between meetings.
The comments received recognised that this proposal will
allow for a much broader discussion of Council issues
and participation across our membership, without one
Branch having to shoulder all the work. It also means
that the Executive members can reside in any state or in
New Zealand, and can hold short meetings at any time
in-between Council meetings. Any Working Parties or
Subcommittees of Council can also take advantage of the
service, communicating with each other from their own
homes. I anticipate that the Council will still want to meet
face-to-face once a year.
I commend the proposal to everyone, and in particular, I
urge any member who is thinking of putting themselves
forward for an Executive position or a member of Council,
to please do so!
Madeleine Davis
IDPF EPUB IWG, and ANZSI Council ideas
T
he IDPF Indexes Working Group continues to meet
most weeks, working step-by-step through feedback
received about the draft specification. All feedback has
been gathered in a spreadsheet. When changes are made to
the specification based on external feedback, issue numbers
from the spreadsheet are added to the specification to
show which suggestions resulted in which changes.
When the specification has been approved, the next steps
will be promotion (to editors, publishers, librarians and
others) and skills development. My ideas about the first
steps to learning about ebook indexes are in a separate
article (below). We also hope there will be changes to
indexing software packages and new publisher policies.
As one way of sharing news about the specification, I will
be speaking at VALA 2014 (www.vala.org.au/conf2014) on
‘The EPUB standard and ebook indexes: better user access
to information in ebooks’ in a session with the theme
‘Collaborate’.
IDPF ideas for ANZSI
IDPF is a member organisation, and works on a totally
open basis — all members can join working groups, and
the same email list is used for all groups so people can
follow all discussions if they wish.
an international group like this can pursue democratic
decision-making is through the use of technology. We
phone in for meetings, create documents in Google
Drive, and use email for general communication. It is
all relatively low-tech with a low barrier to entry, and
although clunky at times, it does the job.
The communication choices made by IDPF won’t
necessarily be the ones that the new ANZSI Council will
choose to use, but they do show that it is possible for a
geographically dispersed group to work electronically. If
IDPF can organise meetings with members from Japan,
Sweden and the US, we should be able to manage various
parts of Australia and New Zealand. The timing might
not be ideal for everyone, but I hope a compromise will
be found.
ANZSI Council can potentially have nine elected
members and five ex officio members. This makes for a
large meeting, and some trial and error may be needed
to find the best ways of sharing information and meeting
effectively.
ANZSI NSW has created a ‘Vision’ document, with the
aim of gathering feedback. A summary incorporating
feedback from members is included in this newsletter.
Please read it, and share any experiences (good and bad)
that you have had so we can learn together.
I have been inspired by the positive spirit in the working
groups, and the willingness to argue for the best options,
but also to compromise when needed. The only way
eBook indexing self-education
XML — general knowledge
E
Codecademy (www.codecademy.com). This website
provides free courses in a number of relevant areas (eg,
XML, CSS). Many exercises have two panels so you can
see the coding on one side and the resulting display on
the other.
book indexes can be created in many ways. Embedded
indexes are currently created using XML by
technologically savvy publishers with an XML-first policy.
Recent improvements to InDesign have ensured that index
links will now be maintained in EPUB output — this makes
InDesign a viable software option for ebook indexes too.
Until publishers start commissioning more ebook indexes,
it will be hard to predict the requests that will be made
of indexers, and the skills required. Nonetheless, this is a
good time to expand your learning of all aspects of ebook
indexing. I have listed websites that will help with selfeducation in the areas that I think will be important: XML
— general knowledge; XML indexing and editing; Ebook
indexing, EPUB3 and other ebook formats; and InDesign
Creative Cloud (CC).
Glenda Browne
W3schools (www.w3schools.com) is perhaps better when
you know a little already. I took the XML course and
mini-quiz, and was told I just passed and would have to
try harder next time. This can be a good site for finding
answers to questions.
Library Juice (www.libraryjuiceacademy.com) offers
online courses covering a range of topics (including
indexing). I did an XML course which ran for 4 weeks.
Cost was US$175. There were four chat sessions, and a
forum where you could ask questions. There was almost no
discussion between students, but the instructor answered
queries. You could optionally do four quizzes and receive
a certificate. A lot of the learning is self-directed, reading
information that is freely available on the web. It was
useful to have a pathway through the material, and I
found that the quizzes prompted me to put what I was
learning into action.
XML indexing and editing
Combs, Michele. March 2012. ‘XML indexing’. The
Indexer v.30 n.1, tinyurl.com/indexermarch2012, now
also available free online at www.ingentaconnect.com.
Gardiner, David. Digital publishing with XML: concepts
for editors. Available free in PDF and EPUB formats at
www.xmplar.biz/training.html#digpub.
Walsh, Norman. December 2012. DocBook 5.1: the
definitive guide. O’Reilly, http://docbook.org/tdg51/en/
html.
Publishers’ guides will be crucial when you start
embedded indexing.
Ebook indexing, EPUB3 and other ebook
formats
Garrish, Matt. 2011. What is EPUB 3? An introduction to
the EPUB specification for multimedia publishing, O’Reilly
Media. http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920022442.do
Browne, Glenda. June 2012. Ebook indexes, EPUB
and the International Digital Publishing Forum,
Online Currents, pp 127-130, http://webindexing.biz/
wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/OLC-June-2012 _
Browne-Article-Ebook-EPUB.pdf
EPUB Indexes 1.0 (draft): Working Group Draft 20122013:
http://docs.google.com/document/d/1 _ -4yyEIJeze8xUC
bT7SU1r5Queyd6SZK63bJ540SVJ0/edit?pli=1#. This will be
moved to idpf.org at some stage.
Browne, Glenda and Coe, Mary. Ebook Navigation:
browse, search and index, Australian Library Journal
v.61 n.4, November 2012, pp.288-297,
http://webindexing.biz/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/
E-Book-Navigation.pdf
Papers and presentations on EPUB and ebook
indexing from the ANZSI 2013 indexing conference
in Wellington, New Zealand by Jan Wright, Dave
Ream and Glenda Browne are available at
www.anzsi.org/site/2013Confpap.asp
InDesign Creative Cloud (CC)
InDesign is a large and complex program. To use it for
indexing you only use selected features, however you
will still need to have a general understanding of the
way the software works. The indexing approach used in
earlier versions of the program will apparently still apply
in InDesign CC. The links below each give some of the
information you need; downloading a demo copy and
experimenting will be the final training step.
Ewald, Laura A. 2012. Adobe InDesign CS6
www.heartlandindexers.org/indesign.html
Kvern, Olav Martin and Blatner, David. 2009. Working
with Long Documents in Adobe InDesign CS3: Indexes (or
Indices)
www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1324263
White, Terry. 2013. Adobe InDesign CC – My Top 5
Favorite Features
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adobe-evangelists-terrywhite/adobe-indesign-cc-my-top-5-favorite-features
Indexing is the main feature mentioned in the EPUB
output enhancements section starting at about 9.25.
InDesign CC, www.adobe.com/au/products/indesign.edu.
html
How to create an index in InDesign CS3
www.adobe.com/designcenter-archive/video _
workshop/?id=vid0220
InDesign CS6 Indexing – Tutorial on how to create an
Index for your Book!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFnEeKr3xfw
Episode 36: Long Documents, Part 4 – Indexing
(VIDEO), the indesigner
www.theindesigner.com/blog/episode-36-longdocuments-part-4-indexing-video
www.lynda.com provides videos (mostly for a subscription
fee) on a range of technical subjects. Those on InDesign
6 indexing are apparently geared towards concordance
making and simple indexes,
so while they cover the
basics they do not show the
creation of more intellectual
indexes. Nonetheless, when
I have time I am planning
to subscribe to Lynda.com
and explore a range of
topics.
Glenda Brown
The publishing and indexing scene in WA
W
hen asked to write an article for the newsletter on
the state of publishing and indexing in Western
Australia, Shelley and I (the only two WA members of
ANZSI at the time) decided to divide the task between
us. Shelley contacted some local publishers and I
contacted local information professionals via the WAIN
(WA Information Network) discussion list.
This section of our article reports on my approach to WA
information professionals.
and links to the relevant sections of the ANZSI website. I
also referred to the very useful “Why have an index?” page
on the UK Society of Indexer’s website: www.indexers.org.
uk/index.php?id=132
While no conclusions can be drawn from such a small
response, it does indicate that there’s a lot more work
to be done in WA to promote the benefits of indexers
and indexing (at least in the community of information
professionals).
I asked the following questions:
For those of you who work for organisations that
publish material (in hard copy and/or online), can
you please provide some information about the
indexing of those publications?
Specifically:
1. Are your organisation’s publications indexed? If not,
why not?
2. If indexes are produced, who produces them? (e.g.
professional indexer, in-house indexer)
3. If an indexer is used, are they located in WA or
elsewhere?
4. Are you or your organisation aware of Indexers
Available on the ANZSI website? www.anzsi.org/site/
indexers _ available.asp
I asked for a brief response to be returned within a week.
Unfortunately, I received only two responses:
Supreme Court Library
‘We have indexed our unreported judgments from the
Supreme Court from about the 1960s to the present
day - now of course online, but previously on catalogue
cards. The District Court judgments are also indexed in
a similar fashion. Annual Indexes of the above judgments
are produced online and printed. We have also started
doing retrospective, consolidated indexing of judgments
from other courts, such as the Town Planning Appeal
Tribunal Decisions and the Mining Wardens Decisions.
‘The indexing is an in-house project, with an in-house indexer.
Yes we are aware of Indexers Available on the ANZSI
website.’
WA Government Department
‘No the Department … in the past 10 years never used the
services of an indexer, can you provide a few points on the
benefits of appointing an indexer?’
In response to the query concerning the benefits of
appointing an indexer, I provided detailed information
Linda McNamara
(full-time law librarian and very part-time freelance
indexer, ANZSI WA Contact)
I
n order to get a feel for the publishing and indexing
scene in WA, I sent out a quick email survey to seven
local (WA) publishers. I explained that I am a freelance
indexer and had been asked to write a brief article for the
newsletter of our professional association regarding our
local publishing / indexing scene. I asked the publishers
the following questions:
1. Who is responsible for the index (assuming it has an
index) — the author or the publisher?
2. If the publisher is responsible for the index, is a
professional indexer used?
3. If a professional indexer is used, are they located in WA
or elsewhere?
4. Are there non-fiction books that end up without an
index because you (or the author) are not able to find an
indexer?
5. Are you aware of the list of Indexers Available on the
ANZSI website? http://www.anzsi.org/site/about.asp
I asked for a brief response by return email within a week.
Six of the seven publishers responded, and their responses
are summarised in the table following. Additional
comments from Publisher A were as follows:
‘However, we have been working on a master index to
most of our books, being that they are on WA history. Our
policy is for three indexes in a book. People, places, and
general, and sometimes, depending on the content, lists
of ships as well separate from the main general index. It is
ridiculous to combine all items in one.’
I have replied to this publisher, letting them know that
a professional indexer would provide an index to their
specifications, and if they required separate indexes this
would be done.
I followed up with a thank you email to all those who had replied. Some of them replied, saying they would keep me in
mind when they required an indexer. If it achieves nothing else, these publishers are now aware that there are professional
indexers in WA, and those not previously aware of Indexers Available now are aware.
Of the indexes I have produced in the last three years, about 70% have been for locally-produced books and journals.
All of the locally-produced books have been self-published, so it will be interesting to see if I now pick up any work from
these publishers.
Shelley Campbell
Freelance Indexer (and one third of WA ANZSI’s membership)
Publisher A
Historical WA
material
Publisher B
e-publications
Author or
publisher
responsible for
index?
Both
Both. If the author Publisher
provides an index
I use it, if he/she
doesn’t provide one
but subsequently
requests one, I
provide it.
Do you use a
professional
indexer?
No
No. I usually
use the indexing
function in Word
2010/13 or
InDesign to create
the index.
If indexer
used, are they
located in WA or
elsewhere?
n/a
Are there nonfiction books that
end up without
an index because
not able to find
an indexer?
Yes. Some older
authors refuse to
index and I do not
have the time, or
the $, or sales, to
justify expenditure
Type of books
published
Aware of Indexers Irrelevant to me
Available on
ANZSI website?
Publisher C
Publisher D
Material on
Academic and
their local area general
Publisher E
Publisher F
General and
Indigenous
self-publishing material
The author to
cover costs, but we
always discuss the
issue and contract
the indexer on
behalf of the
author
Varies from title
to title
Professional
indexer
Always, no matter
who is responsible
If there is sufficient Absolutely
budget
n/a
Elsewhere — the
one I have used
lives in Victoria
Usually elsewhere.
We don’t have any
current indexers
based in WA
We wouldn’t
choose based on
location
Both, depends
on deadlines
and the indexer’s
availability and
cost
No
Not so far
No
No
No. Editorial
make a decision
on whether an
index is required
based on the type
of publication and
work this cost into
our budget
Yes, thanks.
Yes
Wasn’t but I am No, but am now. Yes
now.
Thank you.
Easy grammar tip
Publisher
— If you can insert “by zombies” after the verb,
you have the passive voice. “The book was indexed by zombies” for example!
Etcetera
W
elcome to the newest column
on the block, Etcetera, which
has taken over from Nikki Davis’
Indaba column. Thank you to Nikki
for doing such a sterling job for so
long! We will be alternating with
Terri Mackenzie’s Zazuki column.
First of all, we should introduce
ourselves. We are Denise Sutherland and Jane Douglas.
Denise (at left, above) is an indexer in Canberra (and guest
editor of this issue), and a member of the ACT Region
Branch committee. Jane (on the right) is a new indexer
and Queensland Branch committee member, who is also
completing her Bachelor of Arts (Professional Writing and
Publishing). Now, on with the show!
T
he Association of Southern African Indexers and
Bibliographers (ASAIB) has recently launched its new
website. The site provides easy access to their publications,
papers from past conferences, and photos of society
events. Members are able to update their own entries in
the ‘Find an Indexer’ directory:
www.asaib.org.za
A
n interesting blog post about indexes in eBooks can
be found on Peter Meyer’s A New Kind of Book blog:
http://newkindofbook.com/2011/09/missingentry-whither-the-ebook-index/
I
ndexing a couple of years of the AusSI newsletter from
the early 80s was a fascinating experience. In 1981
it seems members were just coming to terms with the
possibility of personal computers becoming sufficiently
affordable to be used by freelance indexers. In a talk at
the November 1981 AusSi meeting, Stephen Lansdown
suggested two possible computer systems for members’
consideration.
‘Low cost personal system: Exidy Micro-computer, 56k,
dual floppy disks, 64 x 30 line screen, three month
warranty. Not expandable to multi-user. ITOH 8510
[dot-matrix] printer. Price: $4,939 plus tax.
‘Medium cost business system: IMS 8000 microcomputer,
64k, dual floppy disks, 80 x 24 line screen, two year
warranty. Multi-user expandable. ITOH 8510 [dotmatrix] Processing speed twice that of the Exidy. Price:
$7,920 plus tax.’
In today’s terms, the medium-cost system would now sell
for $27,733 (RBA), and that for a system with far less
capacity than a contemporary mobile phone.
I
n the September 1982 edition of the AusSi Newsletter
the following charming excerpt from a 1896 ladies’
journal appeared.
‘Indexing, in an age when time is valuable, is the rising
profession that promises to give much employment to
women. It is a sedentary occupation, requiring method
and a knack of choosing comprehensive headings under
which to range the various subjects and allusions found
in the work. A lady has been entrusted the indexing of
Hansard’s parliamentary debates; and this lady takes
pupils and gives out work. A well-known editor employs
women to index his journal. We hope to enter later more
largely upon this field of activity, to which many women
may look for employment. Meanwhile, we would suggest
the indexing that women of Society might do better than
any other — the cataloguing of the pictures, the china,
the books and MSS, in country houses — the sorting
and arranging of old family letters and archives lying in
hopeless confusion in muniment chests. It would be easy
to select and adopt a simple plan of cataloguing.
‘A lady I know earns £400 a year by indexing the
autograph letters of a millionaire collector. Her plan is
to summarise the contents of the letter; to give a short
account of the writer; of the circumstances attending the
writing of the letter; and explanations of the allusions
therein. This involves much study at the British Museum,
as the collection she is indexing is unique.’ (Wimble)
A
nd a final silly note: the comic Zits from 13 July 2013
mentions indexing; Pierce shows true dedication to
the management of his tattoo collection!
http://zitscomics.com/comics/july-132013/
Jane Douglas
Denise Sutherland
Queensland Branch
Meeting
Tuesday 27th August 2013 at
6.00pm for a 7.00pm start
The Ward Office, 2/63 Annerley Road (corner of
Crown Street), Wooloongabba, Brisbane
Guest Speaker: Greg Parker — the author and
publisher of the Puzzle Wizard crossword magazines
RSVP by Mon 26th August 2013 for catering to:
Moira Brown: [email protected]
phone 0416 097 629
Editing skills for ebooks
Dr Agata Mrva-Montoya presented ‘Editing skills in the
era of digital (r)evolution’ at the Society of Editors NSW
meeting in Sydney on Tuesday 4 June 2013. Agata has
worked at Sydney University Press since 2008, in a role
combining editing, project management and social media.
She is interested in the impact of new technologies on
scholarly publishing, editing and books in general. She
delivered her presentation on editing skills at the IPEd
conference in Perth in April 2013, and she was a panellist
at the joint ANZSI NSW–ACT regional conference on
ebooks in July 2012.
Agata started with a brief history of ebooks and an
overview of ebook formats and digital workflows. She
divided ebook formats into three categories by file type
and features, ranging from basic files focused on presenting
a linear story with limited interactivity (EPUB MOBI,
HTML) to enhanced files with multimedia and hyperlinks
(EPUB3, iBooks) to ebook apps that can be used on iOS
and Android devices to present content in a non-linear
way. She described three types of digital workflows based
on various tools and markup languages: print-first, XML,
XHMTL. She then explained that she had chosen an
XHTML-based workflow for Sydney University Press
because it was most versatile for producing both print
books and ebooks. She noted that all three workflows
could begin with use of word processing software, such as
Microsoft Word.
Agata than discussed the role of the editor in digital
publishing. She noted that technology cannot do
everything and that human beings, such as editors,
will continue to be a part of quality book production.
Editors should consider content, readers’ expectations, and
technological enhancements when working with ebooks.
They should consider how digital publishing will affect the
way that people read and how content will be contained
and presented. She recommended that editors develop
proficiency in Microsoft Word as a basis, and that they
learn basic technical skills in markup languages, such as
XHTML, CSS, and Javascript. She predicted that editing,
proofreading, and indexing will continue to be outsourced.
Agata noted that hyperlinked indexes are being produced
by the XHTML-based system used by Sydney University
Press and provided a demonstration. Her advice for
editors may well apply to indexers as well — develop
basic technical skills and continue to think about new
ways that people are reading and how content can be
presented. Indexers who are knowledgeable about the
ebook production process and able to discuss workflow
with editors and to collaborate on ebook enhancements
will be in demand.
Mary Coe
Learning by indexing: the UC Berkeley Extension course
E
arly last year, I felt a need to consolidate my indexing
knowledge and fill in a few gaps. I completed
the ANZSI Basic Indexing course quite a few years
ago and, since then, have learnt ‘on the job’ with each
index I’ve done, and through the wonderful, informal
mentoring support of Max McMaster (and occasionally
Mary Russell). I was also fortunate enough to be granted
an ANZSI scholarship to the 2009 Conference in Sydney,
which was a very valuable learning experience. For me,
living in Perth and not having spare funds to travel to the
eastern states means that the opportunity to participate
in professional development courses in person is virtually
non-existent. As there are very few indexers (or people
interested in becoming indexers) resident in WA, it is
probably not financially viable for ANZSI trainers to come
to Perth to run a course for a handful of participants. To
try and compensate for this, I have participated in at least
three ANZSI Peer Review indexing opportunities over
the past few years, and have found them to be excellent
in developing my skills and confidence, particularly in
unfamiliar areas like annual reports. Despite this, I still felt
I needed more training.
Over the course of a few weeks, I investigated the online/
distance courses accessible to ANZSI members. Most of
them were too expensive or took too long to complete, or I
was concerned that there was no consideration of Australian
indexing practices contained in the courses. Time was an
important factor for me, as I needed to balance the course
workload with my family responsibilities, part-time work,
and any indexing work I picked up during the time I was
doing the course. So I didn’t want to commit to a course
that would take a year or more to complete.
After reading the detailed online information on the
Berkeley course, I spoke to Max McMaster at length
about what I wanted to achieve, and about the Berkeley
course in detail. (Max is one of four instructors on the
Berkeley course). In October, I decided to sign up for
the course. The cost was US$650 (about the same in
$A at that time), and I had six months to complete the
coursework. I purchased the two textbooks (Mulvany’s
Indexing Books, 2nd ed., and the ‘Indexing’ chapter from
the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed.) and got to work as
soon as I received my online access, which was the day
after enrolling.
You start the course by downloading student editions
of each of the three major indexing software packages
(MACREX, CINDEX and SKY Index), as you have to
use all three to do the first few assignments. This is a steep
learning curve for all participants, but a valuable one.
Once you get to the major assignments towards the end of
the coursework, you can choose which package you want
to use to produce your indexes.
Each of the 10 modules has online course notes, reading
lists from the texts and activities to be completed (usually a
mix of online research, short exercises, major assignments,
and emails to share with other course participants on your
experience with the assignments). Overall I found the
course notes to be quite clear. Clarification was always
available from the instructors, either by email or during
the weekly online chat session, and extra notes on indexing
practices in both Australia and Canada were included
throughout the course notes to cater for international
students. Sometimes the assignments were also modified
depending on which country the student was based in.
The assignments usually entailed making an index of
some sort, and started off quite small and relatively easy,
to get you used to the different software packages. The
tasks varied from things I found quite simple to things
that really stretched my abilities. The philosophy of the
Berkeley instructors seems to be that it is more important
for you to learn the correct practice and produce a good
index, than to get it perfect the first time you attempt it.
To this end, if they are not convinced you have understood
the process and produced a good index, you will be asked
to re-submit it after they have explained in more detail
the process you have yet to master. Re-submission does
entail losing a few marks, but it is more important that
you firmly grasp the concepts. (I will admit that I did have
to re-submit a few of mine, but I was happy that I ended
up with good indexes, because for me that was the aim of
doing the course).
I think this is one of the strengths of the course, because
not only do you come out at the end being able to
produce good indexes, you also gain the understanding
and knowledge of what makes a good index. Having said
that, I wondered how the novice indexers on the course
with me would find the process, but most of those I
chatted to online seemed to be doing okay, although we
were all at different stages of the course. I think you would
realise fairly quickly if indexing was for you or not. I was
probably in a better position than most of them, having
done indexing for a few years on and off, but there were
still things that caught me out.
The three major assignments were reasonably substantial
indexes: the first, a short text on a medical subject; the
second, in the social sciences area; and the last, a lengthy
journal article in the legal area. These were all areas
unfamiliar to me in an indexing sense, yet I ended up
producing three good indexes. This experience has given
me the confidence to index material out of my immediate
comfort zone.
Having successfully completed the course at the end of
April this year, I now have more confidence that what
I am doing is right, and feel I have the knowledge to
make decisions based on what I have learnt. Completing
the course has filled a few gaps in my knowledge and
consolidated my understanding of indexing skills and
practices, so I have achieved what I wanted from the
course.
My one gripe is that having completed the course, you
don’t even receive a certificate of completion for all your
hard work. The only recognition is a printout indicating
completion of three units of a journalism course (yes
a journalism course!). But for me, the advantages far
outweigh this small disadvantage!
I would recommend the Berkeley course to anyone
wanting to extend their knowledge of indexing. I can’t
comment on whether or not it would fully equip a novice
to be an indexer, as this is not the situation I was in, but
I think it would be worthwhile, particularly for those of
us in ’remote’ locations who don’t get the opportunity to
attend face to face courses.
Shelley Campbell
Freelance Indexer
Introductory book indexing
Held 11–12 July 2013 in Sydney
A
NZI NSW’s strategy of offering a generous discount
to those willing to travel for a course seemed to
be effective: four of the eight participants at the July
introductory course were from outside NSW, coming
from Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT, and New Zealand.
Everyone had their own story about what had brought
them to the course. Several of the students were editors
looking to expand their skills into indexing. One
participant is studying writing and editing at postgraduate level, but her course did not cover indexing, so
she had come to ANZSI for training. Another, in the tax
field, wanted to overhaul the apparently unhelpful index
in a major reference work she uses very often. More than a
few of the participants had seen indexes so awful that they
felt that they could — with professional training — do
better themselves!
John Archer, from Tasmania, clearly demonstrated that
lifelong learning can be a reality. A retired dairy farmer,
now in his seventies, he had transcribed over 400 family
letters as a retirement project, using voice-recognition
software for the first time. He then published them with
his own index, which he created using a multi-purpose,
inexpensive software package. He is now writing a local
history book and was looking to acquire more formal
indexing skills, and to learn about the dedicated indexing
software options.
The students greatly appreciated the willingness of teacher
Glenda Browne to share her practical tips as well as her
detailed theoretical knowledge of indexing, both as a
profession and as a small business venture. Glenda and
Mary Coe also kindly brought in a range of general and
specialist indexing publications which were available for
students to peruse, and to purchase if they wished to
acquire resources to supplement the course notes.
Students at the NSW indexing course, Sydney
11–12 July 2013
Back row, L to R:
Mel Keenan, John Archer, Mary Coe (host), Anna
Farncomb, Jo Jarrah, Avril Vorsay
Front row, L to R:
Meredith Stokdijk, Maureen Butler, Celia Lindsay
Photo by: Glenda Browne
Two solid days on such a specialist topic may not be
everyone’s choice of pastime, but all the participants
seemed just as keen, if not more so, at the conclusion of
the course, to join the indexing fellowship. Many thanks
to ANZSI, and Glenda, for making this valuable training
available.
Celia Lindsay
[email protected]
Branch events
Date and time Organiser
Name of activity
Venue
Contact details
Details at
www.anzsi.org/site/calendar _ details.
asp?id=320
Details at
Tues 27 August
Meet the Puzzle
Qld Branch
Wizard
6:00 pm
asp?id=332
Details at
Tues 3 Sept
Golden Cinnamon
NSW Branch AGM
Restaurant
6.00 for 7.30 pm
asp?id=329
Old Op Shop, Holy
Details at
Wed 4 Sept
The Business of
Vic Branch
Trinity Anglican Church, www.anzsi.org/site/calendar _ details.
6:00 pm
Indexing
Kew
asp?id=321
Details at
Wed 2 Oct
ANZSI Council AGM
Elsternwick Club
Vic Branch
7:00 pm
& Dinner
asp?id=319
Wed 7 August
6.00 pm
Vic Branch
On
Indexing numbers &
branch library launch
ANZSI Newsletter
other pages
ANZSI News
Annual General Meeting notice
Distributed Council feedback
IDPF Report
eBooks self-education
The publishing and indexing scene in WA
Etcetera column
Editing skills for eBooks
Berkeley Extension Course
Introductory book indexing course
Old Op Shop, Holy
Kew
The Ward Office, 2
/ 63 Annerley Road,
Wooloongabba
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Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in September 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 30 August.
email to <[email protected]>
Postage
paid
Volume 9 | number 8 | September 2013
ANZSI News
Charging for Indexers Available
t the request of some members,
background to the unanimous
adoption of a fee is presented in this issue
of the Newsletter.
Council runs a very tight budget
and for 2011–12 it ran at a deficit. The
financial figures in the 2011–12 annual report <www.anzsi.
org/UserFiles/file/Annual%20Report%202012B.pdf>
show that ANZSI, as an organisation, has over $124,000
in funds, but most of this is held by the branches. Council’s
main source of funds is membership dues and it relies on
the good will of branches to pick up the cost of specific
projects, such as printing and distributing bookmarks,
or financing the honorarium for EPUB work. Over the
years Council has examined various options to develop a
more sustainable financial situation. This included asking
branches to make more of their finances available to
Council. Most branches rejected this option, preferring to
pay for specific one-off items, not core Council expenses.
Council had already agreed to reduce expenses by making
the newsletter available via email only from February 2014.
Even so, Council urgently needed alternative sources of
income to cover the basic services it provides to members,
to prevent a further deficit for 2013–14.
The ANZSI Constitution states at J.8: “The funds of
the Society shall be derived from subscription fees, fees for
attendance at training courses, sale of publications, fees for
attendance at conferences, and such other sources as the
Council may from time to time determine.”
There was a clear message from members, via Branch
Presidents, that members did not want membership fees to
increase for 2013–14.
I have asked the Treasurer, Max McMaster to supply this
information on the decision.
As at 1 May 2013 ANZSI Council’s assets stood at
$12,272. Expenditure was running much higher than
income, and had been for some time, so there was a
necessity either to reduce services to members or to
A
increase revenue. The major source of Council revenue is
from memberships, with small amounts of revenue from
newsletter advertising, Council-organised training, and
online service fees from branches.
As Council is well aware of the need to reduce expenses,
it has introduced an electronic only newsletter from
1 January 2014, thus saving around $1500 in printing and
postage costs in the current financial year.
The initial decision to introduce GST (for Australian
members) was made by Council a couple of years ago, but
had not been implemented. Council decided to introduce
GST for the 2013–14 financial year.
The Treasurer took three options to the full Council
meeting in mid-May 2013. A number of assumptions
were made. Although membership at that time was 206,
the introduction of GST was likely to result in a loss of
members, so calculations were based on 195 members.
Changing to a higher membership fee was also likely
to incur a further loss of membership so figures were
calculated on 186 members.
Since the calendar year membership was being phased
out there were also 25 half-year memberships covering
January – June 2014 to be considered, to bring these
members back into line with the bulk of the members on
financial year memberships.
There were 96 members listed on Indexers Available, but
calculations were based on 90, as some loss was expected.
Option 1: Make no change to membership fees, except
to add on GST for Australian members, i.e. A$88 for
Australian members; A$66 for NZ members. Revenue
$15,675.
Option 2: Increase membership fees for all members.
Australian fees to incur GST, i.e. A$110 for Australian
members, A$83 for NZ members. Revenue $18,504
(Council document 37/056)
Option 3: Keep membership fees as is, apart from the
GST for Australian members (as in Option 1) but introduce
an additional separate charge for Indexers Available. The
suggested figure was A$38.50 for Australian members; A$29 for NZ members.
Total revenue $19,045 (Council document 37/087)
The May full Council meeting, at which all the Branch Presidents were
represented, discussed the three options, and agreed unanimously that
Option 3 was the most acceptable and recommended its adoption.
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
Indexers Available equivalents
After the ASI Conference I reported in the May Newsletter that one topic
discussed at the ICRIS meeting was the various societies’ equivalents to
Indexers Available, as the Society of Indexers prepares to launch its updated
version. I was surprised to learn that ANZSI is the only society that doesn’t
charge its members to advertise in their Indexers Available. Costs to advertise
services on the various lists range from about $40 to $150 per year. ASI has
found that while their membership numbers had dropped their revenue from
their Indexers Available equivalent has not dropped.
This means that the fee charged by ANZSI is less that that charged by other
indexing societies.
Information in Indexers Available
Prior to the introduction of the fee, members elected whether to include their
details. Many have been surprised to find they are listed, as they are no longer
available for indexing work, and have asked to be removed. While we remind
members it is their responsibility to update their entries, many have neglected
to do so for some years. This has meant that Indexers Available contained
out-dated and inaccurate information. Not a good image for a professional
organisation.
Advertising in Indexers Available is tax deductible for most members.
Further, by including only those members who are prepared to pay, Indexers
Available provides a much more marketable product to editors and publishers.
They know the information in Indexers Available is up-to-date and the indexers
listed are prepared to accept contract work.
Improvements to Indexers Available
The improvements to Indexers Available project is the responsibility of NSW
Branch, and is led by Madeleine Davis. They are hoping to present these
improvements to the joint ANZSI/Editors conference in May 2015.
Comments
I remind members that ANZSI welcomes their comments. I encourage
members to contact their Branch Presidents or Council if they have any
comments or suggestions.
Council AGM
The ANZSI Council AGM is on Wednesday 2 October. I encourage all
members to examine the Agenda as one of the main items for decision is the
modified Constitution. All members are welcome to attend the AGM and
dinner. If you are unable to attend I encourage you to lodge a proxy voting
form by 1 October. You can find all details at <www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_
details.asp?id=319>.
Is this your last Newsletter?
Now that I have your attention, don’t panic! This is just a reminder to members
who still haven’t renewed their membership that this will be the last issue of
the Newsletter they receive, as financial year subscriptions are due by the end
of September.
Mary Russell
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers will be held on
Wednesday 2 October 2013 at 7.00 pm
at the Elsternwick Club, 19 Sandham Street, Elsternwick Victoria (Melway 67, F2).
Agenda
1. Minutes
To approve the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at the Elsternwick Club, 19 Sandham Street,
Elsternwick, Victoria on Wednesday 31st October 2012.
(Note: These may be found on the website at
<www.anzsi.org/UserFiles/file/AGM%20Minutes%202012.pdf>.)
2. Matters arising from the minutes not included elsewhere in the agenda
3. Annual Report
To receive and approve the Annual Report on the Society’s activities in 2012–13.
The Annual Report will be posted on the website following the Council meeting on 12 September 2013.
4. Treasurer’s Report
To receive and approve an audited financial report from the Treasurer on the year 2012–13.
The statement will be tabled at the meeting.
5. Council for 2013–14
To receive a report from the Returning Officer on nominations for the following positions and, if necessary, to hold
an election
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Five council members
(In the event there was only one nomination for each position. The election results are shown on the next page.)
6. Constitution
To approve the following motion:
That the revised Constitution as set out in document AGM 37/1 be approved.
NB: Under the terms of the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic) this is a special resolution
and will require a majority of three quarters of those voting in person or by proxy to pass.
It has been necessary to revise the Constitution following the passage of the Associations Incorporation Reform Act
2012 (Vic). Details of the proposed changes may be found on the website at <www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.
asp?id=319>. Document AGM 37/1 is the revised Constitution. Document AGM 37/2 sets out the old and revised
constitutions in parallel texts, showing the various revisions.
7. Life membership
To approve a recommendation from the Council for an award of life membership
8. Any other business
Not requiring prior notice
ANZSI: election of officers and Council
2013–14
At the close of nominations for ANZSI Officers and Council at 5.00 pm on Wednesday 28 August 2013, the following
nominations had been received:
President
Glenda Browne
Vice President
Denise Sutherland
Secretary
Mei Yen Chua
Treasurer
Michael Wyatt
Committee (five positions) Madeleine Davis
Terri McKenzie
There being only one nomination for each position, the above-named persons are elected unopposed.
In accordance with Clause G1(k) of the Constitution nominations will be called at the AGM to fill the remaining
three positions for councillors-at-large. Any member unable to attend the AGM who is interested in standing for one
of these positions is invited to complete a nomination form and send it to the address on the form by noon on Tuesday
1 October 2013. Scanned signatures are acceptable. A nomination form may be downloaded from the website
<www.anzsi.org/UserFiles/file/Nominations%202013b.pdf>.
For members attending the AGM, nomination forms will be available at the meeting.
Jenny Restarick, Returning Officer
29 August 2013
The Victorian Indexing Club (The VIC) meeting in July
G
uest speaker Peter Dowling (pictured) drew an
excellent crowd to the July meeting at the State
Library of Victoria. This included 22 visitors (the largest
cohort seen yet) associated with various historical societies,
academic institutions, libraries and archives.
Peter is the creator of the Index to imagery in Australian
colonial illustrated newspapers, a two-volume, 1490-page
privately produced publication, which indexes around
12,000 images in nearly all Australian colonial illustrated
newspapers. Volume I indexes the images by subject, region
and date, while Volume II indexes the images by creator.
Peter’s love of 19th century realist art led him to study
art history, gaining a PhD in imagery in Australian colonial
illustrated newspapers. Graphic journalism was at its height
during this era, and to assist in his research Peter devised a
list of 27 subject headings into which he would categorise
images. It was this aspect of his work that became the
seed for his 2012 publication, after Peter realised that the
newspapers were a rich but sadly under-utilised resource for
art history and history. This steeled his resolve to make the
images more accessible and propelled him down the path
of indexing.
Creating the index was a 15-year project which Peter
says he never found boring, and he enjoyed seeing patterns
develop in it as it grew. It was however not without some
surprises and challenges – for instance, when Peter was well
into the project, he was made aware of the Australian Pictorial
Thesaurus. He decided to continue on with his own list of
subject headings after encouragement from a member of
the APT team. The self publishing
stage also offered a lesson, as the
page headers he’d created in his
manuscript disappointingly didn’t
transfer to the published work.
But with that behind him,
Peter set about marketing his
index which is now held by every
Australian State and Territory
library, several university libraries,
the Turnbull Library in New Zealand and the British
Library.
We came as a bit of a surprise to Peter, as when we
approached him to speak to us he was not aware of ANZSI.
He will be writing an article based on his presentation for
the March 2014 edition of The Indexer; we also recorded
the session with the idea of putting it up on the website
as ANZSI’s first podcast. Vic Branch Committee has been
toying with the idea of podcasts for some time now, as a
means of sharing meetings of The VIC more widely. (This
news also provided consolation to some disappointed
people who were unable to get to the meeting due to a
number of cancelled trains!)
Having so many visitors provided us with a good
opportunity to promote ANZSI, and it was good to see back
issues of The Indexer and the ANZSI Newsletter disappear,
along with ANZSI bookmarks, lanyards, membership
forms and flyers about forthcoming meetings of The VIC.
Nikki Davis
Letters to the Editor: Is Indexers Available worth paying for?
Two letters this month have put different viewpoints on the issue of charging for Indexers Available ...
For:
have just paid my $38.50 to retain my listing and feel it is
well worth the small fee, which is tax-deductable anyway.
I have been ‘found’ through my listing and it has provided me
with ongoing work, beyond the initial title I was contracted
to do.
In 2003, I was contacted by Martin Thomas who was
looking for an indexer for his book The Artificial Horizon:
Imagining the Blue Mountains. He lives in Katoomba, and
selected me because I also lived in the Blue Mountains, and
had indicated History as one of my areas of strength. It was
not a history as one would expect, but quite mystical in its
approach, partly because of the hazy blue of the landscape,
the aboriginal history in the area, and the number of people
who would come to the mountains for the purpose of suicide.
It was awarded the Gleebooks Prize for Literary and Cultural
Criticism, one of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, in
2004.
I
If I had not been listed in Indexers Available I would
not have been ‘found’ and therefore would have missed out
on the experience of working with Martin on his wonderful
book, and would not have been contracted for his subsequent
work.
I am currently working on a 50th anniversary book for
the Australian Society of Authors, both proofreading and
indexing. Again, I was ‘found’ in Indexers Available.
These are just two examples of my benefiting from my
listing in Indexers Available.
When I am contacted by a publisher for whom I have not
worked before I always ask where or how they found me. It is
about 50/50 Indexers Available or word of mouth. I believe the
fee is a very small price to pay for professional ‘advertising’. I
also believe that if you are selected from Indexers Available it is
a fair bet they had done their homework and looked at others
listed and made their choice according to the information
provided in the listing. It is important to keep your details up
to date so your selection is based on your current work status
and fields of strength.
Barbara Bessant (NSW Branch)
Against:
am writing to protest at the new fee for appearing in
Indexers Available. This has been presented as a fait
accompli, without consultation with the membership. No real
justification for the impost has been given by the President
in either the June or July Newsletter; we are merely told
that Council has decided to do it. I know that both the
National Executive and the State branches have very healthy
bank balances, so Council cannot claim that it is doing this
because it needs the revenue.
Council seems to have lost sight of the fact that it exists
for its members. As a professional indexer, i.e. one who makes
his living from indexing, a listing in Indexers Available is one
of the the main things that has kept my membership active
up to now. It is, or rather was, really the only practical thing
that the membership subscription of $80 a year provided for
working indexers. It means we are now paying $80 a year
solely for the Newsletter.
As a member since 1988, and as someone who served for
fifteen years in various capacities, including national president
and NSW state president, and as a member of the ANZSI
panel of assessors for the last six years, I find this
development extremely disappointing and unjustifiable. It is
bureaucracy gone mad.
I encourage other members who feel similarly to make
their feelings known to Council.
Garry Cousins (NSW Branch)
I
The power of the index
F
or the past ten years, Max McMaster has been
compiling and cumulating the author and subject
indexes to Chemistry in Australia, the journal of the
Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Readers are able
to access the indexes on the RACI’s website
<www.raci.org.au/>.
For the July 2013 edition, Max switched roles for
a bit and contributed an article entitled ‘The power
of the index’. It covers the topic of how in this era
of ‘publish or perish’, indexers are on hand to help
scientists’ precious papers reach the research world.
Nikki Davis
O
n Tuesday 27 August 2013, ANZSI Queensland
members and industry colleagues were entertained by
the Puzzle Wizard, aka Greg Parker.
Greg suffered life threatening cancer as a young child,
but this life crisis may have made him into the genius that
he so obviously is today.
Greg Parker first produced an 87-page book of puzzles
using hand-written code and with some computer assistance.
He planned to do this every three months, but found that
he had to increase his volume of booklets to make a living.
So he went about this dream with a willing heart and mind
and a fair grasp of the computer programs which he himself
devised in the process.
Since then he has created not one every three months,
but more like 17 different versions every 3 months, with a
huge print run to satisfy his vast flocks of followers.
Greg has turned his small business into a thriving and
successful industry, which he thoroughly enjoys.
He has a simple and honest attitude towards his creative
puzzle business. He loves giving enjoyment to his clients,
who from the size of his print runs, are absolutely craving
his creative, inventive puzzles and who are happy solving
the clues which he is still churning out some 14 years
later.
Puzzles are such fun, with the answers in the back
for new puzzlers and rusty vocabularies. Have you tried
to solve the Puzzle Wizard’s clues lately? Have a try and
stretch your mind – it is rather different to indexing!
Next meeting: 24 September, more details TBA – see
website QLD Branch
Seated beside Puzzle Wizard
Greg Parker is Moira Brown, and
behind (l to r) are Jeni Lewington,
Graham Potts, Marisa Trigger,
David Muller.
Photo Jane Douglas.
WA Group dinner
É
cucina bar and restaurant, in Hay Street, Perth,
was the venue for the WA Group dinner held on
24 July. Six people attended. Alex George, a botanist and
botanical indexer, who some members would remember
from the 2007 Melbourne ANZSI Conference; Jan
McCahon Marshall and Jenna Lynch from the City of
Perth History Centre, both of whom are involved with the
indexing of oral histories; Frank Smith, an editor, and his
wife; and myself.
Where were Linda McNamara, WA Group rep, and
Shelley Campbell, you might ask? Although both had
intended to come to the dinner, life happens. Linda took
a very sudden opportunity to travel to the UK to help
celebrate her mother-in-law’s 80th birthday. Shelley phoned
me from hospital to say she was having a plate inserted into
her wrist after sustaining a major fracture following a fall
during a canoeing trip. She is fortunately on the mend.
Those of us who attended the dinner had a fantastic
evening. The food and wine were excellent, we talked about
all manner of things, including indexing, and the company
was very agreeable. At the end of the evening, everyone
present asked if we could make the get-together an annual
event – a definite indication that they had enjoyed it!
The dinner is already marked on next year’s ANZSI
calendar.
Max McMaster
Zakuski
W
elcome to another bite of Zakuski. Congratulations
to Denise Sutherland and her colleague Jane Douglas
on their first column of Etcetera. Well done ladies!
Every time I write this column I worry that I may not
have enough information, but fear not, here are some more
titbits to devour.
A library with a difference
To celebrate Seniors Week in October, Whitehorse
Manningham Regional Library Service in Victoria is
organizing a Human Library. This library operates like
a conventional library except for one big difference: the
books in the Human Library are people. The library aims to
celebrate and promote diversity, encourage understanding
and respect, break down barriers and build bridges, and
challenge stereotypes and prejudices.
Readers (or borrowers) are community members who
have a genuine interest in learning more about others
in the community. Visitors to such a library can borrow
a human ‘book’ for a short discussion, and through
these conversations, people can learn about different life
experiences, backgrounds, skills and whatever else they can
offer. If you are over 60 and would like to be a 'human
book' please email Catherine Killmier on
Footpath library
An interesting item appeared on the 7 pm ABC News
towards the end of July. Called the Footpath Library, this
library is set up to bring a wide range of books to the
homeless and disadvantaged. The books are donated and
have to be in mint condition. It is not a lending library,
but the books are dispersed to the homeless and then if they
want they can give them back or give them to their friends
or acquaintances. Since the news item was broadcast, the
organization has been flooded with donations. You can
also donate money, instead of books. They are very fussy
as to the kind of books they want. This library is set up in
Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Please check the website
for details if you are interested:
<http://footpathlibrary.org>.
50 shades of grey literature
The June/July2013 issue of Incite had an interesting
article on Grey Literature. This is information produced
by organisations where publishing is not their main role.
Looking at the A-Z diagram under ‘I’ it consists of Image
Directories, Inaugural Lectures, Indexes, Internet Reviews
and Interviews. Under ‘D’ they had Databases, Directories,
Discussion Papers and Dissertations
<http://www.greynet.com>.
Librarian’s image reinvented
If you were ever a fan of Lego as a child, one clever person
has been still playing with it. Lego now has its own version
of a Lego Librarian, from the typical stereotype to the
downright sexy. All very amusing!! I quite like the warrior
one and the one holding the whip!! No I am not bent and
twisted!!!
<http://bookriot.com>.
Leunig homily
As a regular reader of the Saturday Age’s Life and Style
section, I came across this rather perceptive poem by
cartoonist and social commentator Michael Leunig. This
man reminds me of Eric Satie’s Trois Gymnopédies, which
are impressionistic piano pieces that are sparse and rather
whimsical in nature.
Here is Michael’s poem :
Wisdom
How many mouse clicks to wisdom?
What could it possibly be?
Might it be three hundred million?
Could it be something like three?
Or maybe the nature of clicking
Prevents any wisdom at all:
A mouse is for choosing and picking
But wisdom’s a hole in the wall.
Quoted from The Saturday Age August 24, 2013.
Terri Mackenzie
Interim Victorian Branch President
T
here has been a change to the Executive of the
Victorian Branch. Nikki Davis is the Acting
Victorian Branch President following the resignation
of Iris Bergmann.
Quiet achievers in indexing – Prue Deacon
Who has been the greatest influence on your
career?
think it would have to be John Balnaves, who taught
the Information Retrieval Systems unit at the Canberra
College of Advanced Education in the mid-1970s. This
was one of the first units of my Graduate Diploma in
Librarianship and I can well remember John pacing
backwards and forwards expounding his wisdom. From
him I learned the importance of looking at systems as a
whole and aiming for excellence in all parts of a system.
I
My indexing career has been in the areas of cataloguing,
database indexing, thesaurus development and metadata.
For most of it I was a librarian in the Australian Government
Department of Health and Ageing.
My first library job was in the science and technology
branch of the National Library, ANSTEL. Here I met my
longest-standing colleague, Sandra Henderson. I enjoyed
reference work and was horrified at the prospect of
being rotated to Cataloguing after
my first year. My placement was in
the PRECIS indexing section where
we provided the subject indexing for
the Australian National Bibliography
(ANB). To my surprise, I loved it. Of
course PRECIS indexing was not costeffective and it was later abandoned
by ANB. However, for me it provided
an intensive grounding in looking at
a book or article, determining what it
was about and matching the concepts
to index terms. At that time Jan
Fullerton was head of Cataloguing
and in the ANB team I met Jill Buckley (later Jill Buckley
Smith), with whom I worked so closely on HealthInsite in
recent years.
I next moved to the Commonwealth Department of
Health Library and managed cataloguing there for many
years. I was initially attracted by the opportunity to work
with MeSH, which had such a logical structure compared
with Library of Congress subject headings. I always
thought of myself as an indexer rather than a cataloguer
and focused on subject indexing. It worried me that the
international cataloguing rules were about descriptive
cataloguing, ignoring subject access. I was also concerned
that library systems catered for the catalogue record in
detail while providing very poor search functionality.
In the 1980s I managed the editing team for the
‘Bibliography of Australian Medicine and Health Services
to 1950’. We created a database of 11,000 catalogue
records with MeSH indexing. The name/title and subject
indexes were published as a handsome four-volume work.
Unfortunately these indexes were regarded by many as the
output of the project. The database languished and finally
disappeared when the National Library’s World 1 project
was abandoned in the 1990s. I wonder how many other
electronic records from this era have been lost because of
maintenance difficulties.
My next big project was developing a new thesaurus.
The Department had expanded from health to incorporate
community services. (Later housing and local government
were added.) MeSH was no longer appropriate. However,
I was able to use MeSH as the basis for health terms and
for the overall structure. The thesaurus was first published
in 1991 and I have recently been involved in preparing the
9th edition.
achievement?
My greatest achievement was being part of the team that
developed HealthInsite. In the mid-1990s, when websites
were first being developed, Roxanne Missingham was
one of the Department’s information services managers.
Astutely, she snared the role of content management for the
Library. Later, along with Jill Buckley
Smith and Stephanie Tow, I was
fortunate to move into a combined
IT and librarian team to manage the
Department’s internet and intranet
sites. The Health Minister envisaged
a ‘megahub’ to provide health
information for all Australians. We
created HealthInsite, a gateway to
quality health information resources
on other Australian websites. Metadata
was crucial, providing the data for
Prue in Patagonia site structure, search enhancement,
personalisation and search results
display. We also created a mechanism to keep the metadata
up-to-date.
As a former cataloguer, accustomed to being in the
backroom, it was exciting for me to be working with my
colleagues and IT professionals to build a very public
website. It was also gratifying to be able to demonstrate the
value of metadata so clearly.
HealthInsite is still at <www.healthinsite.gov.au> but has
been taken over by Healthdirect Australia and relaunched
as a somewhat different site.
Retirement from the Australian Public Service. I am
continuing some metadata and thesaurus contract work
but there is simply not enough time for all the other things
I want to do: bushwalking, embroidery, travel, gardening,
reading, meeting friends for coffee etc.
How do you try to achieve work–life balance?
To a large extent, I compartmentalise my time. As an
employee I aimed to work efficiently and avoid exceeding my
(Quiet achievers – Prue Deacon, continued from previous page)
paid working hours. However, I spent a lot of time outside
work on professional development activities – writing
papers, committee/conference work and study. Of course,
when I had children at home, they had some priority. Over
the years I got to know my stress limits and when to take a
break. These days I am an expert procrastinator and avoid
worrying about the length of my to-do lists. I try to have
lots of outdoor exercise.
In subject indexing and thesaurus development what I like
most is working with words, concepts and fuzzy logic. I also
enjoy the health subject area and read widely on health
issues, especially evidence-based practice and the history of
medicine.
What I like least is the constant need to justify the costs
of indexing to new managers with no experience of library
work.
What advice would you offer to indexers just
starting out?
Be very clear about what value you are adding in your work
and learn how to explain that value to your managers or
clients.
My first degree was in science and my initial thoughts
on this question were about my heroes in science, people
like Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur. On further reflection
I have selected Rosalind Franklin, inspired by a recent
biography written by her sister*. Franklin was the X-ray
crystallographer whose work contributed to the discovery
of the double helix structure of DNA. Colleagues went on
to receive a Nobel Prize but, sadly, Franklin died in 1958
at the age of 37. Her role was not properly acknowledged
at the time, even by the people who had used her X-ray
diffraction images. There was some controversy about this
but her contribution has now been recognised.
I can understand Franklin’s passion for research and her
(reputed) prickliness. Her personality has been depicted
in many writings and films. I would love to chat with
her about the people she worked with and find out her
opinions of their personalities.
*Glynn, Jenifer. My sister Rosalind Franklin. OUP, 2012.
I am not keen about being a letter. I would rather be an
exclamation mark, used judiciously to express happiness,
joy or astonishment!
Quiet Achiever: Alan Eddy
Who has been the greatest influence on your
career?
areer here means my 40-plus years with the State
Forests Department and what I chose to do after
that. I single out A O P (Alf ) Lawrence OBE, who was
appointed as a junior forester in 1923 in Victoria, as having
the greatest influence. My brief encounters with him from
1946 until his retirement in 1969 from the chairmanship
of the Forests Commission always left me with a new idea
or challenge to chew over. He was not overtly a mentor,
but his autocratic pronouncements and personal discipline
stimulated productive, even lofty, thinking and action.
C
I had been book reviews editor of Australian Forestry,
proofreading papers, making referee’s comments and
compiling the simple annual index. A librarian friend
suggested in the mid-1970s that I would make a good
indexer because I was pedantic and fussy over details, and
it could be an interest in retirement. I attended a threeSaturday introduction to indexing offered by the Society in
Melbourne, and my interest grew little by little until about
1990.
achievement?
The answer to this tough question must be what was
achieved while I was Principal of the Victorian School of
Forestry, at Creswick, from January 1969 for about ten
years. The School, established in 1910, had changed its
regimes little during the depressed 1930s and the war years.
The practical isolation of the School in a small goldfields
town, and the fact that the nearly all the students were
trainees bonded to the Victorian Public Service had made
it simple for boarding-school rules to endure, despite the
snowballing social changes of the 1960s.
The times were unsettling for the young, in many
countries. The age of students ranged from 17 to 20-plus,
most having come straight from Year 12. The birthdate
lottery for national service and service in Vietnam loomed
as an interruption to further studies and getting on with
a career in forestry. Clothing fashions had changed,
and by 1967 hippies had become conspicuous. Teenage
music dominated the radio, hairstyles for youths caused
parents and teachers worries.
Widespread availability of
the Pill abetted social
changes. By 1973 the voting
age was lowered to 18 years.
Perhaps these could rightly
be called years of challenge
for the young.
The Forests Commission
Victoria which ran the
School was sensitive to
sudden changes under
fresh management; likewise
the conservative town of
Creswick, watching over
its school. The principal of
a residential college must
sacrifice personal time with
family and friends, and
some recreations fall by the
wayside. If I was at home
I was on duty, 24/7 in today’s
language.
I was invited to join the board of the infant Sovereign
Hill early in 1969, which turned out to be a growing
interest.
I was responsible for a school that grew and diversified
successfully while it prepared its students for responsible
positions in forest resource management. Without the
dedicated support of a mainly new teaching staff, and the
cooperation of the students, the story could have been quite
different. The mood and morale of the School community
changed quite quickly. Rules and procedures were altered
at a controlled rate. The wholehearted support of the
Forests Commission and the Board of Forestry Education
throughout was magnificent. I claim my contributions
to forestry education as a major achievement, being
encouraged to say so now by opinions expressed recently
by students of the 1970s.
(Quiet achievers – Alan Eddy, continued from previous page)
Mine was a shared achievement because my wife
accepted her role with unfailing good judgement and
discretion. Overseas and Australian visitors would be
brought to our house by the central quadrangle for lunch
during an inspection of Victoria’s forestry school set in an
arboretum, with native forest and pine plantations at the
back door.
Accepting rejection of my index by an editor for one of the
university presses because the four or so authors of chapters
of a second edition of a textbook on education in the
arts didn’t like it. I had stuck to style sheets and indexing
specifications provided by the editor, and delivered on time.
I was nonplussed when she phoned to say that they could
not use my index. The editor agreed that the index satisfied
the specifications and herself. She said the teacher-authors
had then spent two days and nights, heads wrapped in wet
towels, devising an index that suited them.
How do you try to achieve work-life balance?
My indexing assignments have been more a trickle than a
flow. It has been simple to accommodate them within the
routines of a small household, my weekly volunteering and
few social commitments. My wife is content for an index
to take over my daily life for ‘as long as it takes’. I become
absorbed in the work to the extent that I neglect garden
and other chores, until reminded. I am content to work
every day when this is needed to meet a deadline. Not a
good balance, true.
Most
Producing something of value to readers of a book,
to the style wanted by its publisher and fulfilling my
understanding of a worthwhile index. There is always scope
to include an impish entry in the index, in the hope that it
will amuse some readers.
Compiling an index is a sort of battle of wits. The calibre
of an index depends as much on the comprehension and
wit of the indexer as on following rules and conventions.
Finding errors and inconsistencies provide opportunities to
alert the editor and establish a clearer understanding of the
indexer’s role.
A freelance can work early and late, taking short or
longer breaks as other commitments and the editor’s
deadline allows. There is no travel to work, and no dress
standards are required.
Least
Unreasonable deadlines, but the pleasure of demolishing an
unreasonable deadline is worth a lot. An editor’s demand
for the finished index by ‘COB Friday’ can be outrageous.
Negotiation by phone is far more effective than emails, for
editors need to be taught that Friday afternoon and sunrise
on Monday are separated by more than 50 hours.
What advice would you offer to indexers just
starting out?
Become familiar with the contents of the ANZSI website.
Delve particularly into the Indexing Resources section. Test
the water by enrolling for a basic course in book indexing,
to give you a glimpse of how an indexer starts to think
about compiling an index.
Digest a couple of books on the art of indexing, making
time to look critically through indexes in a range of books
in the municipal library. Choose a few indexed books on
subjects you know about and test the scope and depth of
the indexing.
Enrol for courses offered through the Society, and attend
Branch events if times and distances allow it. Apply for
membership and digest the Newsletters as they are issued.
Do not expect freelance indexing to pay many bills.
To me that means ‘dine at his table with other guests’, not
just the two of us. I would choose John Evelyn, the English
diarist, linguist and writer of more than 30 books on a
surprising range of subjects during his long life from 1620
to 1708.
John Evelyn knew leading natural philosophers and
writers, including Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Isaac
Newton, Robert Boyle, and Samuel Pepys with whom he
corresponded often. John Evelyn was a prominent original
Fellow of the Royal Society, under the auspices of which
Sylva, or a Discourse of Forest Trees, was published in 1664.
In Paris he was a courtier around the uncrowned Charles II.
He lived in turbulent times, under three kings, one of them
publicly executed, and he left the English jurisdiction for
his own safety when Cromwell held power. Evelyn lived
though the Great Plague and the Great Fire.
Who could refuse the chance of hearing his conversation
with companions at table, observing what food was eaten,
and what courtesies were followed ?
M. It stands sturdy, and as close to the centre as can be. It
is sounded with closed lips, suggesting discretion but not
necessarily secrecy, or perhaps restrained agreement with
something just heard. The twin dashes for this letter in
Morse code should be a reminder to editors to pay close
attention to hyphens, en and em dashes, and the use of
spaces.
Date and time
Organiser
Name of activity
Venue
Contact details
Sun 22 Sept
11.00 am
NZ Branch
AGM
30 Fourth Avenue,
Kingsland, Auckland
Note revised venue
Tues 24 Sept
6.00 pm
Qld Branch
General meeting
TBA – see website QLD Branch
Wed 2 Oct
7.00 pm
ANZSI
ANZSI Council
AGM & Dinner
Elsternwick Club
Details at
Wed 2 Oct
Vic Branch
Vic Branch AGM
follows ANZSI
Elsternwick Club
Tues 22 Oct
6.15 for 6.30 pm
ACT Region
AGM and dinner
The Brassey, Barton
4 Nov to 2 Dec
Intermediate/
NSW Branch practical indexing
course online
–
ANZSI Newsletter
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI News
ANZSI Newsletter
ANZSI AGM agenda
ANZSI Officers and Council 2013–14
The VIC in July
Is Indexers Available worth paying for?
WA Group dinner
The power of indexing
Zakuski
Interim Victorian Branch President
Quiet achiever – Prue Deacon
Quiet achiever – Alan Eddy
Details at
Contact <[email protected]>
Details at
1
2
3
4
4
5
6
6
6
7
7
8
10
Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in October 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 27 September.
Please send contributions by email to the Editor
Peter Judge <[email protected]>.
Volume 9 | number 9 | October 2013
ANZSI News
Annual report
t the Council AGM on 2 October the ANZSI Annual report will be presented. The
complete report will be available at <www.anzsi.org/site/annualreports.asp>. Sections
of the report will be published in the Newsletter, starting with the work of Council and
excerpts from the Membership report.
A
Over and out
This is my final ANZSI News column. Officially at the AGMs on the 2 October I step down
as ANZSI President and from the Victorian Branch Committee. I am taking a break from
all ANZSI committees. Note that is ‘committees’ not indexing.
As I sign off I wish you all good health and lots of enjoyment indexing. I conclude with
the final words from The Sound Of Music – So Long, Farewell (the Children) Lyrics
I’m glad to go, I cannot tell a lie
I flit, I float, I fleetly flee, I fly
The sun has gone to bed and so must I
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye
Mary Russell
ANZSI Annual Report 2012–13
President’s Introduc�on
T
he Council has pleasure in presenting its Annual Report for 2012–13. The report will be presented at the Annual
General Meeting in Elsternwick on 2 October 2013. The report is compiled from contributions from all Council
members and officials to represent all the work done by ANZSI.
2012–13
This financial year has been significant not only for ANZSI but for indexing in general with the work of the IDPF Indexes
Working Group. Here are a few highlights
• The first ANZSI Conference to be held in New Zealand was held in Wellington in March. It was a success and, with
content of interest to publishers, provided a wonderful opportunity to promote indexing in New Zealand.
• A comprehensive survey of members provided useful information about members, such as the type of indexing done
and what other work they are doing. Back-of-book indexing is the main type of indexing done but, of the respondents
indexing books; over half are only doing between one and five indexes a year. Indexing is typically only one way
respondents earn an income with most doing other work, such as editing or proof reading. Income earned from
indexing is typically less than 25% of total income and for three quarters of respondent it is either nothing or less the
$15,000.
• Training courses have been held around the Society. Introduction courses were run in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
Intermediate or practical courses were run in a couple of different forms by New South Wales and Queensland Branch,
(ANZSI Annual Report, continued from previous page)
•
•
ANZSI Newsletter
•
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
•
ISSN 1832-3855
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
as well as a Council run peer review on journal indexing. Specialist courses
were also run on embedded indexing, indexing annual reports and InDesign
indexing.
To be able to formally recognise the contributions to ANZSI by nonmembers we established an Outstanding Contribution Award. The first
recipient was Sylvia Ramsden.
Our work on the International Digital Publishing Forum, EPUB Indexers
Working Group continued through the work of the ANZSI Representative,
Glenda Browne.
ANZSI highlighted some of the issues relating to indexes in ebooks by
sending a response to the ‘ALIA Ebook and elending issues paper’ and
attending an ALIA event.
Council runs a very tight budget. Its main source of funds is membership
dues. It has no funds in reserve to fund any additional projects and is
heavily reliant on the good will of Branches to pick up the cost of specific
projects. Council continues to examine various options to develop a more
sustainable financial situation. Since there was a strong message to Council
not to increase fees, they unanimously decided to introduce a small fee to
members to advertise in Indexers Available. In June we registered for GST.
2013–14
At this AGM the Victorian based Council is stepping down in at the AGM
in October and handing over to a new Council team. We wish them well for
the future.
Thank you
Extra big thank you to all the Victorian based members of Council who have
worked tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of Council since taking over
in January 2007 from the NSW based Council. Thank you to all Council
members, officers and committee members, branch officers and committee
members, state and territory representatives, members and non-members who
volunteer their time to the Society and without whom the Society could not
function.
ANZSI Council Report 2012–13
Council membership
Mary Russell
President
Alan Eddy
Vice President
Michael Ramsden
Secretary
Margaret Findlay
Treasurer (to September 2012)
Max McMaster
Treasurer (from September 2012)
Glenda Browne
(from May 2013)
Dominique (Nikki) Davis (from November 2012)
Karen Gillen
Max McMaster
(to September 2012)
Shirley Campbell
President, ACT Region Branch
Frances Paterson
President, NSW Branch
Julie Daymond-King President, New Zealand Branch
Moira Brown
President, Queensland Branch
Dominique (Nikki) Davis President, Victorian Branch
(until October 2012)
Iris Bergmann
President, Victorian Branch
(from November 2012)
(ANZSI Council Report, continued from previous page)
Officers of the Society
Education Coordinator
Editor of the Newsletter
Membership Officer
Web Manager
Max McMaster (from December 2012)
Peter Judge
Karen Gillen
Mary Russell
State and Territory Representatives
Northern Territory Frieda Evans
North Queensland Jean Dartnall
South Australia
Jane Oliver
Tasmania
Christopher Brennan
Western Australia Linda McNamara
Chairs of Boards and Committees
Awards
Alan Walker (to December 2012)
Garry Cousins (from December 2012)
Board of Assessors Sherrey Quinn
Conference Committee (2013)
Tordis Flath
Conference Committee (2015)
Tracy Harwood (from March 2013)
Promotions and Publicity Max McMaster (to December 2012)
Dominique (Nikki) Davis (from December 2012)
Margaret Findlay
It was with sadness that the Society learned of the death, on 8 September 2012, of Margaret Findlay. Members of
the Council and the Committee of the Victorian Branch attended Margaret’s funeral service in the Uniting Church in
Hawthorn on 13 September. An obituary appeared in the Newsletter (Vol. 8, no. 9, October 2012).
During her professional career Margaret managed the Cunningham Library at ACER in Camberwell. She was a member
of AusSI (as it was then) in the early days and was employed as a consultant/organiser for the Society’s first conference In
Marysville in 1995. Margaret then rejoined the Society in 1996 and continued as a member until her death. Following
the success of the Marysville Conference she was heavily involved in organising the Hobart Conference in 1997 and all
subsequent conferences held in Victoria. She was successively Treasurer of the Victorian Branch and then, from 2007–12
of ANZSI. She was a model committee member and contributed greatly to the Society. Margaret will be sadly missed.
In memory of Margaret a donation of $200 was made to the Australian Cancer Research Fund
Meetings
Council met nine times during the year. As in the two immediately previous years a full meeting of the Council, including
the ex officio members, was held at the Great Western Airport Motel and Conference Centre in Atwood, close to Melbourne
Airport. Because of the conference in Wellington in March the meeting this year was held in May.
Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic)
This Act supersedes the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Vic) under which the society was incorporated in October
2010. The Act came into force on 26th November 2012 and organisations using their own rules were allowed a twelve
month period of grace to bring their rules into line with the new Model Rules. Council undertook a review of the
Constitution and a revised Constitution was approved and will be put to the members at the Annual General Meeting on
October 2013.
Survey of Members
The quinquennial survey of members was carried out, returns being due by June 2012. The results were analysed and
presented to Council in September 2012 and were referred to branches for comment. A majority of members expressed a
preference for the terms “Accreditation” and “Accredited Indexer” rather than “Registration” and “Registered Indexer”. and
Council approved the use of the new terminology at its meeting in July 2012. Another interesting finding was that 76% of
members earn less than $15,000 p.a from indexing and 55% less than $5,000. A summary of the results was printed in the
Newsletter in (Vol. 8 No. 9, October 2012) and the full results are on the website with the Council papers for September
2012 (http://www.anzsi.org/UserFiles/file/36-129%20Survey%20results.pdf ).
Renewal of Accreditation
Consideration of this item occupied some six months. Council realised in December that there was an anomaly in the
Constitution in that the policy of a five yearly renewal of accreditation ran counter to the provision that “The inclusion
of a member’s name in the Register will entitle a member to be known as a Registered Indexer of the Australian and New
Zealand Society of Indexers so long as he or she remains a financial member of the Society.” On the recommendation of
the ACT Region branch a motion to correct this anomaly had been put to the annual general meeting in 2007 but it was
defeated. A similar motion in 2008 was also defeated.
Renewal of Accreditation was scheduled to take place in 2012, five years after the first renewal exercise. At its meeting in
December 2012 Council agreed that the Society needed to decide whether or not it wished to continue with the policy and
that, if so, the anomaly needed to be resolved. Accordingly the scheduled renewal exercise did not take place. Two simple
alternatives for criteria and procedures were suggested by the Chair of the Board of Assessors but were not accepted by the
Council. Following consultation with the Board of Assessors the issue was referred to the meeting of the full Council in
May. At that meeting the Council decided to discontinue the policy.
Following this decision it was ascertained that, as a result of the first round of renewals in 2007, eleven members had not
been granted renewal. Of these six did not wish to seek renewal, four had not responded, and one application for renewal
was unsuccessful. Of the eleven two have since died and seven others are no longer members. The two remaining members
were re-instated as accredited indexers as required by the Constitution.
Education Coordinator
Council created the position of Education Coordinator and appointed Max McMaster to the position. A position
description was approved at the full meeting of the Council in May 2013.
Draft Curriculum
A draft curriculum for the Society’s basic course in indexing was prepared by Glenda Browne for the former Education
Committee. The document was approved in principle in 2011–12. Following consultation with the branches it was
formally approved by the Council meeting in May 2013 and has been posted on the website. (http://www.anzsi.org/
UserFiles/file/Curriculum%20May%202013.pdf ). The draft curriculum is designed to set out the content of a course, or
suite of courses, covering basic indexing principles and practical indexing
Council Training
Adelaide courses
Council ran two separate courses back-to-back in Adelaide over three days, August, 6-8, 2012. Basic Book Indexing Parts
1 and 2 were conducted by Max McMaster (6-7 August), and a Web Indexing and Metadata course was conducted by
Glenda Browne (8 August). The courses were organised by Jane Oliver (South Australian Group representative) and
Janet Wilkinson-Smith. We are grateful to both organisers for their assistance in initiating and managing the courses.
Twelve participants attended each day, which was the maximum the venue (DOME) could hold. Feedback following
the courses indicated that all participants had gained enormously from the experience. Profit from the courses was
$4,760, which was a very successful outcome for Council.
AusSI/ANZSI Newsletter Peer Review
The indexing of 37 years of the AusSI/ANZSI Newsletter involved 32 participants. Although the majority of the
volunteers were from within the Society’s ranks, assistance was provided by some knowledgeable Australian nonSociety members, as well as some overseas indexers. Eight of the volunteers requested their indexing be peer reviewed
to ensure their journal indexing skills were up to the mark, and this was capably done by Mary Russell.
Glenda Browne agreed to continue in her role on this Group. A statement on the work of the group appears elsewhere in
this report. Council is grateful to the ACT Region Branch for covering the cost of the honorarium.
Librarians, as purchasers and lenders of books, are an important group in the ebook community. ANZSI Council sent
a response to the ‘ALIA Ebooks and elending issues paper’, describing the work of IDPF and the IWG, and two ANZSI
NSW members attended the associated meeting, and raised the question of ebook indexes.
Review of ANZSI policies
Council undertook a review of ANZSI policies. The following policies were reviewed and, following consultation with
the branches, revisions were approved and have been posted on the website: Branding, Life Membership, Payments to
Members, Proxy Voting and Recommended Rate for Indexing.
Membership and Subscriptions
Subscriptions
Council decided to hold the subscription at AUD80 plus GST for Australian members (an increase of 10% owing to the
introduction of GST) and NZD80 for New Zealand members. It was also agreed that New Zealand members should have
the option to pay their subscriptions into the New Zealand Branch’s bank account with the New Zealand branch Treasurer
transferring the resulting income to the Council’s account in bulk, thus minimising bank transfer fees.
Over the past year the Society continued the trial of two subscription options: (a) Calendar-year Subscription (1 January
to 31 December); and (b) Financial-year Subscription (1 July to 30 June). After consideration in early 2013, it was resolved
to discontinue dual membership renewal periods in favour of a single renewal date of 1st July, and that the Constitution be
amended accordingly. It was later resolved that members due for renewal in January 2014 pay a pro rata subscription to
bring them into line with those whose membership runs for the financial year. The amendment to the Constitution will
be put to the members at the AGM in October 2013.
Membership
For some time, the Society has offered a ‘Student’ category of membership. In recent years, however, the number of
members selecting this option has varied between one and two. In view of the small number and the relatively small
concession it was resolved to discontinue this category of membership and to amend the Constitution accordingly. This
amendment will be put to the members at the AGM in October 2013..
Substitute members at Council meetings
The President of the New South Wales Branch was unable to attend the meeting of full Council in May and sought to
nominate her Vice-President as a proxy. This, however, is not at present permitted by the Constitution, which makes no
provision for proxies at council meetings. At the suggestion of the Secretary of the NSW branch a solution was found
whereby the NSW Vice President was elected by the Council to fill one of the vacancies for councillors-at-large’. The
revised Constitution, to be put to the AGM in October 2013, includes a provision for presidents of branches, if unable to
attend, to nominate a proxy.
Registration for GST
In April 2011 Council considered a paper canvassing the option of registering for GST. The paper was referred to branches.
Comments in support of the proposal were received from the ACT Region Branch and the New Zealand Branch and at its
meeting in June 2011 Council formally resolved to take the steps necessary to register for GST. However, owing to the illness
of the Treasurer the process of registration was not completed. Council took up this matter again in preparing the budget for
2013–14 and applied for registration. The process proved to be more complicated than anticipated as it was discovered that,
when the Society changed its name to the current form in 2004 the change of name was not registered with the Australian
Taxation Office as required under the rules for ABNs. Before the Society could register for GST it was first necessary to resolve
this matter. An application is currently before the ATO to register for GST with effect from Monday 17 June 2013.
Indexers Available
The full Council meeting in May decided to charge a fee for an entry in Indexers Available of AUD38.50 (incl. GST) for
members resident in Australia and NZD35 for members resident in New Zealand. This decision was taken in the context
of a situation in which ANZSI faced a probable deficit in 2013–14. The alternative was to increase the subscription to
AUD110 (incl. GST) for members resident in Australia and NZD100 for members resident in New Zealand. A brief
explanation of the budget decision, and of this decision, appeared in the June issue of the Newsletter. A longer explanation
appeared in the September 2013 issue.
Prior to the introduction of the fee, members elected whether to include their details on Indexers Available, and it was
their responsibility to manage their entries (i.e. to include accurate and up-to-date information about their qualifications,
expertise and experience). While many members elected to include their details on Indexers Available, some have neglected
to update their details on a regular basis. There have also been a number of other concerns related to the list, such as:
members being included although they were no longer actually available to take on any indexing work; members indicating
they had expertise in numerous areas but failing to provide any details of their qualifications, or publications indexed, to
support their claims; and members listing their contact details but not including any qualifications and/or indicating any
areas of expertise. As a result, much of the information available to potential clients has been inaccurate or at best uneven.
It is hoped that, with the introduction of a fee for advertising in the forthcoming financial year, members will be encouraged
to keep their entries accurate and up-to-date. Indexers Available will then be a far more useful product for both clients and
indexers.
Risk Assessment
The Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic) requires incorporated associations to indemnify office holders against
“any liability incurred in good faith by the office holder in the course of performing his or her duties as an office holder”.
The term “office holder” is defined to include all members of the governing committee. The limit of indemnity is $20,000.
The choice for the Society is to carry this risk itself or to insure against it. The Secretary and Treasurer carried out a review
of the Society’s insurance needs and presented a paper to the full meeting of the Council in May. Council decided that, in
general, the Society’s existing policy is adequate for the our needs. On the question of the indemnity Council decided that
the cost of insuring was out of all proportion to the risk.
Communication within ANZSI
Glenda Browne presented a paper which was considered at the full meeting of the Council in May. Arising from the paper
Council resolved to ask the NSW Branch to investigate the feasibility of the use of communications technology for meetings
of the Council.
Outstanding Contribution Award
At the Annual General Meeting in October 2012 an Outstanding Contribution Award was presented to Sylvia Ramsden.
The award was reported in the Newsletter for November 2012.
At the full meeting of the Council in May a recommendation for a further award was approved. The award will be
presented on a suitable occasion.
Archives
At its meeting in June 2013 Council considered the need to formulate an archives policy. As an initial step it was agreed
to conduct an audit of the Society’s archives as part of the process of handing over to a new Council.
Council 2013–14
At the full Council meeting in May members were informed that neither the current Executive, nor the two elected
members of Council, would seek re-election when nominations were called for the election of officers and council members
for 2013–14.
Membership Report
This is a selection of the major elements of the Membership Report section of the Annual Report. Table numbers are as
they appeared in the Annual Report.
Subscription periods
The Society continued the trial of two subscription options: (a) Calendar-year Subscription (1 January to 31 December);
and (b) Financial-year Subscription (1 July to 30 June) though this is likely to change.
Total Membership at 30 June 2013 (AR Table 1)
At 30 June 2013 ANZSI had a total of 198 members, of whom 29 are currently subscribing to a calendar-year membership
subscription.
Membership Figures at 30 June 2012 and 30 June 2013 (AR Table 2)
The table below compares the total membership figures at 30 June 2012 with those at 30 June 2013. Gains and losses were
calculated on the basis of the difference in overall total of branch memberships at the end of each financial year.
It was gratifying to see membership numbers stabilising after the trend of diminishing subscriptions in the previous two
financial years (losses of 21.3% in 2010–11 and 15% in 2011–12). Whereas losses were distributed evenly across the
branches in 2011–12, this financial year NSW was the only branch to register a reduction in overall membership with a
loss of close to 25%. Victorian membership was static with losses balanced out by gains in membership. The loss of NSW
members was balanced by gains in the ACT Region, New Zealand and Queensland branches, with the greatest increase in
membership being in the New Zealand Branch.
(ANZSI Membership Report, continued from previous page)
Branch
ACT and Region
New South Wales
New Zealand
Queensland
Victoria
No branch affiliation
Total membership
Members at
30 June 2012
32
41
25
29
64
6
197
Members at
30 June 2013
35
31
30
30
64
8
198
Overall
Gains
3
0
5
1
0
2
11
Overall
Losses
0
10
0
0
0
0
10
Table 2. Membership figures at 30 June 2012 compared to 30 June 2013
Accredited Indexers (AR Table 4)
The Table 4 below shows the number of accredited indexers by branch, in whole numbers and as a percentage of Life +
Personal members.
Branch
ACT Region
NSW
NZ
QLD
VIC
No Branch
TOTALS
Personal+Student+Life
Members
33
31
29
30
62
8
193
Percentage
Accredited Indexers
Accredited Indexers
21
42
10
7
24
0
21
7
13
3
2
15
0
40
Table 4. Accredited Members at 30 June 2013
Indexers Available (AR Table 5)
From 1 July 2013, a fee will be introduced for advertising in Indexers Available, and the Membership Secretary has been
allocated the role of maintaining a register of subscribers. The statistics for those listed in Indexers Available at 30 June 2013
are presented in Table 5 which follows. Corporate members are not included as they do not advertise freelance indexing
services.
Branch
ACT Region
NSW
NZ
QLD
VIC
None
TOTALS
Members
Members Listed on
Indexers Available
33
31
29
30
62
8
193
15
22
15
11
31
5
99
Percentage
Members Listed in
Indexers Available
45
71
52
37
50
63
51
Table 5. Members listed on Indexers Available at 30 June 2013
Etcetera
Eat Your Books
at Your Books (EYB) is a great
concept — an online index
to your own cookbooks. It is an
‘e-book’ way to search all the recipes
in your personal ‘p-book’ cookbook
collection, quickly, elegantly, and
easily.
To use EYB, you sign up at their
website <www.eatyourbooks.com>. You can choose from
a free membership which allows a maximum of five
cookbooks from your collection — or choose a monthly
(US$2.50) or annual (US$25.00) membership, to be able
to add unlimited numbers of recipe sources. A lifetime
membership is only US$50.
You then create your own Bookshelf, selecting the
cookbooks and cooking magazines you own. You can search
on title, author, or ISBN. They have a massive collection,
including many Australian titles such as Food Safari by Maeve
O’Meara and Stephanie Alexander’s Cook’s Companion. They
list over 400 cookbooks in the Australian Women’s Weekly
series, but many of these have not been indexed (yet, maybe
ANZSI members can improve on this!).
Then you can search for any recipe name, ingredient,
recipe type, ethnicity, cooking method … whatever you
like! The search engine displays a list of all matching recipes
from the books and magazines in your own collection.
They can be displayed in a list, or in a beautiful ‘Pinterest’
style with photos of recipes where available.
The EYB website does not present you with the actual
recipe — you then need to go to the cookbooks or other
recipe sources to get the recipe. But it helps searching for
‘That great curry we made last winter, which cookbook
was it in again?’ Or if you want to find every recipe that
contains poppy seeds in your cookbooks — it takes three
seconds, and two of those are for typing in ‘poppy seeds’.
Search results also provide category information and a
full list of main ingredients (quantities and ‘pantry’ staples
like salt and oil are not included); you can use this to create
shopping lists within EYB.
You can also use EYB to catalogue and organise your
cookbook collection, and add personal recipes, like Nanna
Jean’s Pumpkin Scone recipe, and individual recipes from a
selection of food blogs and websites. You can use electronic
bookmarks to ‘mark’ recipes, add tags to your favourite
recipes, create menus for special events, and so on. The
EYB mobile website works well on mobile phones (so you
need to use a web browser on your phone to access the site
— they don’t currently have an app), so you can search
your cookbooks while you’re at the grocery store, choose a
dish, and get an ingredients list on the fly!
E
The team of women who run EYB are not professional
indexers; they include enthusiastic home cooks, a
professional chef, a few editors and food writers, and
information technology specialist Deborah Sauvé, who has
‘supervising indexers’ listed under her work experience.
To date EYB have indexed over 800,000 recipes from
over 4,500 popular cookbooks, magazines, food blogs, and
websites. But there are thousands of cookbooks listed on
their database which are waiting to be indexed.
Paid-up members can index their own cookbooks (one
at a time), adding them to the EYB database for all to
use. You can ‘Request to Index’ and they will send you
highly detailed indexing information on how to enter the
cookbook within their system. The indexing/ categorisation
is carried out using the EYB web interface.
There are shortcut codes (ct=canned tomatoes,
ps = parsley, and oo=olive oil, for example), standard lists
of recipe categories, and a fair list of strict rules to make
entering data quicker and consistent. The work is more
database entry and categorisation, than ‘indexing from
scratch’, but still interesting.
We recommend checking out their Support page for
more in-depth information, especially if you’re interested in
indexing your own cookbooks in their system.
There is also the possibility of approaching the EYB
team directly, as a professional indexer, and being added
to their list of indexers. This means you would be paid for
indexing books in their system; but the rate of pay is very
low, one ANZSI member was paid about 5¢ per database
entry, which came to about $30 for a cookbook. But it
would certainly offset your annual EYB membership fee.
EYB can also be found online here:
Facebook: <www.facebook.com/eatyourbooks>
Pintrest: <www.pinterest.com/eatyourbooks/>
Twitter <@EatYourBooks>
Revenge by Index
In July this year, American satirist Matt Seidel wrote this
fabulously ridiculous piece, Détente by Index. This article
discusses the fictional ‘legendary indexer’ Earl Sprague’s
memoir, Invitation to a Subheading, and how it has been
indexed, after Sprague’s demise, by his arch-rival Thor
Henderson.
The index is printed in full, and makes truly hilarious
reading. The whole bitter story of Sprague and Henderson’s
rivalry is revealed within the index entries.
A small segment to whet your appetite:
Amateurs: perils of hiring, 6; inability to distinguish his
work from, 37-9
Art: indexing as, 92; of self-promotion, 1–250
(Etcetera, continued from previous page)
Hendarson: see Henderson
Henderson: my surname, 8; passive-aggressive misspelling
of, 17
Librarians: torrid affairs with, 17, 64, 108
Wife: see Adultery, Rival, Ennui, Thor, Children, and
Disaster
I contacted Matt to tell him how much professional
indexers were loving this piece, and how spot on he was
with (breaking!) many of the conventions. He wrote back
that ‘having clumsily tried my hand at constructing a real
index years ago, I can definitely say that it’s an art.’
It is published on The Millions website. The URL is
rather unwieldy, so just search on ‘Détente by Index’ and
you will find it.
Denise Sutherland and Jane Douglas
L
Judy’s interest in writing has found application here,
ast month Queensland Branch members and industry
colleagues enjoyed an informative and entertaining initially in writing and researching the memoir of the
presentation from Judy Frederiksen: editor, writer, proofreader late Bill Wallace when a friend of Bill’s had sought her
and Honorary Liaison Officer between the Society of Editors help. Judy’s first ‘memoir’ project sparked an intriguing
discussion among the audience, because Bill had inhabited
(Qld) and the Queensland Writers Centre.
Judy had a long and very successful earlier career in an island in North Queensland long before it became the
banking, both in Australia and internationally, reaching tourist mecca that it is today. Another lively discussion arose
Branch Manager. Her talk focused on how she moved on publishing contracts, and in particular on one dubious
contract that Judy has been
into editing. She gave a lively
offered for this memoir.
description of her previous
Judy’s motto would have
career and the many skills she
to be ‘have a go’. As someone
developed, and how these have
starting out in a new field, she
stood her in good stead as
has accepted that there will be
she moved to her new career.
a certain amount of pro bono
It was particularly interesting
work. But this has gained her
to hear of her willingness to
references for her CV, helping
have a go and say yes to the
her build her portfolio and
opportunities that came her
leading to further work.
way. Judy is clearly making a
success, having worked on a
Judy presented a virtual
wide range of projects in the At the meeting were: (front row) Guest Speaker Judy Frederiksen, master class in how to make
last four years.
David Crosswell; (back row) Brian Clarke, Graham Potts, a career change, use contacts
and networking and be willing
Part of her strategy for the David Muller, Jeni Lewington. Photo Moira Brown.
to seize every opportunity that
move was completing a Post
Graduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing at the comes your way. It was inspiring to hear how much
University of Southern Queensland, which led to many industry experience and what a reputation for hard work
useful connections with publishers and other colleagues. We you can gain if you are willing to put yourself out there and
heard of the importance of networking, through contacts in have a go when starting a new venture.
Rotary and writers’ groups for example, and of being in the
David Muller (Editor, Musician)
right place at the right time. But most impressive was her
And see page 12 for upcoming Branch events in October
energy and enthusiasm for creating her own opportunities.
and November...
China Society of Indexers conference
If you have been thinking of going to the China Society of Indexers conference in Shanghai, 2–4 November, and
you would like to be the ANZSI representative, please contact the incoming ANZSI Secretary, Mei Yen Chua
<[email protected]>. Details are at <www.cnindex.fudan.edu.cn/news/2013/news_1306_01.htm> (the
page is in Chinese – use a site such as <http://translate.google.com/> to translate it).
Glenda Browne
Tips and hints – using your unique Indexers Available link
I
f you are listed in Indexers Available you have a unique
link for your name. For example, mine is <www.anzsi.
org/site/indexers_available.asp?indexer=196>. Find your
unique link by searching Indexers Available and clicking to
view full details. Why not use this to promote your skills
and experience?
One way to do this is to include the link as a signature
to your email. Most email packages allow you to create a
Signature for your emails. Here is how to do it in a couple
of packages.
Creating a signature in Microsoft Outlook:
1. Open a new email
2. Click on the Signature button on the top line and select
Signature
3. In the E-mail Signature tab click new.
4. Type a name for this new signature.
5. Type the contact details you want.
6. Add the text you want to cover the link to Indexers
Available. For example you might type ‘Link to my
indexing specialities and experience’.
7. Highlight the text.
8. Click on the Insert Hyperlink button (looks like blue
dot with chain under it).
9. The text you typed should appear on the top line.
10. In the Address field near the bottom paste your unique
Indexers Available link.
11. Click Save at bottom of small box (not OK at bottom
right).
News from New Zealand
T
he NZ Branch AGM passed off in useful style with
lunch in Auckland on Sunday 22 September for six
people and apologies from more than twice that.
Most reports had been circulated in advance, so we
were able to approve these, including amendments to
our constitution, and revised position descriptions quite
readily. The new committee for 2013–14 was elected:Julie
Daymond-King (President), Jill Gallop (Treasurer), Rae
Foster (Secretary), Tordis Flath (Vice-President), Susan
Brookes (Mentoring Coordinator), Geoff Kelly (Training/
Events Coordinator – Wellington), Judy Graham (Librarian),
Nelly Bess, Robin Briggs and Daphne Lawless.
In addition, Lai Lam will be coordinating an Auckland
region social group, meeting probably every second month
to show-and-tell, chat, explore any interesting issues etc.
Our first event is likely to be in late November in
Helensville (a once-a-year venue, being 50k from Auckland
central, but still officially part of the supercity.)
We wish the new Council a productive and harmonious
term of office.
Julie Daymond-King, NZ Branch President
Creating a signature in Gmail:
1. Sign into Gmail.
2. Click on the gear icon on the top right-hand side of the
screen.
3. When the drop down menu appears, click on ‘Settings’.
4. Scroll down to find the ‘Signature’ setting. Paste your
unique Indexers Available link into the Signature field
along with any other contact information you wish to
provide.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on ‘Save
changes’.
Creating a signature in Mail, on a Mac:
1. Open Mail (in this case Version 5.3 Apple Inc.)
2. Select Mail Preferences and click the Signatures button.
3. Enter what you want in panel in box
Next time you send a professional email you can add your
new signature to your email.
Mary Russell
(with thanks to Gmail and Mail)
Letter to the Editor
In accordance with the preferences of some Council
members, I have made several posts on the Discussion
page of the ANZSI website, rather than sending them
to the Newsletter.
They cover the Indexers Available charge,
communications within ANZSI, meeting procedures
and minutes, and the circumstances surrounding the
resignation of Iris Bergman.
I am very concerned that the Council appears to
have placed the Society and the Council members in
an invidious position with respect to Consumer Affairs
Victoria, and have perhaps laid ANZSI and themselves
open to legal challenges. I also believe that the Council is
not legally entitled to charge for members for a presence
on Indexers Available.
I invite all members to read these posts and reflect on
them prior to the AGM next month.
Don Jordan, Antipodes Indexing
Members should note that the ANZSI Constitution was
approved by Consumer Affairs Victoria at incorporation
in 2010, and Section J (Finance) covers Don’s concerns
by giving the Council power to levy the charge in
question.
Clause J8 reads: “The funds of the Society shall be
derived from subscription fees, fees for attendance at
training courses, sale of publications, fees for attendance
at conferences, and such other sources as the Council may
from time to time determine.” (my italics)
Mary Russell
ACT Region Branch AGM
and 21st Anniversary
Tuesday 22 October, Brassey Hotel, Barton
E
AGM at 6.30 pm, followed by
dinner at 7.15pm
njoy a convivial evening, with the new President of
ANZSI presenting special awards.
The menu offers two main courses, two desserts, and
tea or coffee for $52.50 per person. Drinks are your own
responsibility. Bring along your friends and partners – a
great venue and great company!
RSVP to Shirley Campbell by Tuesday 15 October,
tel: 6285 1006 or at <[email protected]>
if you will be attending, advising any special dietary
requirements.
Payment may be made by:
• cheque or money order to ANZSI – ACT Region
Branch, GPO Box 2069, Canberra ACT 2001, or
• direct deposit to the CBA, BSB 062 907, ANZSI
ACT Region account, Account number 10029711.
If paying by direct deposit please quote your name
in your payment.
ANZSI ACT Region Branch is not registered for GST,
and therefore does not issue tax invoices.
Write, Edit, Index: a na�onal conference
for editors, indexers, and publishing professionals ...
… is the title of the 2015 conference to be held in Canberra,
6–9 May 2015, jointly hosted by the ACT Region Branch
of ANZSI and the Canberra Society of Editors on behalf of
ANZSI and the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd). An
organising committee, with a mix of editors and indexers,
has been set up and is gently advancing plans.
Rydges Lakeside has been selected to host our conference,
and a deposit paid to confirm our booking. The four-star
hotel has recently been refurbished and is looking pretty
flash. With the trendy New Acton precinct continuing to
grow, we think Rydges Lakeside will be an excellent venue.
The committee has contacted two keynote speakers, who
have both expressed interest, but have yet to be confirmed.
We are going to set up a website using WordPress, and
have a placeholder <writeeditindex.net.au> – graphic design
and content to come!
And now the conference committee is beginning to
think about the most important element – the conference
program. In these early stages, all ideas or suggestions for
speakers or subjects are very welcome, so please send them
our way: <[email protected]>. (And if you have
any brilliant ideas to attract sponsorship, let us know about
them too.)
Tracy Harwood, Conference Convenor
Date and time
Organiser
Name of activity
Venue
Contact details
Tues 22 Oct
6.15 for 6.30 pm
ACT Region
AGM and dinner
The Brassey, Barton
Details at
Tues 29 Oct
6.00 pm
Qld Branch
Susan Prior – award
winning editor
Wed 6 Nov
6.00 pm
Vic Branch
4 Nov to 2 Dec
Sat 30 Nov
12.00 pm
Details at
The VIC:
Old Op Shop, Holy Trinity Details at
Newsletter indexing Anglican Church, Kew
Intermediate/
–
Details at
course online
The Norman Hotel,
Details at
Qld Branch Xmas party lunch
Wooloongabba, Brisbane <www.anzsi.org/site/calendar_details.asp?id=337>
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI News
1
ANZSI Annual Report 2012–13, President’s Introduction 1
ANZSI Newsletter
2
ANZSI Annual Report 2012–13, Council Report
2
ANZSI Annual Report 2012–13, Membership Report
5
Etcetera
8
9
China Society of Indexers conference
9
Tips and Hints – using your Indexers Available link
10
10
Letter to the Editor
10
ACT Region Branch AGM and 21st Anniversary dinner 11
Write, Edit, Index: the 2015 conference
11
ANZSI Newsletter
Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in November 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 1November.
Volume 9 | number 10 | November 2013
President’s Report
The new ANZSI Council will have
met by now, but I wrote this before
the first meeting. It covers my general
aims for the coming year. These will
be revised and expanded as we get
together (electronically) to discuss the
future.
Outgoing Council
Firstly, thank you to members of the
outgoing Council for their hard work and careful thought
over the years. In particular, thank you for the advice and
thorough handover you have given me and other incoming
executive members.
As well as leading ANZSI, Mary Russell has played a key
role in the international indexing community, especially as
coordinator of ICRIS. She has also been a member of the
Publicity and Promotion Committee, and has been – and
will continue to be – a terrific webmaster.
The move to incorporated status followed by changes to
the Act and model rules has involved a lot of work updating
our Constitution and other documents. Michael Ramsden
has done the lion’s share of this and we are grateful for
his knowledge and care in seeing the changes through. In
addition he has maintained ongoing correspondence and
regular sharing of documents for Council meetings.
Last year our long-term Treasurer Margaret Findlay
died. I first met her as I entered the hotel for the Marysville
Conference in 1995 and have valued her long involvement
with ANZSI and indexing. After her death Max McMaster
ably stepped into the Treasurer’s role. I find it hard enough
to make sense of my own financial records, so getting your
head around ANZSI finances is a real achievement.
Many outgoing Council members have been involved
in specific areas of development, and I am pleased that
some are continuing in these roles, including Mary Russell
as webmaster and Karen Gillen as Membership Secretary
(for some time). Alan Eddy is compiling an inventory
of ANZSI records which will provide a valuable basis for
future organisation.
I’ll write more on individual committees in the next
issue as one of the first tasks for the new Council will be to
confirm these.
New Council
The newly elected members of Council were announced on
page 4 of the September 2013 ANZSI Newsletter. We have
elected members from Tasmania (a Queensland Branch
member), Victoria, ACT and NSW, and, of course, ex
officio members from New Zealand, Queensland, NSW,
ACT and Victoria.
I am delighted with the balance. We have relative
newcomers and old hands; we have closed system (book)
indexers and open system (database) indexers; and we have
some continuity from the previous Council (Nikki Davis,
who is now the Victorian President, and myself, with my
brief service as a committee member).
Aims
Running Council requires a careful balancing act, as
there are many competing claims for our time and money
from our varied membership. The listed aims of ANZSI,
at <www.anzsi.org/site/aimserv.asp>, provide a good basis
from which to work.
My first priority is to get multi-location Council
communication and meeting structure working well. There
are technical and organisational challenges involved in
this, but I am confident that with a bit of effort and
experimentation we can do it. Mary Coe has taken on
the role of ‘Electronic Options Explorer’ and has been
communicating with teleconferencing companies and
assisting us all to get connected.
My second priority is ongoing services (accreditation,
awards, etc.) and my third is ongoing major projects.
These are Indexers Available (and its relationship with the
ANZSI website, and social media); Open System Indexing/
Database Indexing accreditation; and the 2015 conference
in the ACT. I have confidence that these ongoing services
ANZSI Newsletter
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
<www.anzsi.org>.
Advertising rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
(President’s Report, continued from previous page)
and projects will be managed successfully by their respective organisers and
committees, and I will support them as needed.
The ongoing project that I expect to be directly involved with is ebook
indexing:
• The EPUB standard development continues, mostly now looking at
technical details and working with the general EPUB upgrade.
• It is crucial that we promote ebook indexing to allied professionals,
including librarians, editors, publishers, authors and technical writers, as
well as to committed readers. If you are ever going to be talking to these
groups and would like information or slides to use, please contact me.
• It will also be important to develop ebook indexing training. The challenges
include the fact that expectations haven’t been defined, and at this early
stage we don’t know what technologies publishers will be using. Some of us
have had informal discussions about the development of training modules
to cover the topics that are likely to be important for future indexers. These
could be used to provide consistent training in Australia and New Zealand.
Developing training from scratch is a huge task, and we will be looking for
indexers (and perhaps other people) with specific skills as we develop these
courses.
My preference is for this to be a year of consolidation, rather than the time
to start anything new. We have a lot of important projects on the boil, and if
we make solid progress on all of these we will have had a productive year.
Glenda Browne, President
ANZSI Annual Report 2012–13:
Branch reports
ACT Region Branch
Committee members
President
Shirley Campbell
Secretary
Vacant (shared by Committee members)
Treasurer
Sherrey Quinn
Members
Edyth Binkowski, Barry Howarth, Denise Sutherland,
Geraldine Triffitt
Committee meetings
The dates of Committee meetings are set to precede Council meetings
so that the Committee is able to discuss items on the agenda, with their
accompanying papers, for the forthcoming Council meeting. Meetings were
held on the following dates: 17 July 2012, 4 September 2012, 8 October 2012
13 November 2012, 4 February 2013, 26 March 2013, 1 May 2013,
11 June 2013.
Branch events
Bowral conference, 28 / 29 July 2012: Biennial NSW/ACT Regional Conference.
The theme of the conference was ‘From pbooks to ebooks’: focussing on digital
publishing. Publishers’ representatives were invited to outline their plans
and developments in relation to digital publishing. There were 23 delegates
(14 NSW Branch; 8 ACT; 1 Qld – resident in ACT).
(ACT Region Branch Report, continued from previous page)
Annual General Meeting, 16 October 2012: The AGM and
the dinner which followed were very successful. Thirteen
attended the AGM and sixteen the dinner. The dinner is
the annual social get-together for ACT Region Branch
members and friends.
Frances Lennie’s visit, 24 November 2012:
Eleven participants (including two members of the Canberra
Society of Editors) met to hear Frances speak on Indexing
as Art: Impressionism vs. Precisionism.
On 26 November 2012 Diana Witt, a visiting indexer from
the USA, joined five members of the Committee for a most
enjoyable morning tea.
On 22 April 2013, following the biennial ANZSI
Conference in NZ in March, a meeting was held at which
members who attended the conference in Wellington could
share information and opinions about the papers and
proceedings with other members.
Training
No training was held in the ACT but members and others
interested were encouraged to participate in training
sessions offered by the NSW Branch.
Future events
‘Working with Words’, an afternoon session to discover
how Denise Sutherland writes crosswords, cryptics and
other puzzles: 6 July 2013.
A visit to the National Gallery of Australia’s Research
Library: 2 August 2013.
2013 Annual General Meeting will be held on 22 October
2013 which is the actual 21st anniversary of the founding
of the ACT Region Branch. A celebration of the Branch is
planned at a dinner to follow the AGM.
New South Wales Branch
Committee members
President
Frances Paterson
Vice-President Glenda Browne
Secretary
Mary Coe
Treasurer
Sue Flaxman
Members
Madeleine Davis, Lorraine Doyle, Helen
Enright, Elisabeth Thomas, Michael Wyatt
Commi�ee mee�ngs
The Committee has continued to meet by teleconference
every month and, since Thomson Reuters facilities became
unavailable, we have met using Skype. Committee members
have also experimented with other teleconferencing facilities
to test presenting documentation during meetings. Teleconferencing has made our meetings accessible to all
Committee members who are located in both metropolitan
Sydney and regional New South Wales.
Our Yahoo Discussion Groups email list has made
circulating messages and information easier and more
transparent; and the DropBox site for storing correspondence
means that we can all access past papers and minutes of
meetings.
Branch activities
28/29 July 2012: Regional conference ‘From pbooks to
ebooks’ was held in conjunction with ACT Branch at
Craigieburn in Bowral in the Southern Highlands. For the
first time, indexers collaborated with publishers to consider
the future of ebooks and digital indexing.
23 August 2012: NSW Branch Annual General Meeting
was held at Golden Cinnamon Restaurant with Alan
Walker as Returning Officer. The 2011–2012 Committee
was re-elected for the new term, with the welcome addition
of a new Committee member, Michael Wyatt.
September 2012: Some NSW members attended a
lunchtime event on ebooks run by the Australian Law
Librarians Association (ALLA).
17 November 2012: Holiday gathering. Guest speaker
Frances Lennie gave an illuminating presentation on Index
as Canvas: Impressionism vs. Precisionism at Thomson
Reuters in Pyrmont, followed by lunch at the Pyrmont
Point Hotel.
Training
7/8 July 2012: Introductory Book Indexing training
course was held by Glenda Browne at Thomson Reuters in
Pyrmont, with nine participants.
11 September 2012: Introduction to Embedded Indexing
course was conducted by Jon Jermey, Mary Coe and Glenda
Browne at NSW Writers’ Centre, Rozelle. The content
included LibreOfficeWriter, CINDEX in embedded
projects, and embedded indexes in ebooks.
1–28 February 2013: Intermediate/Practical indexing
course, led by Glenda Browne, continued a new form of
indexing training which Glenda is exploring, whereby
students work at home, indexing a short book over
four weeks. The groups have access to a YahooGroups
mailing list to interact. The workshop had six participants,
including two from South Africa, and it concluded with
an optional face-to-face meeting (which didn’t include the
South Africans, alas!).
Social networking
ANZSI has a Facebook page with 72 ‘Likes’ including
non-members and other indexing societies and is joined to
Twitter. Both are managed by ANZSI NSW members.
(ANZSI Branch Reports, continued from previous page)
New Zealand Branch
The 2012–13 year was probably the most successful so far
for the New Zealand Branch. Our membership rose to 30,
the greatest so far.
Committee members
President
Julie Daymond-King
Vice President Tordis Flath
Secretary
Rae Foster
Treasurer
Jill Gallop
Members
Nelly Bess, Robin Briggs, Geoff Kelly,
Pam Strike, Meredith Thatcher
Branch activities
Nine members attended the AGM held in Auckland in
August 2012. It is now planned that the next will also be
held there.
Otherwise, the only event held was the 3-day biennial
Society conference held in Wellington, in March. This of
course was a major event, requiring much effort from a
few members and the willing assistance of several more.
We believe we did raise the profile of indexing amongst the
publishers here, as well as provide a pleasant and interesting
opportunity for all Society members to learn and network.
We were very gratified by the response from the participants,
as well as the welcome injection to our finances.
A revised local directory of freelance indexers was
produced and issued in the lead-up to this event.
The Branch would like to praise and thank the members
of the outgoing Council, whom we greatly respect and
admire. Best wishes to you all, and many thanks for your
support over the years for the officers of our Branch.
Queensland Branch
Executive Committee
President
Moira Brown
Vice-President Vacant
Secretary
Beryl Macdonald
Treasurer
Franz Pinz
Members
Mei Yen Chua, Vicki Law, Deirdre
Kesteven, Jean Dartnall and Jan Rees.
Executive Committee Meetings
Three meetings were held: 16 August 2012; 9 April 2013;
12 June 2013.
Branch activities
The Annual General Meeting was held on 24 July 2012.
Nine General Meetings of the Branch were held:
24 July 2012 – Amanda Greenslade, Graphic Designer and
Editor, was our AGM guest speaker.
28 & 29 August 2012 – Indexing guru Max McMaster held
an ‘Indexing Q & A ‘ evening in Brisbane and Townsville.
23 October 2012 – Lisa Jones, Curator of the
Queensland Police Museum was our guest speaker.
27 November 2012 – Christmas Dinner Party at the
Salisbury Hotel in Brisbane with Queensland members,
their spouses and other industry colleagues.
26 February 2013 – Mei Yen Chua met interested trainees
to discuss Queensland Branch’s online indexing course.
26 March 2013 – Palaeontologist Dr Susan Turner.
23 April 2013 – Queensland Branch turned 5 years old
this year. We celebrated with guest speaker and Queensland
member Jane Douglas, giving us her impressions of the
2013 ANZSI Conference, in Wellington, NZ.
28 May 2013 – Elizabeth Riley, Librarian and long
standing Branch member, on the American Society for
Indexers Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
25 June 2013 – Branch members were invited to bring
along their indexes to a ‘Show and Tell’ evening.
Training
Online indexing training is a pilot program using
Queensland Indexer Mei Yen Chua as Mentor. It will
be run from March to October 2013. The 13 trainees
are using The Indexing Companion and its Workbook by
Glenda Browne and Jon Jermey as texts, along with other
unindexed books, which it is hoped will give indexing
experience and confidence to new trainees..
Publications and marketing
A Freelance Directory of Queensland Indexers and a small
brochure will be used for marketing Branch members.
Along with the ANZSI bookmarks created by the Victorian
Branch, we hope that the Queensland brochure will raise
community awareness of Indexing in the community
Future events
27 August 2013 – Greg Parker, the Puzzle Wizard will be
our guest speaker in Brisbane.
23 November (Saturday) – Christmas Party Lunch at the
Norman Hotel, Wooloongabba, Brisbane.
Victorian Branch
Committee
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Member
Iris Bergmann
Terri Mackenzie
Ray Price
Nikki Davis
Mary Russell
Commi�ee mee�ngs
Seven meetings were held: 3 July 2012, 14 August 2012,
24 September 2012, 12 November 2012, 29 January 2013,
27 March 2013, 20 May 2013.
(Victorian Branch Report, continued from previous page)
Branch events
July – The VIC – Show and Tell
August – The VIC – Afternoon with Frances Lennie
September – The VIC – Indexing needlework tools
October – The VIC – Visit to the Australian Road Research
Board Library
November – The VIC – Indexing and geotechnical
engineering
December – The VIC – Festive season index
February – The VIC – Indexing with gusto!
March – The VIC – Multiple author indexes
April – The VIC – Indexing software
June – The VIC – Visual indexes
Training
October 2012 – Basic Book Indexing Part 1
October 2012 – Basic Book Indexing Part 2
February 2013 – Basic Book Indexing Part 1
February 2013 – Basic Book Indexing Part 2
February 2013 – Embedded Indexing in MS Word
February 2013 – Annual Report Indexing
Future events
September 2013 – The VIC – The business of indexing
November 2013 – The VIC – Indexing the ANZSI/AusSI
Newsletter
December 2013 – The VIC – Christmas crossword
Vale
The Victorian Branch notes with sadness the deaths of two
longstanding members, Margaret Findlay (whose passing is
noted in the Council section of this Report) and Elizabeth
Ellem-Wood.
ANZSI Annual Report: Conferences
ANZSI 2013 Conference: Intrepid Indexing without Borders
Conference Committee
Chair
Tordis Flath
Members
Elizabeth Fisher, Meredith Thatcher
(until December 2012)
Jill Gallop provided advice and assistance
on financial matters, NZ Branch
members assisted from time to time.
The Conference attracted 71 attendees, most from
Australia, and 13 workshop participants. The Conference
theme was carried through by many of our speakers. Our
keynote speaker, Jan Wright, gave an inspiring address
entitled ‘Intrepid Indexing: from the sea to the stars’.
An important part of this Conference was looking at
indexing for languages and cultures other than for Englishspeaking communities. Sessions covered Māori names and
terms, East Asian (CJK) indexing, understanding Asian
names, indexing practice in Japan, archiving and indexing
history in the Pacific Islands, and database indexing for
indigenous collections in Australia.
Panel discussions and roundtable discussions proved
popular with ideas and comments freely flowing! Topics
covered were Māori names and terms; typesetting dilemmas;
Asian names; publishers, editors and indexers; indexing
techniques and EPUB; running an indexing business; future
electronic indexing; Pacific Islands archives and indexing
history; indexing numbers; military history indexing, and
reports from overseas societies about developments in
Canada, USA, China and the UK. Ebook publishing and
the EPUB3 Standard and Charter were also covered.
The Conference also included workshops on advice on
tips and traps for indexers wishing to become accredited,
advanced SkyIndex, and intermediate CINDEX.
Jan Wright held an ‘InDesign’ workshop on Tuesday
morning, 12 March, attended by 13 people including
2 non-members. The ICRIS meeting was held at the
conference venue on Tuesday afternoon. The cocktail
function on Wednesday evening was well-attended and
useful as a ‘mixer’ for attendees.
There were many requests pre-conference for a ‘Lord
of the Rings’ tour and Hammonds Tours created a tour
for ANZSI on Thursday, collected the 17-strong group
near the conference venue, made sure they were provided
with lunch, snacks and drinks, and showed them the city
according to the Hobbits!
The conference dinner on Thursday was attended by
52 people (including partners), diners were transported by
charter coach to the art-deco style Roxy. On arrival, attendees
were presented with pre-dinner drinks and platters and
then treated to a performance by the ‘Improvisors’, a longestablished Wellington theatre sport group. Dinner was
held in the art-deco style ‘Coco Restaurant’ and consisted
of a moving buffet of platters delivered to the tables. Prizes
were awarded to the best-dressed Art-Deco style diners and
the main award was won by Tracy Harwood, from ACT.
(Conferences, continued from previous page)
Trade tables were presented by Glenda Browne, CINDEX
and ASI/SI (promoting indexing books), Capital Books
(NZ books), Tordis Flath (jewellery and prints), and
Wellington Quilters’ Guild (NZ-made souvenirs).
Sponsorship for the Conference was received from
Indexing Research (CINDEX), Capital Books (Wellington)
and Unity Books (Wellington). Bookmarks from the
National Library of Australia, Capital Books, Unity Books,
ANZSI, and The Indexer were put in the conference
satchels.
The Conference sponsored the attendance of Carol
Dawber (Dunedin) and Sandy Liddle (Queensland) with
the payment of half their conference fees. Their reports
appeared in the ANZSI Newsletter (April 2013).
The venue was at the NZICA Conference Centre
which also provided the catering. Many compliments
were received about the layout, natural light, lunch area,
outdoor seating, walking distance from accommodation
and restaurants, and especially the NZICA staff and their
‘calm under fire’.
A profit of $5059.48 was made.
ANZSI 2015 Conference
Write, Edit, Index: national conference for editors,
indexers, and publishing professionals
The conference will be held in Canberra, 6–9 May 2015.
It will be hosted jointly by the ACT Region Branch of
ANZSI and the Canberra Society of Editors (CSE), on
behalf of ANZSI and the Institute of Professional Editors
(IPEd). The two societies last jointly hosted a national
conference in Canberra in 2001. ANZSI already had an
established pattern of national conferences, but the joint
conference helped to kick-start biennial conferences for
Australian editors.
A conference committee was formed early in 2013,
comprising:
Tracy Harwood (Convenor) ANZSI ACT/CSE
Shirley Campbell ANZSI ACT
Sherrey Quinn ANZSI ACT/CSE
Geraldine Triffitt ANZSI ACT
Denise Sutherland ANZSI ACT
Karin Hosking ANZSI ACT/CSE.
The committee began planning immediately, in order to
have a date to announce at ANZSI’s conference in Wellington
in March and at IPEd’s conference in Fremantle in April.
Being mindful of the dates used by ANZSI’s sister societies,
and by other relevant professions such as the Australian
Publishers’ Association, the technical communicators, the
science communicators, and writer’s festivals, as well
as avoiding ‘annual report season’ in Canberra (July to
October), the committee chose Wednesday 6 to Saturday
9 May 2015. These dates are clear of public holidays and
school holidays and the weather in Canberra tends to be
most stable in autumn. Wednesday will be set aside for
workshops and training, and the conference proper will run
for 2½ or 3 days, from Thursday through Saturday.
After investigating 12 possible venues, Rydges Lakeside
was selected to host our conference. An agreement has been
signed between ANZSI Council and ACT Region Branch
to formalise and support arrangements for the Branch to
host the conference. A similar agreement between CSE and
ACT Region Branch has been drafted and is currently with
the CSE committee for consideration.
Quotes have been sought from professional conference
organisers, in the particular hope that we might be able to
outsource some of our financial management. The quotes
are fairly expensive, and we might have to think creatively
about how to manage the finances.
Saturday 23 November, from 12.00 pm
resident Julie Daymond-King will be hosting a garden
party at 614 Inland Road, Helensville, and is delighted
that our two Waikato members will be travelling up for the
occasion.
Julie plans to do look-ups from her (licensed) New
Zealand Woman’s Weekly database 1933–59 of New
Zealanders in the magazine, for anyone with families here
in that period. You never know! There are probably over
100,000 people to be found, many with multiple records.
Of course, there should also be plenty of interesting
discussion and lots of flowers. (And fruit and vegetables,
P
but that’s the other half's department, and he'll be away at
a geology conference. There is also a large rock collection
for those kind of nuts.)
Any members in the vicinity would be very welcome, as
well as all the Aucklanders the party is intended for.
Our newest member, Kate Guthrie, comes from
Dunedin. Treasurer Jill Gallop will be organising a gettogether of the now four members there. Tordis has a
similar group operating out of the Wellington area. So, we
are really getting regionalised here in NZ.
Kia ora, Julie
Zakuski
B
etween 9 and 25 October, I was aboard the P & O
Pacific Pearl on a Mutiny on the Bounty Cruise. On
board this ship there were lectures about Norfolk Island,
the Bounty and Captain James Cook. There was scenic
cruising, as well as far too much eating, drinking and many
activities on board ship. Ports included visits to Norfolk
Island, Tonga, Fiji and Noumea. I visited the Museum of
Fiji, which contained many historical artefacts as well as
relics from colonial days – <www.fijimuseum.org.fj>
Writer’s walk
Before my cruise began
I had a day to spare in
Sydney. Our hotel was
very close to Circular
Quay, and while strolling
around the Opera House,
I discovered a Writer’s
Walk. This has plaques
with many of our famous
Australian writers, such as Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson,
and Neville Shute. Check it out next time you take a stroll
around this very scenic area.
Reading with the stars
A few weeks ago I was browsing in
my local library and came across
a very interesting book: Reading
with the stars: a celebration of
books and libraries (Leonard
Kniffel, author, editor, published
by American Library Association
Editions, Chicago, 2011). It
deals with US celebrities, such
as Barack Obama, Laura Bush,
Bill Gates and Julie Andrews,
and their love and appreciation
of libraries.
US President Barack Obama has an interesting quote:
‘At a time when book banning is back in vogue, libraries
remind us that truth isn’t about who yells the loudest, but
who has the right information.’
Actress Julie Andrews had this to say: ‘In my youth…
the library was “the big place” … where you went and then
suddenly you could access something magical.’
Every chapter has books that each celebrity recommends.
It is quite an interesting read.
Books summarised in haiku.
While shopping in Myers, I happened to be browsing, yet
again, in their book department. Amongst the orangecoloured Penguin Books I came across this literary gem:
One Hundred Great Books in Haiku, by Manhattan attorney
turned haiku humorist David Bader.
The haiku was developed by Japanese Zen monks in the
16th century. It is a poem with just three unrhymed lines
of five, seven and five syllables respectively. David Bader has
applied this ancient poetic form to ‘100 Great Books’, from
Chaucer to the Bard, Dickens etc. the poems feature the
book summarized very briefly. Yes, there is even an index!
A brief example (but they’re all brief!):
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
Snowdrops hang like tears.
Shy, sweet, saintly Beth has died.
One down, three to go.
As this is my last Zakuski for 2013 I want to wish you all
Season’s Greetings and a safe and healthy 2014. On board
the cruise our Entertainment Director, Gemma, always
signed off by saying,
‘Toodle-pip!’
Terri Mackenzie
Winner of ANZSI Medal 2013
T
his year saw some changes in the composition of the panel of judges for the
ANZSI Medal. Alan Walker stepped down as convenor after many years
of service, and I (Garry Cousins) was invited to take his place, an offer which
I accepted. Dr Jeremy Fisher, the inaugural winner of the ANZSI Medal, continued
from previous years as a judge, and Frances Paterson, also a medal winner, and
the immediate past President of the NSW Branch, joined the panel. I would like
to take this opportunity to thank Alan Walker, as the outgoing chairman of the
Awards Committee, for his service to the society.
The Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers’ Medal is offered annually
to the most outstanding index to a book or periodical compiled in Australia or
New Zealand. The judges look for an index which goes beyond being competent,
(ANZSI Medal 2013, continued from previous page)
or suitable for its particular purpose. The key word in the
requirements is ‘outstanding’. We look for an index in
which the indexer faced difficult challenges and met them
in an elegant and admirable manner. This year only two
entries for the Medal were received, but both were of a high
standard. Both dealt with complex subject matter, and both
showed a good grasp of the language appropriate to the texts.
However, one of the two indexes stood out as remarkable,
and that was Alan Walker’s index to former Prime Minister
John Howard’s autobiography Lazarus Rising, published by
HarperCollins in 2011 (revised edition).
The indexer faced a considerable challenge
in indexing this book because John Howard had a
longer career than most politicians, and his career
encompassed a number of portfolios both in opposition
and in government. This meant the indexer was faced
with organising a tremendous mass of material and,
most importantly, was required to use great discretion
in giving appropriate weight to important, and less
important, topics. The indexer also needed in-depth
knowledge of Australian politics and history to do the
work justice.
Alan Walker met these challenges admirably,
providing an extremely detailed and comprehensive
index, which at the same time is clearly organised and
easy to use. The index is remarkable for an index to
an autobiography in that there is no heading for the
protagonist, i.e. John Howard. It takes considerable
courage for an indexer to make this decision, as often
the entry for the protagonist in a biography or an
autobiography is the most lengthy and detailed in the
index. To not have an entry for the protagonist means
that the indexer must make the information that would
usually be found in that entry available by other means,
namely subject indexing. The outstanding feature of
this index is its subject analysis and the exhaustive
subject headings which that analysis has generated.
Although there is no entry for John Howard himself,
there is a an extensive entry for ‘Howard Government’
which is divided into a general entry containing references
to cabinet members etc (including an entry for ‘JH as prime
minister, 231-646’!), followed by an entry titled ‘Howard
Government policies’. There is also an entry for ‘Howard
family’, as well as all the individual members of the Howard
family. And there are entries titled ‘personal and political
relationships’ and ‘personal and political relationships
(Howard’s)’. The latter contains much information that
would normally be found under the heading for the
protagonist (had there been one).
Several of the subject headings deserve specific mention
as they are particularly well thought out. The entry
for the Australian Labor Party is especially good: first
there is a general heading which includes references to
State branches, then headings for periods in opposition,
differentiated by who was leader in a given year, then entries
for ALP leadership, then ALP policies. Similarly the entry
for Liberal Party is equally extensive, being divided into
a general entry, and one titled ‘Liberal Party leadership’,
and complemented by an extensive entry on the Coalition
in opposition titled ‘Opposition, Coalition in’, which is
then subdivided by period. Other good, extensive entries
include ‘elections’, ‘media’, interesting entries for ‘Sydney’
and ‘Melbourne’, a very large entry on the ‘United States’,
which itself says much about the nature of the Howard
government, and an interesting entry on symbolism.
The index takes up 38 pages of the 688-page book, a
proportion of index pages to pages of indexable text of 5.5%.
Main treatment of topics are in bold, and photographs are
indicated by plate numbers, which are placed at the end of
references to text. An extensive network of cross-references
anticipates readers’ queries well.
The judges are therefore pleased to award the Australian
and New Zealand Society of Indexers’ Medal for 2013 to
Alan Walker. This award makes Alan a three-time winner of
the medal, a distinction he now shares with Max McMaster.
We also congratulate HarperCollins as the publisher of this
book.
Garry Cousins
Chairman, Awards Committee
(Photo of Alan receiving his award by Ray Price)
Award ceremony
I
t was with great pleasure (writes Glenda) that I attended the ACT Region AGM to present two awards – Honorary Life
Membership to Edyth Binkowski and the Outstanding Contribution Award to Peter Judge. The official nominations will
be on the ANZSI website, so I will just provide some highlights here.
Honorary Life Membership to Edyth Binkowski
Edyth joined AusSI in 1976, and has been a member
of AusSI and later ANZSI continuously since then.
She was also a member of the Society of Indexers
in Australia prior to the formation of AusSI. Edyth
has been a Registered/Accredited Indexer since 1985
– only nine indexers precede her on the Register.
Edyth has been an ACT Region Branch committee
member continuously from 1999, including stints as
Branch Secretary and Minutes Secretary. She looks
after the Branch archive and small library collection,
and offers her home for meetings of the Branch
committee. She was also a member of the National
Committee (later Council) from 2002 to 2004.
Edyth has written many items for the AusSI/ANZSI
Newsletter as well as an article for The Indexer about a
volunteer newsletter indexing project.
Honorary Life Membership may be awarded to
members in recognition of outstanding service to
indexing and/or to the Society. Edyth is a true ‘quiet achiever’, who, without fuss or any thought of reward or glory, has
made a sustained contribution to the Society. The ACT Region Branch nominated Edyth for outstanding service and this
nomination was unanimously approved by ANZSI Council at the AGM.
Outstanding Contribution Award to Peter Judge
As ANZSI Newsletter editor from 2004, Peter Judge has made
an enormous contribution to the Society. He was introduced
to members in the October 2004 issue, but since then has kept
out of the spotlight.
Peter has produced the newsletter professionally, keeping to
accurate deadlines and introducing changes in layout and style
that reflect his personality.
Peter’s monthly reminders to Council and Branch members
to send in copy, with as many photos as possible, have kept us
on the straight and narrow. When the level of copy has been
light, Peter has included his own contributions to ensure that
the publishing schedule was maintained.
Peter’s enthusiasm for the job over the past nine years,
together with his wit and personality, has endeared him to
ANZSI. Max McMaster and Michael Ramsden nominated
Peter for services to ANZSI by a non-member. We are delighted
that Peter’s wife, Christine, was able to assist with the purchase
of a handsome pair of cufflinks as our gift.
ANZSI ACT and ANZSI Council kept their secrets well, as the awards came as a total surprise to both recipients.
Congratulations, and thank you, Edyth and Peter.
Glenda Browne, ANZSI President
Top photo, l to r: Sherrey Quinn, Edyth Binkowski, Shirley Campbell, Glenda Browne; lower photo: Peter Judge, Shirley and Glenda.
Photos by Denise Sutherland.
North Queensland Regional Group
T
Dartnall
he NQ Regional Group (this month’s featured group) people with no particular knowledge of indexing. The first
has two members, Suzie Davis and myself, Jean steps were to convince everyone of the need for a controlled
. We both live in Townsville and are retired from vocabulary and find one that was suitable.
full time work, having developed our interest and practice
Finding a thesaurus that covered our range of subjects
as indexers through our work as librarians. There are no proved difficult, yet I was not keen to begin a new one from
mainstream book publishers
scratch. I believe I achieved a
in North Queensland. Our
good compromise beginning
many authors, scientists
with the APAIS thesaurus. The
and scholars send their
National Library of Australia
work out of the region for
makes this thesaurus free for
publication.
downloading by not-for-profit
organisations. Starting with this
Our indexing work
structure and basic vocabulary,
includes
some
annual
I added, subtracted, edited
reports, occasional or unusual
and generally fiddled, guided
publications, and work from
by the knowledge of the CIC
outside the region referred
team about what questions
through particular contacts or
they were asked and how those
interests. This does not mean,
questions presented.
though, that there is no local
l to r: Teneale Grigg, CIC Co-ordinator, Jean Dartnall,
outlet for indexing skills, as I
Changes are made as need
Barbara Pearson, former CIC Co-ordinator
hope the following article will
arises but on the whole we
show.
have a thesaurus that has now
been
stable
for
several
years
and provides some certainty
Indexing community organisations
for indexers and searchers. Anyone interested in accessing
Community Information Centre
this thesaurus can contact me <jeandartnall@hotmail.
Since 2004 I have been part of the team of volunteers
com> or the present CIC coordinator, Teneale Grigg,
helping to operate the Townsville Community Information
Centre (CIC). This is a not-for-profit organisation with
Indexing Organisations
a vision of Townsville as an informed community and a
Probably the most technically interesting part of this project
slogan of ‘Connects, Informs, Assists’. Our major sponsor
arises from the differences between indexing documents and
is the Townsville City Council, which, among other
indexing organisations. In accommodating these differences
contributions, funds a professional position designated
it is sometimes necessary to deviate from what might be
Coordinator.
considered best professional practice for a document index.
A major tool created and maintained by CIC is a
• Organisations change. To maintain currency and accuracy,
database containing details of about 2000 government
organisation entries are updated at least annually, more
and community organisations in Townsville. Subject areas
often if CIC or the organisation identifies a need. While
range through emergency, support, and welfare services,
some organisations have no changes year to year and others
arts bodies, and sporting and hobby clubs. This database
change only personnel or contact details, some organisations
is available to the general public: <www.townsville.qld.gov.
change name, or focus, or add or delete programs. Changes
au/townsville/infocentre/Pages/communitydirectory.aspx>.
may require re-indexing. A user accustomed to finding a
particular organisation via a particular heading in 2012,
The database is used to create a number of printed
may not be able to do so in 2013 and wrongly conclude
information services and by staff of CIC to answer queries
that the organisation has disappeared when it could be
that present in person, by phone, letter or email. In the last
located through a different search. Stability has to be
financial year CIC answered 8580 such direct questions
sacrificed for current accuracy.
and the database received 13,875 page views (excluding
• Organisations have opinions. The management, staff
those from CIC and other users on the Townsville City
and members of organisations listed in the database are
Council domain.)
themselves one of our client groups and it is necessary that
Database Indexing
When I joined CIC, then co-ordinator, Barbara Pearson,
knowing my professional background, suggested I take
over indexing the database. The database index was then
in approximately the state you might expect of an index
that had been kept for a number of years by a range of
they are happy with how we represent them. For example,
I spent many hours devising a series of headings and cross
references with which the gay, bisexual, homosexual,
lesbian, transvestite, transgender community could feel
comfortable. This is technically ‘too many’ entry points for
a small number of organisations. I must also confess that
(Northern Queensland Group, continued from previous page)
I am not brave enough to decide between ‘boules’ and
‘bocce’. They are both in there with one entry each.
• Organisations come and go. Fortunately the software
suppresses subject headings with no attached organisations.
However, there is a regular need for housekeeping of cross
references. Large changes in the number of organisations
in a particular subject area can result in too many entries
under one heading, useless cross references, or other
issues that make changes in the structure of the thesaurus
desirable.
• Organisations have jargon. Professional service providers
may use the database for their own information needs as
well as on behalf of their clients. The need to keep up
with current usage and amalgamate technical and semi
technical terms into a common indexing vocabulary
remains a challenge. For example, the phrase ‘post school
options’ is, at best, ambiguous to the general user but has
a specific technical meaning, and is a sought term, in the
world of service to people with disabilities. The index
inevitably contains many terms that are just clutter to
most users.
This is a never ending, ever fascinating task. I wonder if
other indexers are doing something similar: I would love to
share experiences.
Jean Dartnall
NSW Branch social lunch at Blaxland
Sunday 17 November, 12.00 for 12.30 pm
lease join us for lunch at Glenda Browne’s house,
32a Ross Crescent, Blaxland. Spouses and partners
also welcome. Bring drinks and a plate of food to share.
RSVP to Glenda at <[email protected]> or
telephone on +61 2 4739 8199.
If the weather is fine we can go for a scenic walk
in the afternoon. Students from Glenda’s February
2013 Intermediate/Practical Indexing course worked
on an index to The Social History of Blaxland by Davina
Curnow and are particularly welcome to take a stroll
around the lovely town of Blaxland.
Blaxland is in the Lower Blue Mountains and on
the Blue Mountains train line from Sydney – just over
an hour from Central Railway Station. Glenda’s house
is a 10–15 minute walk from the station; however we
are happy to pick people up from the station whenever
they arrive. There is a train from Central at 10.16 am,
arriving at Blaxland at 11.28 am.
(NB: just check if there will be any track work on the
day <www.cityrail.info/index.jsp>). If you are coming
by car, the journey should take about an hour via the
M2/M7 (from the North Shore) or M4 from the city.
Mary Coe
P
Date and time
Organiser
Wed 6 Nov
6.00 pm
Vic Branch
4 Nov to 2 Dec
Sun 17 Nov
12 for 12.30 pm
Name of activity
Venue
Contact details
The VIC: Indexing Old Op Shop, Holy Trinity Details at
ANZSI Newsletter Anglican Church, Kew
Intermediate/
–
Details at
course online
Glenda Browne’s house
NSW Branch Social lunch
32a Ross Crs, Blaxland
Sat 23 Nov
from 12.00 pm
NZ Branch
Garden party
614 Inland Road,
Helensville
Details at
Sat 30 Nov
12.00 pm
Qld Branch
Xmas party lunch
The Norman Hotel,
Details at
ANZSI Newsletter
ON OTHER PAGES
ANZSI President’s report
ANZSI Newsletter
ANZSI Annual Report 2012–13: Branch reports
ANZSI Annual Report 2012–13: Conferences
Zakuski
ANZSI Medal 2013
Award ceeremony
Northern Queensland Regional Group
NSW Branch social lunch, Blaxland
1
2
2
5
6
7
7
9
10
11
Published by the
VIC 3145, Australia
ISSN 1832-3855
Newsletter schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in December 2013.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 29 November.
Newsle�er of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers Inc.
Volume 9 | number 11 | December 2013
President’s Report
T
his report covers some actions
arising out of the AGM held on
2 October, and notes on our �irst
meeting as a new Council in late
October.
Cons�tu�on
The ANZSI Constitution had to
be revised following the passage
of the Associations Incorporation
Reform Act 2012 (Vic). The revised ANZSI Constitution
was approved at the AGM on 2 October 2013.
Following the AGM, Michael Ramsden forwarded a
copy of the revised Constitution to Consumer Affairs
Victoria (CAV).
Our revised Constitution explicitly stated that in
respect of matters relating to discipline and grievances
we will be governed by the Model Rules. CAV advised
that this is not suf�icient and that we have to write the
text of those Model Rules into our Constitution. They
advised that this change would not have to go to a
special general meeting, but that we should report to
the next AGM that the change had been made.
The necessary provisions have been added to the
Constitution (re-formatted to conform to the style of
the rest of the Constitution and substituting ‘Council’
for ‘Committee’). The Table of Contents and Index have
also been amended.
The revised Constitution will be posted on the
ANZSI website.
Many thanks to Michael Ramsden for seeing these
changes through, for chasing up a response from CAV,
and for providing this update.
Membership
Following a vote at the ANZSI AGM on 2 October, it
was decided to discontinue the option of a calendaryear subscription period. All ANZSI subscriptions will
now cover the �inancial year (July to June). Please see
the Membership Secretary’s note in this letter which
contains details about the changeover process for
those members currently subscribed on a calendaryear basis. Thanks to Karen Gillen for seeing this
through.
October mee�ng
The new ANZSI Council has had its �irst meeting
using teleconferencing with members connecting via
telephone or Skype. In future we would also like to
use web conferencing (which is cheaper and offers
additional features) but we have experienced poor
sound quality when we have trialled a mixture of phone
and web access and need to explore this further.
The main tasks at the meeting were con�irming
of�icial details (addresses and bank accounts) and
appointing people to various positions. We also
decided not to renew our Yellow Pages telephone
listing. Few calls were received so it was not considered
to be worth the expense.
Commi�ees
Committee members who have been newly appointed
or re-appointed are listed below.
• Promotions and Publicity (Nikki Davis, Max
McMaster and Karen Gillen)
• Accreditation Board (Sherrey Quinn as
Chairperson)
• Indexers Available (Madeleine Davis, Mary Coe and
Sherrey Quinn)
• Awards (Garry Cousins)
• Database/Open System Indexing Accreditation
(Julie Daymond-King)
• Newsletter Coordinator (Denise Sutherland)
• Electronic Options Coordinator (Mary Coe)
Not all Branch representative positions have yet been
con�irmed. They will be announced in 2014.
We still need to con�irm the ICRIS and Education
Coordinator positions, and have put on hold the idea
of having a Social Media Secretary.
Thank you to those who are continuing , or starting,
in these positions.
Glenda Browne
Council bios ...
Over the next few issues we will be presenting brief bios of Council
members, starting with the President and Vice-President.
The President (on the right)
ANZSI Newsle�er
ISSN 1832-3855
Editor: Peter Judge
<[email protected]>
About the newsle�er
February. Opinions expressed
in the newsletter are those of
the individual contributors, and
do not necessarily re�lect the
opinions of the society. For details
about contributions and editorial
matters, refer to the ANZSI
website at:
<www.anzsi.org>
Adver�sing rates
Full page: $200.00
Half page $100.00
Quarter page: $50.00
These are all per issue – the
former annual rate has been
discontinued.
ANZSI contact informa�on
ANZSI’s general email address
is:
<[email protected]>
format are available on the
ANZSI website at:
<www.anzsi.org>
I
live in the Blue Mountains in NSW
with Jon Jermey (also an indexer),
our daughter Jenny (a Year 12 student), and
two chooks. Our son Bill has just �inished his
university studies in Canberra.
I studied indexing in a library diploma in
1988 and have been an indexer ever since
(at times I’ve also been a medical librarian and TAFE teacher). I love the
variety of indexing and the fact that I can work from home, for myself.
I have been an ANZSI of�icial in some capacity most years since 1988.
I teach indexing for ANZSI and other organisations. My index to my book
The Indexing Companion was Highly Commended in the ANZSI Indexing
awards.
Two highlights have been receiving the IgNobel Award for Literature
for an article on alphabetising entries starting with ‘The’ <webindexing.
biz/ignobel-prize-for-literature/>, and working with ASI members on
the IDPF EPUB Indexes Working Group.
I love indexing and indexers, and feel lucky to have discovered my
niche!
Glenda Browne
The Vice-President (on the le�)
I
have only relatively recently come to indexing; I did my training with
Glenda in early 2011, and wish I’d discovered it sooner! I didn’t even
know indexing existed as a profession until my sister (a historian)
mentioned that she needed to get one of her books about Paci�ic art
indexed (it was done by Robin Briggs from New Zealand).
My degree is in graphic design, which I studied in Canberra in the
mid-1980s. Over the following years I also started to teach myself to
write puzzles, and got into web design. I started my business, Sutherland
Studios <sutherland-studios.com.au>, 16 years ago. I love working from
home, and being my own boss. I still do a little graphic design, but now
mainly work on app development, puzzle writing, editing and — of
course — indexing.
I am the author of nearly six books — four in Wiley’s For Dummies
series, and two medical books (which are self-published — the second
one is nearly �inished). I have also written quite a few children’s puzzle
books, such as one for the Royal Flying Doctors, and one about the
history of Canberra.
Since joining ANZSI in 2011, I have served each year on the ACT
Region committee, and attended the fabulous Wellington conference. I’m
still learning so much about indexing, and love meeting indexers from far
and wide. I am excited about being on Council this year, and will serve
ANZSI members to the best of my ability.
Canberra is my home. I live with my husband Ralph (who is an
astrophysicist). We have two adult children, Rodger and Jenny, and two
cute chihuahuas, Petal and Griff. In my spare time, I love cooking and
knitting, and reading murder mysteries.
Denise Sutherland
Membership renewal: calendar-year subscrip�ons
A
s noted in the President’s Report, following a vote at the ANZSI AGM in October, it was decided to discontinue
the option of a calendar-year subscription period. All subscriptions for ANZSI membership will now cover
the �inancial year (i.e. July – June).
A one-off pro-rata subscription for 6 months is being offered to bring those currently on a calendar-year
subscription into line with those on �inancial-year subscriptions. The one-off pro-rata fees to cover the period
1 January 2014 – 30 June 2014 are:
Personal Membership – Australia
AU$44.00 (includes $4.00 GST)
Personal Membership – New Zealand
NZ$40.00
Corporate Membership – New Zealand
NZ$50.00
Corporate Membership – Australia
AU$55.00 (includes $5.00 GST)
All members whose subscriptions are due for renewal at the end of December will receive a reminder email
containing instructions on how to make an online payment or how to pay by cheque or money order. New Zealand
members will also have the option to pay their subscription in NZ$ directly to the New Zealand branch.
Any queries regarding the payment of this one-off pro-rata fee should be directed to the Membership Secretary
Karen Gillen
Membership Secretary
Publicity and Promo�ons Commi�ee
M
embers of the 2012–13 P&P Committee are
Nikki Davis (Convenor), Karen Gillen and Max
McMaster.
The function of the P&P Committee is probably
obvious by its name, but you might not be aware of
some of its recent projects. These include updating
the Branding Policy, developing a set of downloadable
ANZSI logos in a variety of formats and distribution of
ANZSI bookmarks at a number of local and international
conferences.
If you have an interest in promoting ANZSI and
would like either to join the Committee or be involved
in a short-term project associated with it, please
contact Nikki at <[email protected]>.
Nikki Davis
The IDPF EPUB Indexes Working Group has reached
another important milestone, with the EPUB Indexes
1.0 speci�ication being promoted to Public Draft status
(http://idpf.org/news/call-for-review-second-publicdraft-of-epub-indexes-speci�ication). After the review
period it will be elevated to Proposed Draft status for
a �inal member review, followed by a member vote
to approve it to become part of the EPUB suite of
speci�ications (http://idpf.org/epub/30).
The EPUB Indexes speci�ication includes a
web-simulated index to work with the web-based
speci�ication <www.idpf.org/epub/idx>. This index
shows the potential use of alpha links (e.g. click on
‘L’ to be taken to the L section) and generic cross
references, which take you to a list of possible index
entries. Follow the link at ‘epub:type attribute values’
and then explore the links to speci�ic terms.
There is also an example of the index coded using
the speci�ication <www.idpf.org/epub/idx/epubindexes-index-xhtml.txt>. This gives you an idea of
how an XML-coded index will look. We are expecting
that indexing software will be enhanced to automate
some of this, but a little �luency in XML will not go
astray. (Already HTML/Prep has been updated to
automate conversion of indexes: <www.levtechinc.
com/publishing-indexing-products/utilities/htmlprep.asp>.)
For more details, see the ASI announcement at
<www.asindexing.org/news/idpf-board-approvesepub-indexes-public-draft-status/>.
Glenda Browne
IDPF EPUB Indexes Working Group
Jane Douglas writes that, as a
newcomer to indexing, one of
the best investments she’s made
is The Indexing Companion
(Browne & Jermey). In addition
to working on building a personal
reference library, she’s scoured
the Internet for useful resources.
Indexers are a generous lot, so
it’s not surprising that many
resources are available free online. Some worthwhile
examples are listed below, as well as some that come
at a cost but are worth considering.
Society websites
The ANZSI website is a mine of resources, many of
them free. The ‘Indexing Resources’ section contains
links to information on subjects including indexing
standards, eBooks and eBook indexing, and indexing
in specialist subject areas. The ‘Employment Tips’ page
<www.anzsi.org/site/employment> is packed with
useful information for those starting out in indexing
and includes links to dozens of articles and books.
Award winning indexes can be viewed by following
links from the ANZSI Medal page <www.anzsi.org/
site/medal.asp>.
The American Society of Indexers’ ‘Online
Reference Sources’ page contains links dictionaries,
thesauri, grammar tools and glossaries as well as
extensive lists of links to information for self-employed
indexers and subject-speci�ic reference sources <www.
asindexing.org/reference-shelf/online-referencesources/#general_index>. Other free resources on the
ASI site include an ‘Index Evaluation Checklist’ <www.
asindexing.org/about-indexing/index-evaluationchecklist> and a list of recommended books and
articles <www.asindexing.org/reference-shelf/booksand-articles>. ASI invite ANZSI members to join their
online discussion groups and special interest groups.
A list of these is available on both the ASI and ANZSI
websites.
The Society of Indexers (UK) website is the place
to go to purchase individual copies of SI’s journal The
Indexer (~AUD$19) or to subscribe (~AUD$55/year).
SI’s quarterly newsletter SIdelights is available to
ANZSI members for ~AUD$33 for four issues.
Indexing courses
ANZSI State branches host numerous courses including
Basic and Introductory Book Indexing, Annual Report
Indexing, and Database Indexing. Check with your local
branch for upcoming courses.
UC Berkeley Extension <http://extension.berkeley.
edu> offers an introductory course entitled ‘Indexing:
Theory and Application’. The course costs USD$650,
may be commenced at any time and must be completed
in 180 days. Tutors work in rotation throughout the
year. At the time of writing Max McMaster was listed
as the instructor for this course.
The Society of Indexers (UK) ‘Training in Indexing’
course is available to ANZSI members. The course is
delivered online and includes exams and tutorials. The
course costs £1,297 (~AUD$2,333).
Other resources
Martha Osgood’s US-based Back Words Indexing
website’s ‘Novice Notes’ page focuses on resources for
prospective indexers including advice on getting started
as an indexer, a list of articles, indexing blogs, and
online indexing courses. <www.backwordsindexing.
com/Novice/NoviceNotes.html>
Newcomers is a collection of articles of interest to
those new to indexing. Contributors include ANZSI
President Glenda Browne and Berkeley indexing
instructor Sylvia Coates. The eBook retails on Amazon
for $9.99.
There are many free courses available online
for those wishing to extend their skills in digital
technologies. For training in Adobe InDesign (layout)
try the video tutorials at <www.lynda.com>. Learn
how to use Microsoft Word’s (very basic) indexing
function with a ‘For Dummies’ tutorial <www.dummies.
com/how-to/content/how-to-build-an-index-inword-2013.html>. Learn coding skills necessary for
embedded indexing such as XML & XHTML with free
courses at <www.codeacademy.com>.
Indexers seem committed to ongoing learning. With
so many resources available free online, there is plenty
of scope for expanding knowledge and improving
skills.
Jane Douglas and Denise Sutherland
Auckland garden party
F
ifty kilometres north-west of Auckland central is
Helensville, part of the super-city, and seven fellow
members travelled up to my place on 23 November,
bringing various goodies for lunch as well. It was too
hot to be outside for long, but the smoke bush (Cotinus
coggygria Grace) was a big hit.
Between lunch and afternoon tea, I showed the
visitors copied pages from the old New Zealand
Woman’s Weekly that I have indexed, and talked about
some of my most exciting �inds, such as forgotten Robin
Hyde journalism, Bruce Mason’s childhood work, and
an article from 1952 about Colin McCahon as a jeweller.
Part of my perceived role in this project has been to
place such material with appropriate repositories.
I showed the visitors the 2011 book So Brilliantly
Clever by Peter Graham, about Juliet Hulme and
Pauline Parker and the murder of the latter’s mother
in 1954, published and probably indexed by one of
our members, Lee Slater of Awa Press! This features a
1948 Woman’s Weekly photo of the Hulmes arriving in
Christchurch that I found and got to the biographer. As
af�icionados know, Juliet was already in New Zealand,
separated from her family for the second time.
Another spin-off was to write short articles for
the modern magazine commenting on snippets from
its past. I ended up doing this for 91 issues rather to
my surprise. In addition, we looked up my database
for rellies, and hoped we were on a roll when I found
the reference to a photo and article about Daphne’s
grandparent’s wedding �irst up. I found also that
I was still likely to remember if I’d come across a
surname, especially if I hadn’t, after all this time as
an anthroponomastician. One version of Nicholl was
family to one of our members. This name, and its
variants, was the most dif�icult I encountered in the
entire editing of the database, (over several months
after the actual indexing.) Alas, we had no more
scores for members’ ancestors, but a spot check on my
indexing was undertaken. (Phew!)
Just before afternoon teatime, Lai’s husband and
a publisher friend Kit arrived from the airport and
Hong Kong, and we all learned rather more about each
other in telling her about ourselves over chocolate
strawberries, rocky road and coffee. Many thanks to
Lai for coordinating this event.
By the way, I am happy to look up any of your old
folk in New Zealand for the years 1933-1959. Men
included!
Julie Daymond-King, NZ President
At the NZ party, l to r: Fiona Corcoran, Judy Graham, Julie Daymond-King (standing), Lesley Wilson,
Julie McMeikan, Susan Brookes and Daphne Lawless. Photo by Lai Heung Lam.
Handbook of indexing techniques: a guide for beginning indexers
Fi�h edi�on, by Linda K. Fe�ers. Reviewed by Silvia Muscardin
This handbook on indexing techniques is intended for
three groups of people:
• Occasional indexers, such as authors and technical
writers, who may be required to index their own books
• Anyone interested in becoming a professional indexer
who is looking for concrete examples or techniques for
learning how to index
• Librarians who need a review of indexing techniques.
hus begins Linda Fetters in her preface. The book
is in its �ifth edition and it is clear to me that one of
the reasons for its success is the clarity and conciseness
of the style. The opening paragraph quoted above is an
example: it states immediately and in a few words the
aim of this work, its audience and its scope.
It also states what this book it is not about and
what it does not do. It does not deal in depth with
indexing software, nor gives advice on how to start
one’s own indexing business. It focuses exclusively on
the technique of indexing, explained plainly and with
appropriate examples to beginners, or anyone who
needs a refresher.
The book consists of eight chapters.
Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the subject
of indexing and offers an overview of the resources
available to acquire the necessary skills: courses,
seminars, internet discussion groups and professional
organisations. Indexing standards are also explained.
Chapters 2 to 6 examine the techniques and
principles of book indexing, although, as the author
says, 'they can be applied to technical manuals,
magazines and journals, in-house databases, and
various kinds of subject �iles (vertical �iles, personal
collection of articles, and of�ice �iles)'.
Challenging aspects of indexing, such as those found
in specialist literature, are also dealt with.
A good example of the dif�iculty of indexing personal
names is exempli�ied by the indexing of biographies
(Chapter 4).
Chapter 7 is dedicated to periodicals. Fetters
examines the two different approaches to indexing
serials: the 'traditional' way of assigning headings
much like keywords in an online environment, versus
the 'book-like' style that allows you to pinpoint the
concept treated by quoting the page it is found in.
The other great difference from book indexing is, of
course, the use of a thesaurus. Therefore, while each
book index is different and tailor-made to the book,
periodicals are indexed in a uniform manner by using
a consistent set of terms.
Chapter 8 looks at the future of indexing: electronic
indexing. Electronic documents consist of: PDF �iles,
T
documents that require embedded indexing, XML and
HTML �iles, e-books, online help �iles and websites. The
author gives also an outline of taxonomies used for the
structure and the searching of websites.
It is a new industry and therefore in a state of �lux.
This is re�lected both in the material to be indexed, as
well as in the software used to index it. The indexer has
to contend with many issues. The size of the job can
be extensive, its nature wide-ranging and the content
can be updated frequently. This is particularly true of
websites.
The indexer must also be prepared to quickly master
new and very different indexing software programs;
not all are dedicated indexing software and some are
very expensive. This is work for established indexers.
And an industry in need of standards.
In all chapters, every aspect of the indexing process
is illustrated with good examples. Rather than cluttering
the writing with complicated explanations, the reader
is directed to further reading, clearly identi�ied with
references to the Classi�ied Bibliography and the
Work Cited. In that way Fetters manages to keep the
treatment of the subjects trim, while at the same time
supplying all the information required to expand on
each topic.
In the process we encounter the challenges of
indexing, beginning with the very �irst decision about
what to include in and what to exclude from an index.
Next comes the choice of headings and subheadings,
of names, locators and cross-references, alphabetising
entries, dealing with numbers, symbols and other
features peculiar of specialist literature. Finally, editing
the index and choosing the format or style.
As a beginner in the world of indexing I found this
book very relevant to me. It gave me an understanding
of what indexing, especially back-of-book indexing,
is truly about. It also brought home the difference
between classifying and indexing (see 'Classi�ication
and indexes' in Chapter 3, pp. 30-32).
Chapter 7 was the focus of my attention. Indexing
journal articles is part of my work and the treatment
of this aspect of indexing was enormously useful to
me. The basic difference between the two techniques
for indexing journals ('traditional' versus 'book-like'),
maybe obvious to some, was for me an eye-opener.
I de�initely bene�itted from reading this chapter and
I think it will help me improve my approach to journal
indexing.
The book has a US bias, but I did not �ind it
an impediment to my understanding of the subject
(Book review, continued from previous page)
matter. Examples are mainly related to North American
literature, but if you substituted examples from
Australian material you would not have to change
anything else.
The work’s succinctness and neat writing style
makes the book highly readable and a great introduction
to indexing for a beginner.
Handbook of indexing techniques: a guide for beginning indexers,
�ifth edition. Fetters, Linda K. Medford, New Jersey: Information
Today, 2013, 178 pages.
Silvia Muscardin
Queensland Branch General
Mee�ng
O
Tuesday 25 February
ur February guest speaker, Susan Prior, was born
in the UK, but fate led her to Australia, where
she attended University as a mature-age student
specialising in Journalism/Communications. For
more than six years she was editor of On Line Opinion,
an e-journal of current affairs and social debate. In
2009 she was nominated for, and was runner up in,
the Sydney ‘Freelance Writers Good Editor Awards’.
Susan has edited books – both �iction and non�iction – and has worked in corporate and academic
editing roles. She is an advisory editor for the
publication Eureka Street. While holidaying in Britain
she organised an intern position with the BBC, and
she is still an occasional guest on BBC radio, talking
about life in Brisbane.
Today, Susan is an experienced, professional
freelance editor working from Brisbane. She is
currently studying for a Masters degree in Writing,
Editing and Publishing at the University of
Queensland.
Our February meeting starts at 6.00 for 7.00 pm,
at the Ward Of�ice, 2/63 Annerley Road (corner
of Crown Street), Woolloongabba, Brisbane (of�ice
of Cr. Helen Abrahams of BCC). Entrance to the
Meeting Room is via the back door entrance, which
will be marked with the Queensland Branch logo.
Free parking will be found at the back and side
of the building, so please enter via Crown Street.
Entrance fee and supper is $2.00.
RSVP by Monday 24 February for catering, please,
to Moira Brown at <[email protected]>
or phone (07) 3160 6832 or 0416 097 629
At the following general meeting, on 25 March, we
will welcome back Dr Susan Turner – palaeontologist,
editor and indexer.
Moira Brown
Branch events
Date and time
Organiser
Tues 25 Feb
6 for 7.00 pm
Qld Branch
Wed 4 Dec
6.00 pm
Tues 25 March
6 for 7.00 pm
Vic Branch
Qld Branch
Name of activity
Venue
Old Op Shop, Holy
The VIC: Christmas
Crossword
Kew
General meeting: 2/63 Annerley Road,
Susan Prior, editor Woolloongabba, Brisbane
General meeting:
Dr Susan Turner
ANZSI President’s report
ANZSI Newsletter
ANZSI Council bios: President and Vice-President
Membership renewals: calendar-year subscriptions
Publicity and promotions committee
IDPF EPUB Indexes Working Group
Etcetera
NZ news: Auckland garden party
Handbook of indexing techniques. Book review
Queensland Branch February general meeting
PO Box 43, Lawson NSW 2783, Australia
Details at
2/63 Annerley Road,
See page 7
ANZSI Newsle�er
ON OTHER PAGES
Contact details
1
2
2
3
3
3
4
5
6
7
Published by the
PO Box 43, Lawson NSW 2783, Australia
© Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers
Inc. ISSN 1832-3855
Opinions and statements expressed in the Newsletter
are those of the respective authors.
Newsle�er schedule
The next Newsletter will appear in February 2014.
The contribution deadline is Friday, 30 January.

2013 - Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers

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