Customer Reviews

Inside Indexing: The Decision-making Process

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Co-author Sherry Smith reveals that in her final editing of an index she begins with the shortest alpha group, usually the Qs. "Starting with the simpler and easier helps me be more productive." So me too. In a Quiznos tv ad for their prime rib on garlic bread, an actress declares, "It's not lacking any meat. And that's what real women need!" That's what Inside Indexing is all about. It is stuffed with tips, deeply explicated and resolved indexing challenges, and questions that fuel fine indexing.

This book is about two different indexers and their journey in indexing a book on urban growth called Better Not Bigger, by Eben Fodor. You will learn who Sherry Smith and Kari Kells are and what, why, and how they index. If you are a beginning indexer (that is, you have completed a good indexing course and have indexed a few books beyond the course), your indexing mind will be shaped by these two teachers. There's no question about that. You will collect so many helpful suggestions on indexing that you'll want to type and print them out.

The first observation the reader may make is the difference between Kells and Smith regarding audience emphasis. Kari Kells says, "I focus most intensely on audience at the beginning of my process and again at the end. However, they are a factor in every indexing decision that I make."

Sherry Smith is also influenced by the audience, but emphasizes content: "Seldom will I ask myself, `What do readers need from this page?' Instead, I focus on the content by asking `What is on this page?' Once I identify that content, I phrase my entries so that a variety of readers will find them useful."

If you're a beginning indexer I'll bet my collection of cigar cutters that after reading the above two paragraphs you're inquiring about your own attitude toward the audience. That's what this book does. It helps to shape your indexing mentality by bringing you to a place where you have to take a look at it. Inside Indexing is an extremely valuable book for new indexers.

It's hard to say which chapter is most important. Of course it depends on what the reader might stumble on or require at the moment they are reading. In general, I think it is either the chapter on analysis or the one on gathering.

In the analysis chapter Smith gives a breathtaking discussion on indexing the concept of "land." Listen to part of it: "When I reach pages 24, 25, and 33 during my second pass, I see a potential strategy that will begin consolidating the index structure so that each idea becomes a useful subentry instead of a distracting main heading. First, I change the main heading `land consumption' to a subentry `consumption rates' under `land.' I then change the wording of the main heading `land development scheme' to the more neutral and informative word `development tactics' and place it under `land.' This last change addresses my earlier worries about biased wording."

Also in the chapter on analysis Kari Kells takes the reader's breath away with her discussion on revealing "relationships that aren't overtly presented in the text itself." Kari writes, "Another of my editorial changes involves the in-migration discussion on pages 42-44. I originally created this main heading for discussions in other parts of the book. While editing, I realize that `in-migration' is a concept that also applies to page 43 even though there aren't explicit mentions of in-migration in the passage. If I create a subheading her for page 43, will readers expect to see the term `in-migration' on page 43? If so, does that mean I should avoid using the term when referring to this page? And if I avoid using the term, how else can I provide access from the main heading `in-migration' to page 43? I choose to keep this entry until I can come up with a better solution."

Does Kari end up keeping the entry or not? Find out by reading her (and Sherry's) final index for Bigger Not Better at www.insideindexing.com/ndx.html.

There are so many valuable gems that I like in this book that I have to stop myself. This review is already way too long. One more mention is the design of the book. Different fonts are effectively used to distinguish the writings of Smith, Kells, and their common voice. The book is wider than long (hence the sub sandwich analogy at the beginning of the review actually makes some sense), and this shape allows a nice amount of space on the right side of each page for text boxes containing examples of the actual index being composed by each author.

Martha Osgood's index to Inside Indexing is another slice of goodness: a pleasure to view, read, and use.

Order Inside Indexing: The Decision-Making Process and expand yourself as an indexer. Quick.

Description from web site (www.InsideIndexing.com):

"Inside Indexing by Sherry Smith and Kari Kells is about the decision-making process of indexing. It serves as a window into the minds of two indexers as we both indexed Eben Fodor's text, Better Not Bigger: How to Take Control of Urban Growth and Improve Your Community.

We provide detailed descriptions of our indexing processes as we explore the causes and consequences of our decisions. As we describe what happened, we reveal the problems we encountered and the solutions we developed."

From cover:

"Inside Indexing fills a void that has existed for decades. The thought process of analyzing text has been a topic of discussion in the indexing world for years, but no one - until now - has documented how they do it. Every indexer needs a copy of this book in their libraries. It's an indispensable, pricess resource."
-- Cheryl Landes, STC member, In-house technical indexer

"What a treat: simultaneous windows into the working minds of two indexers! This book promises to be a valuable edition to the literature."
-- Do Mi Stauber, author of Facing the Text: Content and Structure in Book Indexing

"Inside Indexing will surely become a classic for all indexers. It is a book to be read and re-read at various points in an indexer's life - the kind of book that will continue to yield fresh insights, no matter where in your career or development you are! It isn't an 'easy read.' It takes work - there's a lot to think about and digest. But it's definitely a 'must read'!"
-- Janet Perlman, ASI member, Arizona chapter

"Comparing indexes by different indexers is one thing. Getting a chance to hear how they decided to index the way they did -- now that is a treat! Sherry and Kari have allowed us to sit as flies on the wall while they each wrote an index for the same work. They have provided a real service to book indexers everywhere. Any indexer who does not take the time to read and study their text is letting a rare opportunity slip through their fingers."
-- Pilar Wyman, Key Words editor, USDA indexing course instructor

"A fascinating look inside the indexing process. Proof that the human mind is required for the art that is indexing. I can't think of anyone in the publishing industry who shouldn't read this book."
-- Cynthia Landeen, IASC member

"Inside Indexing goes beyond providing indexing rules and tackles the most challenging element of indexing deciding how to craft index entries. As we read about Kari and Sherry s individual approaches to indexing a single text and follow their reasoning and examples, we become engaged in the decision-making process ourselves. It is through this experience that we become better at reviewing and refining our own indexing style."
-- Elizabeth Bell, IASC Past-President

"Sherry Smith and Kari Kells give you a real world example of approaching a single text, each in their own way: analyzing structure, creating entries, and pulling work together into a finished index. Inside Indexing is a concrete, thought-provoking, and tip-filled book that beginning indexers will find invaluable, and established indexers will find intriguing."
-- Jan Wright, STC member, instructor for the UC Berkeley indexing course

"New indexers should find it reassuring to see the process that even seasoned professional indexers go through when turning a rough initial index draft into a refined and polished final index."
-- Julie Kawabata, ASI Board of Directors