What does it take to be an Indexer?
An indexer organizes information and creates a directory which can be used to locate that information. Every time someone opens a nonfiction book and flips to the index to look something up, she or he is taking advantage of an Indexer's hard work. Indexers can index books, magazine articles, and other types of publications. They may also provide abstraction and databasing services, depending on their skill sets and the areas in which they work.
Conventionally, authors are responsible for their own indexing. This is a highly specialized skill, however, and most authors are not up to the task, preferring to refer the job to an indexer. Indexers commonly work as freelancers, doing work on a job by job basis. Some may work for publishing companies, with large publishing houses maintaining a staff of indexers. The advantage to working as part of a staff is steady employment along with access to style guidelines which can be helpful when developing an index.
Conventionally, authors are responsible for their own indexing. This is a highly specialized skill, however, and most authors are not up to the task, preferring to refer the job to an indexer. Indexers commonly work as freelancers, doing work on a job by job basis. Some may work for publishing companies, with large publishing houses maintaining a staff of indexers. The advantage to working as part of a staff is steady employment along with access to style guidelines which can be helpful when developing an index.
What kind of books are indexed?
TEXTBOOKS COOKBOOKS NON-FICTION SELECTIONS
Who's Who in Indexing?
History doesn't generally lend kindly to indexers when it comes to apportioning fame. While there have been a few famous people who have been indexers, I personally couldn't identify any of them. The presiding authority on indexers in history is Hazel Bell, the long-time editor of “The Indexer” magazine, published monthly in England by the Indexing Society.
Lewis Carroll’s index, for his novel “Sylvie and Bruno,” published in 1889, contained an index for Volumes I and II containing entries for “Logic of Crocodiles,” “Croquet,” and “Bath, portable, for Tourists,” among other whimsical subjects. Unfortunately, in the single-volume edition, the index has generally been omitted.
William Frederick Poole,” the great 19th-century indexer and librarian who began his career and the index that bears his name while a Yale undergraduate in 1848. A precurser to the better-known “Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature,” Poole’s “Index to Periodical Literature was the first significant published index of periodicals in the United States, and involved librarians in 46 libraries in the U.S. and Britain.
Poole’s “Index” was so important, it spawned a series of supporting and supplementing bibliographical works, such as “Poole’s Index: Date and Volume Key, and Poole’s Plus, an early Internet database of indexes to pre-1900 publications. Poole’s index was “synonymous with indexes to periodicals of the 19th century,” and was superceded by H.W. Wilson Company’s “Reader’s Guide to Periodical literature in the early 1900′s, and continued for more than a century until it was acquired by EBSCO in 2011.
Perhaps the most famous index of literature in the 19th century was the “Index Medicus,” which began as the United States Army “Index-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General’s Office, published from 1880 to 1895, and continued in various editions until the advent of the computerized MEDLINE in the 1960′s. The index medicus was described as “A monthly classified record of the current medical literature of the world,” but it was not the only medical periodical reference available to scholars in the 19th century.
History doesn't generally lend kindly to indexers when it comes to apportioning fame. While there have been a few famous people who have been indexers, I personally couldn't identify any of them. The presiding authority on indexers in history is Hazel Bell, the long-time editor of “The Indexer” magazine, published monthly in England by the Indexing Society.
Lewis Carroll’s index, for his novel “Sylvie and Bruno,” published in 1889, contained an index for Volumes I and II containing entries for “Logic of Crocodiles,” “Croquet,” and “Bath, portable, for Tourists,” among other whimsical subjects. Unfortunately, in the single-volume edition, the index has generally been omitted.
William Frederick Poole,” the great 19th-century indexer and librarian who began his career and the index that bears his name while a Yale undergraduate in 1848. A precurser to the better-known “Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature,” Poole’s “Index to Periodical Literature was the first significant published index of periodicals in the United States, and involved librarians in 46 libraries in the U.S. and Britain.
Poole’s “Index” was so important, it spawned a series of supporting and supplementing bibliographical works, such as “Poole’s Index: Date and Volume Key, and Poole’s Plus, an early Internet database of indexes to pre-1900 publications. Poole’s index was “synonymous with indexes to periodicals of the 19th century,” and was superceded by H.W. Wilson Company’s “Reader’s Guide to Periodical literature in the early 1900′s, and continued for more than a century until it was acquired by EBSCO in 2011.
Perhaps the most famous index of literature in the 19th century was the “Index Medicus,” which began as the United States Army “Index-catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General’s Office, published from 1880 to 1895, and continued in various editions until the advent of the computerized MEDLINE in the 1960′s. The index medicus was described as “A monthly classified record of the current medical literature of the world,” but it was not the only medical periodical reference available to scholars in the 19th century.
Workin' 9 to 5?
Set hours? That's the wrong question! A freelance indexer, which most are, is running a small business; as a businessperson, an indexer is not paid, rather they set a price and charge for a service. Most indexers are not considered employees rather, are an independent contractor.
Set hours? That's the wrong question! A freelance indexer, which most are, is running a small business; as a businessperson, an indexer is not paid, rather they set a price and charge for a service. Most indexers are not considered employees rather, are an independent contractor.
Take a stab at making your own index
"An hourly indexing fee should always be at least four times the wage one can earn by flipping hamburgers at a fast-food emporium."
-Dr. Hans Wellisch, Indexing from A to Z
Lets Be Serious! - Am I going to make any money?!
Most Indexers are freelance so their hours or work are not guaranteed. As an Indexer becomes well-established or even hired by a publishing company, they acquire more paid work hours. Money magazine recently published an article on successful home-based businesses. Amongst their interviews, they featured an indexer, who says he averages $50,000 per year. Most indexers however are skeptical as these results are not likely.
Most Indexers are freelance so their hours or work are not guaranteed. As an Indexer becomes well-established or even hired by a publishing company, they acquire more paid work hours. Money magazine recently published an article on successful home-based businesses. Amongst their interviews, they featured an indexer, who says he averages $50,000 per year. Most indexers however are skeptical as these results are not likely.