An index is a list of words or phrases and associated pointers to where useful material
relating to that heading can be found in a document. In a traditional back-of-the-book
index the headings will include names of people, places and events, and concepts selected by
a person as being relevant and of interest to a possible reader of the book. The pointers
are typically page numbers, paragraph numbers or section numbers. In a library catalog the
words are authors, titles, subject headings, etc., and the pointers are call numbers. Internet
search engines, such as Google, and full text searching help provide access to information
but are not as selective as an index, as they provide non-relevant links, and may miss relevant
information if it is not phrased in exactly the way they expect.
Earliest examples in English In the English language, indexes have been
referred to as early as 1593, as can be seen from lines in Christopher Marlowe's Hero and
Leander of that year: Therefore, even as an index to a bookSo to
his mind was young Leander's look. A similar reference to indexes is in Shakespeare's
lines from Troilus and Cressida, written nine years later:
And in such indexes, although small pricksTo their subsequent volumes, there is seenThe
baby figure of the giant massOf things to come at large.
But according to G. Norman Knight, "at that period, as often as not, by an 'index to a
book' was meant what we should now call a table of contents."
Among the first indexes – in the modern sense – to a book in the English language
was one in Plutarch's Parallel Lives, in Sir Thomas North's 1595 translation. A section
entitled "An Alphabetical Table of the most material contents of the whole book" may be
found in Henry Scobell's Acts and Ordinances of Parliament of 1658. This section comes
after "An index of the general titles comprised in the ensuing Table". Both of these indexes
predate the index to Alexander Cruden's Concordance, which is erroneously held to be the earliest
index found in an English book. Terminology: indexes v indices
G. Norman Knight quotes Shakespeare's lines from Troilus and Cressida and says:
"But the real importance of this passage is that it establishes for all time the correct
literary plural; we can leave the Latin form "indices" to the mathematicians."
The term "indexes" is used throughout the publishing industry, including in the International
Standard ISO 999 - Information and documentation - Guidelines for the content, organization
and presentation of indexes. Indexing process
Conventional indexing The indexer reads through the text, identifying
indexable concepts. The indexer creates index headings to represent those concepts, which
are phrased such that they can be found when in alphabetical order. These headings and
their associated locators are entered into specialist indexing software which handles
the formatting of the index and facilitates the editing phase. The index is then edited
to impose consistency throughout the index. Indexers must analyze the text to enable presentation
of concepts and ideas in the index that may not be named within the text. The index is
intended to help the reader, researcher, or information professional, rather than the
author, find information, so the professional indexer must act as a liaison between the
text and its ultimate user. Indexing is often done by freelancers hired
by authors, publishers or book packagers. Some publishers and database companies employ
indexers. There are several dedicated, indexing software
programs available to assist with the special sorting and copying needs involved in index
preparation. The most widely known include Cindex, Macrex and SkyIndex. TExtract is a
hybrid semi-automatic program combining conventional manual indexing with automated indexing features
and text linking. Embedded indexing
Embedded indexing involves including the index headings in the midst of the text itself,
but surrounded by codes so that they are not normally displayed. A usable index is then
generated automatically from the embedded text using the position of the embedded headings
to determine the locators. Thus, when the pagination is changed the index can be regenerated
with the new locators. LaTeX documents support embedded indexes primarily
through the MakeIndex package. Several widely used XML DTDs, including DocBook and TEI,
have elements that allow index creation directly in the XML files. Most word processing software,
such as StarWriter/OpenOffice.org Writer, Microsoft Word, and WordPerfect, as well as
some desktop publishing software, as well as other tools) have some facility for embedded
indexing as well. TExtract supports embedded indexing of Microsoft Word documents.
An embedded index requires more time to create than a conventional static index; however,
an embedded index can save time in the long run when the material is updated or repaginated.
This is because, with a static index, if even a few pages change, the entire index must
be recreated, while with an embedded index, only the pages that changed need updating
or indexing. Purpose
Indexes are designed to help the reader find information quickly and easily. A complete
and truly useful index is not simply a list of the words and phrases used in a publication,
but an organized map of its contents, including cross-references, grouping of like concepts,
and other useful intellectual analysis. Sample back-of-the-book index excerpt:
sage, 41-42. See also Herbs ← directing the reader to related terms
Scarlet Sages. See Salvia coccinea ← redirecting the reader to term used in the text
shade plants ← grouping term hosta, 93 ← subentries
myrtle, 46 Solomon's seal, 14
sunflower, 47 ← regular entry In books, indexes are usually placed near
the end. They complement the table of contents by enabling access to information by specific
subject, whereas contents listings enable access through broad divisions of the text
arranged in the order they occur. It has been remarked that, while "[a]t first glance the
driest part of the book, on closer inspection the index may provide both interest and amusement
from time to time." Index quality
Some principles of good indexing include: Ensuring each topic/section includes a variety
of relevant index entries; use two or three entries per topic
Understanding the audience and understand what kind of index entries they're likely
to look for Use the same form throughout, using standard
indexing conventions Indexing pitfalls:
Significant topics with no index entries at all
Indexing 'mere mentions' --- "But John Major was no Winston Churchill..." indexed under
'Churchill, Winston' Circular cross-references: 'Felidae. See Cats'
--- 'Cats. See Felidae' References to discussions of a single topic
scattered among several main headings: 'Cats, 50-62' --- 'Felidae, 175-183'
Inconsistently indexing similar topics Confusing similar names: Henry V of England,
Henri V of France Incorrect alphabetization: 'α-Linolenic acid'
under 'A' instead of 'L' Inappropriate inversions: 'processors, word'
for 'word processors' Inappropriate subheadings: 'processors: food,
213-6; word, 33-7' Computer indexing from section headings: e.g.
'Getting to know your printer' under 'G' Indexer roles
Some indexers specialize in specific formats, such as scholarly books, microforms, web indexing,
search engine indexing, database indexing, and periodical indexing.
Some indexers with expertise in controlled vocabularies also work as taxonomists and
ontologists. Some indexers specialize in particular subject
areas, such as anthropology, business, computers, economics, education, government documents,
history, law, mathematics, medicine, psychology, and technology. An indexer can be found for
any subject. References in popular culture
In "The Library of Babel", a short story by Jorge Luis Borges, there is an index of indexes
that catalogues all of the books in the library, which contains all possible books.
Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle includes a character who is a professional indexer
and believes that "indexing [is] a thing that only the most amateurish author [undertakes]
to do for his own book." She claims to be able to read an author's character through
the index he created for his own history text, and warns the narrator, an author, "Never
index your own book." Vladimir Nabokov's novel Pale Fire includes
a parody of an index, reflecting the insanity of the narrator.
Mark Danielewski's novel House of Leaves contains an exhaustive 200 page index of words in the
novel, including even large listings for inconsequential words such as the, and, and in.
Standards ISO 999:1996 Guidelines for the Content, Organization,
and Presentation of Indexes Societies
American Society for Indexing Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers
British Record Society China Society of Indexers
Indexing Society of Canada Nederlands Indexers Netwerk
Society of Indexers See also
Back-of-the-book index Concordance
Indexing and abstracting service Subject indexing
Web indexing References
Further reading Booth, Pat Indexing: The Manual of Good Practice,
ISBN 3-598-11536-9 Borko, Harold & Bernier, Charles L. Indexing
Concepts and Methods, ISBN 0-12-118660-1 Browne, Glenda and Jermey, Jon, The Indexing
Companion, ISBN 978-0-521-68988-5 Mulvany, Nancy Indexing Books, 2nd ed. ISBN
0-226-55276-4 Smith, Sherry & Kells, Kari Inside Indexing:
the Decision-Making Process, ISBN 0-9771035-0-1 Stauber, Do Mi Facing the Text: Content and
Structure in Book Indexing ISBN 0-9748345-0-5 Wellisch, Hans Indexing from A to Z, 2nd ed.
ISBN 0-8242-0807-2 External links
The Indexer Consideration in Indexing Online Documents
Usability studies for indexes Reflections on Authorship and Indexing
"The Definite Article: Acknowledging 'The' in Index Entries", Glenda Browne, The Indexer,
vol. 22, no. 3 April 2001, pp. 119-22. The role of indexing in technical communication
Indexing FAQ/Intro Author-created indexes
Author-Created Indexes Should Authors Index Their Own Books?