For this blog post, we asked our panel of experienced indexers: since you started indexing, what has changed in the profession and what has stayed the same?
Christine Boylan, Advanced Professional Member
I came into indexing just as computers were being introduced more widely. I am not really sure I would have taken up the profession if had been with index cards (although I did use these with my early indexes) and a typewriter. For the first few years telephone calls were used to commission indexes, paper proofs were sent to me through the post (how many hours have I spent waiting at home for these deliveries?) and indexes submitted on floppy disks through the post along with invoices. Later email replaced the telephone which did remove some of the personal contact and along with it a good method of negotiation on fees and deadlines. Proofs were then sent electronically and indexes submitted via email and publishers’ sites. Some publishers disappeared or were taken over by major groups. Packagers then came on to the scene, many based in India, replacing any direct contact with the editorial team. This led to many early problems as there was little knowledge of the work involved in indexing so I seemed to have train some of these employees on the job. This has much improved over the years and there is not such a great turnover of staff now leading to much more streamline working. Authors remain the same – some lovely, others making strange and unworkable demands. The use of pdf proofs has made searching an easy job but this can be a blessing for use but a curse in the hands of picky authors.
Kate McIntosh, Advanced Professional Member
I have more contact with individual authors now because so many publishers ask them to produce their own index. Packagers figure more prominently in the publishing world, but I won’t work with them because of their rates.
Geraldine Begley, Advanced Professional Member
I think there are a lot more changes in the profession that things that stayed the same.
When I first started indexing, I used to get phone calls from editors looking for an indexer. After agreeing to do the job, I would receive the paper proofs via the post or courier delivery. I returned the index via email and I would get a cheque in the post a few weeks or so later.
Nowadays, I rarely get phone calls from editors, most if not all contact is done via email. I receive a PDF and all the indexing on-screen. I still deliver the index via email and payments are made via bank transfer.
Joanna Penning, Advanced Professional Member
In the first few years I did a lot of work for two organisations – one a university press and the other a large trade publisher. Both paid quite poorly but provided me with a steady stream of complex, varied, and sometimes very absorbing texts to index. Generally, if I was unsure of my role or there were issues of potential mission-creep the project manager at the university press was supportive and that eased some of the stresses. Nowadays though I still work for university presses and the editors can be supportive and pleasant, I do feel that they are under more pressure. Also, increasingly, I am commissioned by the authors themselves, which can work well but at times it can lead to complications, such as prevarication over schedules, exact payment, or index style/formatting. I have to remind myself each morning to keep emails friendly but professional, to the point, and assertive. And to make use of the excellent SI forums and my contacts.
Linda Haylock, Advanced Professional Member
It has (or seems to have) become a lot more technical, which is probably inevitable given technological progress (although I am very pleased that the old card indexes are well in the past). I feel I can manage the technology to a certain extent but don’t have the language to express my (limited) knowledge of it.
Daft things have changed too – when I first started indexing in 2009 the accepted wisdom at the time was to refer to publications such as Writers Yearbook to find out the names of publisher contacts, and then to either write to them or email them. Now it is a lot harder to access contact names – some real detective work needs to go into it.
I also find the Society of Indexers’ forum much friendlier nowadays (apart from a blip a year or two ago). There were a few too many big egos on there during the 2010s who weren’t exactly polite to others.
The actual indexing process hasn’t changed much at all, though – which is a good thing.
Susan Vaughan, Advanced Professional Member
My first few indexes were compiled with the help of index cards in shoe boxes. Fortunately very soon the use of personal computers became economically viable, and soon after that dedicated indexing software became available. More recently there has been the growth of embedded indexing.
Other changes – hardly anyone sends me hard copy anymore so I do a lot more printing (I still like to work from hard copy); my telephone hardly ever rings with work related calls – all communication is by electronic means.
Samantha Clark, Advanced Professional Member
Technology has made things easier and quicker. I have a lot less scrap paper now as I don’t receive printed proofs. However, technology also changes people’s expectations of what can be done and how it can be done. I feel that all the different means of communication now available means that I feel pressure to respond immediately rather than just during ‘work hours’; that is probably just psychological though. There is also an expectation that computers can do everything and the human aspects aren’t as important. Technology is also useful for staying in contact with other Indexers through forums, zoom, online conferences, online training, etc. The downside is that local groups seem to be less likely to actually meet in person now, which is sad. The actual process of creating an index (apart from the technology used) is still the same, with the same sort of questions arising as to how to decide what to include, what to actually call things, where to put different headings… The support from other Indexers and from SI as a whole is the same, and it feels like everyone wants to help each other rather than competing against each other.
Valeria Padalino, Advanced Professional Member
The tools have changed, but the thinking has not. Technology makes part of the process quicker, but the essence of indexing remains the same: careful reading, a feel for how ideas connect, and an understanding of what a reader will find useful.
This post is part of our Ask the Indexers series. The previous post asked what they enjoyed most about indexing
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