Ask the Indexers: what’s the thing you wish everyone understood about indexing?

Photograph of library shelves full of books with ceiling lights to illuminate them

In our latest Ask the Indexers blog post, our panel members offer insight into the sometimes hidden world of indexing.

Samantha Clark, Advanced Professional Member

That it is actually a job which people do! Everyone seems to just assume that indexes appear by magic. That it’s not just a case of searching for names, and yes we do actually read the whole book. From the point of view of authors – that making what seems to them a minor change may actually require a lot of work, but then equally what seems to them something that will require a lot of work may actually be simple – so I guess there’s not really an answer to that! Also for authors – if they don’t tell me something I can’t read their mind and it’s better to know at the start rather than wait until I’ve finished the index. From the point of view of friends and family – self-employment/freelance work is actually work and you shouldn’t just phone for a long chat or expect me to be free for a coffee.

Christopher Phipps, Advanced Professional Member

It’s not as dull as it sounds and yes, you do have to read the whole book.

Helen Taylor, Advanced Professional Member

I wish clients realised that indexing is not as simple as looking for every mention of a concept in the text. I quite often get feedback along the lines of “you have indexed owls on pp. x, y and z but I did a search and found 20 references. Why aren’t they all listed?”

Linda Haylock, Advanced Professional Member

I wish people understood how much thought and hard work can go into an index.

I also wish people understood the time commitment involved and wouldn’t look surprised when they ask what I’m doing at the weekend and I reply ‘working’.

Geraldine Begley, Advanced Professional Member

Most people have never heard of indexing and when I tell them what I do, I have to explain it to them. People seem to think that a computer could create an index and are amazed when they are told that a human actually reads the book and compiles the index.

I also wish that everyone was aware that authors don’t always index their books and that there are professional indexers who produce indexes.

Occasionally, authors provide a list of entries and think it would save time if you just add the page numbers to the terms, when it takes more time than indexing from scratch.

Valeria Padalino, Advanced Professional Member

People are often surprised to learn that indexing is professional work: No, AI cannot do it (yet!). Yes, I really do have to read the whole book. And no, an index with “just names” is not necessarily easier or cheaper!

Kate McIntosh, Advanced Professional Member

That it isn’t just a word search!!! (And no, computers can’t do it!).

Susan Vaughan, Advanced Professional Member

That it isn’t the same as a word search!!

I wish editors would understand how time-consuming it is to cope with extensive pagination changes.

Joanna Penning, Advanced Professional Member

There are some family members and friends who think it must be a tortuous, dull thing to do. But usually I don’t find that. Embarking on a new project can be quite exciting, and there is something very satisfying about reaching the end of a long book index which has perhaps been challenging intellectually, sending it to the author and/or commissioning editor and receiving some positive, warm words back.

Christine Boylan, Advanced Professional Member

You do have to read the whole book.

This post is part of our Ask the Indexers series. The previous post asked about pushing professional boundaries.

To explore more of our posts on indexing topics please use the tag cloud below.