Who also, as it happened, was the Newbie facilitator (sitting on my left).  So, I just want to shush any nervous Newbie qualms out there, about bunking up with congenial Others, and simultaneously thank Terry Casey for her generosity, extroverted personality, and Event Planner channelling!

After the conference, Margie Towery started a thread on the ASI-L (June 10) regarding hosting future conferences at University campuses to defray hotel costs. The hotel rooms for the Charleston conference were very roomy with sitting rooms attached, but with a door that could be closed between the sleeping area, the bathroom and the sitting room. This feature may have made sharing with a stranger in close quarters a little more graceful. One could sleep while another could stay up, or have a long shower. I discovered that the Indexers I met are caring and careful people, so the option of closing a door is I think, important. One can choose to live in close quarters, or not, and be less anxious about irritating the other person. I knew I would always be able to find a bit of quiet (even with a generous, energetic, event-planning extrovert!)

That said, now that I am no longer a complete Newbie, I could definitely entertain bunking up in a campus dorm. But as a first experience, the Indexing conference at Charleston was pretty much perfect.

With Steve Falk, Terry also facilitated and scheduled an ice-breaker activity, as well as managing the Newbies and their Buddy(ies). For conference old-timers, this is how it looked in our Newbie in-boxes:

You have been paired up as a Buddy and Newbie for the upcoming ASI Conference.  In the next week or so, please take a few moments to introduce yourselves to each other via email by answering the questions below.  That way, you will know a little something about each other when you meet in Charleston.

1.       What is your name?  (It might not be obvious from your email address.)

2.       What are your city and state and your Chapter (if you belong to one)?

3.       What types of work have you done besides indexing?

4.       What do you do for fun (besides indexing!)?

5.       What is one other fun fact about you that others would find interesting?

We have scheduled a Buddy/Newbie “get acquainted” meeting on Wednesday, April 30, at 5:15 pm at the Embassy Suites (the Conference Hotel).  We will have a short, fun ice-breaker activity, and then we will go the general Conference Welcome Reception together.  Please attend our Buddy/Newbie meeting if you can.

We look forward to meeting all of you in Charleston.

Terry Casey and Steve Falk

ASI Conference Buddy Program Coordinators

Who knew that retiring indexing persons could be so effusive and fun! The unexpected noise of gabbling circles of Indexers, introducing one to another during the ice-breaker round, was a delight to be part of.  Terry’s great positive energy paved the way for lots of strangers to have fun together. I asked her to sum up her conference experience:

The conference did, and always does, give me a boost of energy and excitement about my business.  Giving me new ideas and new connections.

That about says it all. A pleasure shared is a pleasure doubled.

In case you've not heard of this, I want to point out a couple of things so that when a client says they've decided to do their own index with PDF Index Generator for $59.95, you can right away tell them not to, and feel good about it. I’d never heard of this indexing tool until a few weeks ago, when a potential client decided just that.

After searching the net for reviews mentioning PDF Index Generator, or 'pdf generator problems' there were many references - and all but one of the articles was written by the software company itself- with no problems of course! Information about the Index-Like-Object written by professional indexers are currently hard to find. Thus, there is little competition and no countervailing arguments to accompany claims like these:

“in (4) easy steps. PDF Index Generator parses your PDF, collects the index words and their location in the PDF, then writes the generated index to a PDF or a text file you specify. The main target for PDF Index Generator is to automate the process of generating the book index instead of doing the hard work manually”

During the time I was looking at the program and thinking about writing this, I had a chance email conversation with Dwight Walker of the Web & Electronic Indexing Sig, and I asked him if he wouldn't mind taking a quick look at it too:

I downloaded the PDF Index Generator and ran it today. It is very basic. It extracts all keywords into an alphabetical list but does not edit it so the indexer would have to edit it and clean it up before pasting it back into the document or letting the app append it to the PDF. An indexer could use it as a basis then re-edit the generated index and tweak the tool.

 As you say, the index was pretty awful that PDF Index Generator created, unless the stop words were adjusted. No multi-level indexing was done just flat keyword alphabetical list, which was very poor quality.

The only good thing was the layout.

I found one review of it in PDF Index Generator 28.47-48, The Indexer by accident today. I don't have a copy of that issue of The Indexer.
- Dwight Walker

The only article which I had found, that was not written by Index Generator begins: 

Creating the initial index was a completely grueling process. It was pure grunt work, and unfortunately, there is no way around it.
PDF Index Generator will create an index list for you, but it will index every word, minus the built in ‘excluded’ words. I thought the application would be able to automate the creation of the index terms, but I quickly found out that the software can’t determine groupings of words and phrases: e.g., ‘information security management’. The Index creator can index each word individually, but it would have no way of knowing that Index Security Management is a term that you want to specifically search for, unless you manually specify it in the ‘include list’.


However, the author concludes by giving the program a rating of 7/10, which I do not believe any indexer would agree to. 
[For the full article, here is the link  http://www.curvve.com/blog/guides/2011/create-a-printable-document-index-with-pdf-index-generator/#.U6CoEI1dVgS]

Looking at the first sample index provided on the software website (see sample indexes http://www.pdfindexgenerator.com/download_samples.php) - take even a cursory glance at the A’s - and notice how names are indexed inconsistently, i.e.  Agee, Michael; Akerlof, George and then for some reason Alan Morrison. (not Morrison, Alan). This happens to names throughout the first sample index.

In the second sample index provided notice, again right off the bat, the sort of headings and locator strings created:
accountability
  personal, 2, 8, 12, 38, 55, 64, 72, 78, 85, 89, 93-96, 107, 173,    181-182, 184-185
adjourning stage of team building, 103-104
assumptions
  defined, 26, 75, 97, 109, 131, 134, 148, 151, 153, 182
  identifying, 21, 23, 33-35, 55, 59, 86, 89, 119, 134, 150, 161
  project plan template, 162

Peruse the program yourself, and you will find many ways that PDF Index Generator creates “an index-like-object” but not a usable index. But the point I'm trying to make is, the internet tourist will have to dig deep to find reasons not to buy PDF Index Generator. To the unsuspecting debt-ridden first-time author it might look like a pretty good object! Even though the flaws might be obvious to indexers, to the general public the faults are NOT obvious. If a person doesn't know how a proper index ought to function, the Index-Like-Object can look just like a usable index.


That’s why I think it is important to have a couple of things to say to the wary author who thinks that for $59.95, they are getting a deal (while pdf generator steals your fee). It’s all the same to them, because, when they search the net looking for answers, there’s no evidence to the contrary.

Scroll down below, for the Seth Maislin article which Dwight located (as pdf ) and another by Jon Jeremy at this link http://www.anzsi.org/UserFiles/file/Feb%2010.pdf (page 8 ANZSI Newsletter)

For the ASI conference, David Ream presented an update of what the ASI Digital Trends Task Force unit have been up to for the past year (or three)- completing a coding language of the structural components of an index that software developers can adapt for EPUB platforms. At least, that is how I understood his presentation. Early on in it, Mr. Ream threw up this image (above) in the powerpoint (for about 3 seconds) and when I saw it, it kind of blew my mind a bit. I asked him to go back to it during his talk, and I want to show it again here, in a screen capture. It's a chart of results drawn from this Levtech resource http://www.levtechinc.com/pdf/Using%20BNA%20Indexes%20study.pdf. It illustrates time taken to access information through use of an index or keyword search. The INDEX clearly wins! 

As a researcher, when I have come upon a beautiful index, it elicits pure emotion. I know this sounds weird to anyone who is not a researcher or an indexer - but pure delight and admiration. Wow. A good index is SO useful!! The beautiful ones are distinct I think, and somewhat rare. But any functional index is waaay better than none! The chart shows clearly how quickly an index can make information accessible, and I was actually a bit thrilled to see it, because it becomes exasperating trying to explain to people the difference between a keyword search and an index (we've all been there too many times). It illustrates the time taken doing it both ways, as you might say. Maybe I will whip it out the next time someone asks me!  Feel free to add it to your websites! 

Another thing that turned me on (as an Indexing person) was a 'User case scenario 2' that the Task Force had posited for how to locate the web index or EPUB index on screen. I loved the idea of having it pop-up as you hover over a locator, to indicate other related entries. Does that make sense to anyone else? I see it as a kind of transparent overlay- you can see through it, to what you are reading in the ebook. It appears and disappears as needed. It could also pop up as a sidebar, or as an editing bubble like on Word. 

Anyway, my preferences aside, the work they have done is amazing, and translates into something really useful. I am comparing it to the very little I know through watching a webinar presented by the ASI last October: Converting Legacy Print Book Indexes for Use in ebooks. It seems to me that the DTTF folks have gone way beyond what was being discussed and wrangled through only 6 months ago.  Someone said it was like the era when no one knew whether the common language of video would be VHS or Beta. It was a kind of relief to me to see how far they had come in working out a code for coders. These are the thoughts of an indexing naif. I'd be happy to learn others' perspectives.

Indexing Best Practices was the seminar I attended the second day of the ASI conference. I want to mention this because it gave me insight into the kind of committed committee work that ASI members do in order to maintain the high functioning of the ASI.

This group met many times over the past year, with much energy expended in co-ordinating meeting times and places, not to mention, recipes of food eaten at meetings! (Did I mention that Indexers are Foodies?) The committee included Linnea Dwyer, S. Anne Fifer, Pat Rimmer, Donna Shear, and Margie Towery. NISO technical report and guidelines were referred to as some standards of the industry, as well as the Chicago Manual of Style 16. We were reminded that 'standards' do not mean that everyone does it.


The group has written the brief of Best Practices as a 'living document'- it is not finalized, and welcomes contributions from Indexing Professionals over a 90 day commentary period. What is brilliant about this document is that it attempts to loop Appendices on specialized subjects back in to the main document. I'm including it here as a pdf file because of its value as a way to organize my own thinking, and before it changes with new contributions from the pros. Eventually, the various specialties will be able to be downloaded separately from the main document.


There were many experts in the field who participated in the talk back, question and answer period of the workshop. One of the illuminating comments from the indexers of children's educational publications revolved around terminology used in national "common core" educational units that had to show up as keywords as part of state standards. The discussion focussed on how these words can become indexing headings and subheadings, usable for children, who may not easily access or understand the index. 


The committee had begun to assemble this information in the Appendix A- Children's Books and K-12 Textbooks. I include this excerpt to show just a very small portion of the work of this group and how useful their assembled information already is, to someone like me who is new to the trade:


Main Headings
a. Main headings in elementary level books may be adjectives if they are vocabulary
words, and if the publisher or author requests that all vocabulary words be indexed.
b. Typical children's vocabulary must be used as main headings and should be cross-referenced
to unusual terms used by the author. For example, cars should be used rather
than vehicles. Vehicles should be cross-referenced to cars.
In addition, textbook indexes must reflect the wording in Common Core State Standards
in addition to actual wording in the text if it is not the same. Cross-references should
direct the user between the two. For example, in a Social Studies book the development
of towns is discussed. CCSS wording is "settlements." Both "towns" and "settlements"
should be main headings with a cross-reference from settlements directing the user to
towns.
Main headings are commonly boldface type and have initial capital letter, but
formatting must follow the style guide of the publisher.


This committee inspires confidence in ASI standards of practice as a 'living documents' that are liveable.

I've finally got a minute to pore over* what happened during the four days of the ASI conference. I want to remember a bunch of things that happened and share a couple of them before too much more time passes.
First of all, as a newcomer to indexing, I thought that the 'Newbie' full day classes given by Enid Zafran and Fred Leise were very thoughtfully presented. There were 16 of us, and it was so great to meet others who were starting out.
In my city of Ottawa, Canada, there is no Indexing Chapter. However, I am extremely fortunate to have the amazing Clive Pyne of cpynebookindexing as my mentor. 

I've discovered from spending four days with Indexers what an eclectic bunch of talented people they are! I count myself lucky to have spent time with so many smart, empathic, quick-witted, intense and thoughtful people.

They are a bit like artists (which I will get into in another post) in that they spend a lot of time working in isolation, then they come out of it and talk like mad about what they've been up to. Then everyone gets emotionally overwhelmed at about the same time, and then we all go to bed by 11PM. There are a lot of Indexers who are also Foodies, so it was great to find out that food would be ample and tasty with regular breaks for tea, coffee, green juice and cocktails at 5.

The main point of this post is to remind other indexers that Enid Zafran's Advice from A-Zafran is going to be turned into a book, so if you want to read it online or print it out (I have just done this) now is the time! There is so much excellent background info, and need I say that Enid is a wonderfully easy-going writer and presenter.

*  
Pore over vs. pour overThe phrase meaning to study carefully is pore over. It comes from a little-used sense of the verb pore—namely, to meditate deeply. In modern writing, this sense of pore rarely appears outside this phrase.

Pour over is of course a meaningful phrase in its own right, but it has nothing to do with studying. It’s what you do, for example, with milk to a bowl of cereal.