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.

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.

The American Society for Indexing conference happens at the end of this month in Charleston South Carolina. As a new indexer I look forward to meeting some great indexing professionals.