Facing the Text: Content and Structure in Book Indexing

by Do Mi Stauber

Based on Do Mi Staubers popular and empowering workshop, the book discusses such standard topics as subheadings, cross-references and indexability, in the context of particular texts and indexes. Hundreds of examples illustrate the many practical strategies that Do Mi has drawn from her own practice in social sciences and humanities indexing.

The book goes beyond abstract rules to confront the unique needs of each text and index, and provides guidelines to help novice and experienced indexers alike make common-sense, flexible, and reader-centered decisions.

You will learn such strategies as:
addressing the main topic of the book in your index structure
pinning down the elusive main argument of a scholarly book
using local main topics to understand the structure of the text
deciding which topics should be indexed
understanding subheadings with a new typology created by Do Mi Stauber and Nancy Mulvany
choosing subheadings for long spans and locator strings
deciding when to use the authors wording, when to modify it, and when to create a new wording
connecting topics in the index through double-posting and cross references
distinguishing among indexing strategies for scholarly books, textbooks and reference books

Genres: Reference

374 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Pascale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great practical guide as a companion to Mulvany's more theoretical work.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a five-star book, except that when I really thought about it, I realized that it doesn't transcend its subject-matter to the point that I would recommend it to absolutely everyone, including people with no interest in book-indexing. It's five stars for indexers, that's for sure.

As I understand it, this book was adapted from the author's indexing workshop, which she had presented many times before she got started making it into a book, and that background surely helped her to figure out what needed to go in and how best to present it. The book was recommended as a "supplemental" text in the indexing course I took in library school, but, like most students I expect, I decided to save the money at that time and concentrate on the required texts. The class was good without it, and I felt confident enough in my skills to advertise my abilities, but when I faced the reality of my first indexing job, I felt the need for more guidance. This book was perfect in terms of getting me to think about indexing beyond the immediate concerns of a simple assignment, and in terms of the overall needs of readers of the book I had in front of me. In fact, since Stauber is writing for an audience of mixed experience, I think I may have gotten more out of it from knowing the basics before I started reading.

Stuaber concentrates on demonstrating thinking processes and the creative work that goes into indexing, and rarely makes strict rules or writes in terms of "must" or "always." She does offer "Do Mi's First and Second Rules," but even these have exceptions and require flexibility. As suggested from her use of her first name, the text is written in a warm, friendly, even intimate style. She's sharing her thoughts and ideas, also her expertise, always in an engaging and friendly manner, as if you were having tea together and talking about indexing. I suspect that her workshop relied heavily on participation from the class, which can't be simulated by the book, but I often stopped reading to think about my own approaches to the problems she mentioned, and engage in a bit of imaginary dialog as I went. I suspect she would be pleased to know.

I'm a beginning indexer, and I found her text indispensable as I worked. That's not to say that I did everything exactly as she advised, because I quickly realized that my style would differ from hers, and that I would need to experiment to find the best ways of working. I suspect that more experienced indexers will benefit, not so much from being told that they've been doing it wrong, but from the friendly way Stauber relates her own experience. In that sense, this is far more than a "how-to" guide, it's a part of continuing education for professionals.

One thing really shocked me at the end of the book - evidently Stauber indexed the book herself. Throughout, she makes references to "what the indexer of this work will have to decide," and I assumed that she would follow the common wisdom that says that the author is always the worst indexer of her own material, but this book's index is (as you would hope) excellent. Obviously she was able to step out of the author's role and, perhaps a bit schizophrenically, address her work as a first-time reader. That's a real credit to her ability and talent.

[Sue Klefstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Along with Nancy Mulvany's Indexing Books, this book is a standard reference in the indexing community.

Providing a glimpse into an indexer's decision process while facing challenging texts, this book explains Do Mi's Two Rules of Indexing:

1. If you pick up an entry, you must pick up all of that entry throughout the book.
2. Subentries are created to best break down the main entry.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stauber has two rules:
(1) Don't have too few subheadings.
(2) Don't have too many subheadings.

These aren't bad rules, but she spends 300 pages of repetitive examples trying to explain them. Her writing style is a tedious first-person where she tells the reader how she uses empathy and intuition in her work. Her style choices don't help - for instance a strange reluctance to use tertiary headings.

Apparently Stauber is friends with Mulvaney - just read Mulvaney's book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding book on indexing. Do Mi is a master.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!