20 August 2024
This article first appeared in Key Words, the journal of the American Society for Indexing (vol. 32, no. 2, Summer 2024).
Over May 31–June 1, 2024, the Indexing Society of Canada/Société canadienne d’indexation (ISC/SCI) held its virtual conference, The Art Connection. Things kicked off for the over 100 registrants on Thursday, May 30, with a variety of pre-conference sessions. There was an event for new indexers (including students still taking training courses) and a series of software sessions (two for back-of-book and two for embedded). The conference proper started on Friday when, in true indexing fashion, conference chair Maggie Billard deftly wove indexing into her land acknowledgement during the opening welcome.
After a quick fifteen minutes of speed networking via breakout rooms, the first session of the conference was Pierke Bosschieter’s “Software Miscellany or Connection with Your PC or Mac.” Pierke gave attendees a lot of resources (helpfully collated on a handout) for computer programs that can aid indexers in a variety of tasks. I won’t try to summarize every piece of software she mentioned, but she did leave me with a useful checklist for deciding whether a given technology was worth adopting: the steepness of the learning curve, feature density, customization options, support and compatibility, and price.
The day’s second session was a joint presentation by Stephen Ullstrom and Enid Zafran on the survey they’d conducted on embedded indexing: “A Worthwhile Pursuit?: Embedded Indexing Today and in the Future.” With an even mix of part-time and full-time indexers and of those who do embedded and not, the results of the survey were an insightful peek into how indexers decide what makes an indexing job worthwhile. The factors mentioned included learning curves, software considerations, enjoyability, opportunities, staying competitive, indexing workflow, and publishing timeline (for all of these there were a mix of pros and cons expressed by the respondents). Stephen and Enid intimated that an article will be forthcoming.
An invigorating movement break led by Carol Fellowes had us re-energized for the next set of sessions, beginning with Iva Cheung’s “Connections between Qualitative Research and Indexing.” Iva walked the conference-goers through the software programs NVivo and Quirkos, relied upon by qualitative researchers, and which have a lot of similarities to indexing. Presented as an examination of the overlaps between thematic analysis and indexing, Iva sparked a lively conversation in the chat on the crossover possibilities (much of which focused on wish-list features for indexing software inspired by the qualitative research software programs).
Themed discussions in breakout rooms followed Iva’s talk, and then it was time to contemplate all the places indexing can take you—literally—with Alex Peace and JoAnne Burek’s “Connecting from Afar: How to Travel Joyfully While Running a Thriving Indexing Business.” Full of useful checklists and travel tips, Alex and JoAnne talked about how travel needn’t be something squeezed in around indexing projects but a part of indexing life itself. Even for those of us who may never spend a month in a tent in Australia while indexing, there was handy advice (such as photographing every layer of your suitcase for insurance purposes in case it gets lost), not to mention fun anecdotes.
Saturday opened with an informational presentation about ICRIS and its current initiatives. The conference’s keynote talk, “I Want to Be an Indexer When I Grow Up,” was by Larry D. Sweazy, author of over one thousand indexes and over twenty books (not least of which being the Marjorie Trumaine mystery series, which features an indexer as its protagonist). Largely a reflection on how life events and personal proclivities paved the way for his interest in indexing, Larry’s talk offered a glimpse at the serendipitous journey of an indexer. Along the way, he talked about the work habits and time management techniques he uses to be prolific in both of his careers. Not a few indexers got a real kick out of his account of doing an embedded index for MacMillan twenty-five years ago.
Enid Zafran’s presentation, “Authors Amok!: Indexing Multi-Authored Texts,” offered a basic introduction to the challenges of and techniques for indexing books with chapters written by different authors (i.e., contributed works rather than co-authored works). Some of the advice Enid offered included thinking about nesting the topics of each chapter and thus limiting double-posting, handling contributors mentioned by others in the book (depending on the discipline, something that can matter quite a bit for citation calculations), advocating for unruly locators, and not being afraid of numerous undifferentiated locators. A useful hack for anyone indexing a contributed volume: spend extra time indexing and editing the author-editor’s chapter and introduction because if that bit is stellar they’re unlikely to request extensive edits.
Another energizing session of chair yoga from Carol Fellowes helped us shake out the kinks and aches that arise from sitting in front of the computer. Then it was time for the ISC/SCI trivia game, which saw lively participation from the attendees.
The final session of the conference was given by Iva Cheung, who led a guided discussion: “Advocating for Indexing.” The thrust of the conversation was what indexers can do, both as individuals and as societies, to advocate for changes that can increase the profile of indexing and improve indexers’ working conditions. I was fascinated to learn that Australia requires all printed government reports to have an index (what an opportunity lies over here in North America!). Iva also talked about her work on plain language and getting it adopted at the governmental level in Canada, not to mention the connection between plain language’s principles and those of indexing. The discussion was lively and hopefully the energy people expressed in the session will carry over into action.
The conference closed with indexers showing off their craft projects. The ISC/SCI conference committee had provided attendees with two cross-stitch patterns and a colouring page, all featuring the society’s magpie mascot. Not everyone had taken to the provided projects, though many people were merrily knitting or stitching away during the sessions. My favourite show-and-tell moment, though, came from the daughter of an indexer who, inspired by the colouring page, had drawn her own magpie perched on a branch and busily indexing a book!
I want to give a shout-out to all the amazing people who did the hard work and put in the long hours of organizing this conference: Maggie Billard (conference chair), Brittany Vesterback (programming), Nancy Wills (registration), Mercedes Brian (publicity and documentation), and JoAnne Burek (website). The conference was brilliant! Lots of great talks, fun breakout rooms, head-scratching trivia questions, and a demonstration of what makes indexing and indexers such a special community. Based on the fact over 100 people registered for the conference and going by the engagement in the chat during the talks, I know I’m not the only one who thinks so. Thank you!