---------.Auatralian Society of Indexers

NEWSLETTERGPO Box 1251, Melbourne Vie 3001

Volume 20, Number 4, May 1996 ISSN0314-3767

Contact for Membership

South Australia A.C.T. Region Branch President's Report 95-96 2Wednesday 12 June, 7.00pm: members forum, N.S.W. Branch President's Report 95-96 2Writer's Centre, 2nd floor, 187 Rundle Street, Indexing in the Electronic Age Conference Report 4Adelaide 5000. Contact: Soc. Ed. (SA) 08-301-1315 CINDEX Tip No 12 4

Queensland Getting started with patterns #2 4Weekend 1 & 2 June, 9-4 pm both days, Brisbane Yellow Pages Creates Publishing Supp. Headings 5"An Introduction to Editing and Publishing Semi- NSW Committee for 1996 5nar" at the Bardon Professional Centre, Formation of Genealogy Special Interest Groups 5390 Simpsons Road, Bardon 4065 Medal for 1995 Judge's Report by A. Walker 6For more details contact Sharon Felschow, Indexing from A to Zby Hans H. Wellisch, 2ed 9Training Officer, Society of Editors (Queensland)Ph. (07) 3851 2111, Fax (07) 3351 2379 Next Issue: Robertson Conf. Photos

Australian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 No. 4, May 1996 1

$40 Melb. Syd. ACT; $30 rest of Australia; $35 Overseas

Phone/Fax: (03) 9571-6341email: mindexer@interconnect.com.auWWW:http://www.zeta.org.au/-aussi

Webmaster: aussi@zeta.org.au

EditorialGreetings! This is my first issue as new editor. Manythanks to Ann Philpott whom I got to know when I waswriting the seven articles on the intern et. :)

The Robertson Conference has not long finished. It wasa very busy and enriching time. Ranelagh House had agrandeur. Robert Hyslop has written a summary of theIndexing conference to prepare you for next issue'sfuller coverage. Alan Walker has written up his speechfor the Medal Dinner at Robertson. This is a very fulllist of those receiving mention for their work. Presi-dent's reports for NSW and ACT end the issue. Nextmonth I print Janet Hine's long letter about JohnSimkin's ethics article and Kingsley Siebel's answer toGlenda Browne's article on indexer liability - quitethought provoking!

I hope to introduce some new columns in the Newslet-ter, specifically a World Wide Web/Internet columnwith news on good sites to visit and updates on our Website, drawing on the great NF AIS newsletter which

Meetings and Training:New South Wales

Wednesday 14 August 6.30pm - joint meeting withthe Australian Society for Technical Communica-tion, University of Technology, Sydney, "Designingelectronic products for information retrieval"

highlights Web resources of interest to indexers. I willbe writing a special article on the AusSI Web site withpictures! Database indexing will be included.I will be doing some profiles on indexers and editors inour ranks in a 'Who's Who' column soon. Australiansand New Zealanders are welcome to contribute.That's all for this month. See you next month ...Dwight Walker, Editor and Webmaster ImNewsINDEXER LATE"SI apologises for the late production of the Indexer,which is entirely the fault of the printer. We hope todistribute copies by the end of May, ifnot sooner."Janet Shuter, EditormHans Wellisch's tome in new editionH.W. Wilson reports that Indexing from A to Z 2nd ed.was released in March 1996. See page 9 for pressrelease.WInternet Registry for Editors (and Indexers)The Australian Internet Registry of ProfessionalEditors is now operational on the World Wide Web, at

http://www.herenow.com.aulAIRPE/The registry was designed by Maureen Wright ofCanberra Society of Editors and Simon McGuire ofAustralian Resume Server, in consultation with a panelof Australian editors. Link your home page for free.mSouth Australian Indexers precede EditorsSusan Rintoul reports that the fledgeling South Aus-tralian branch has agreed with the Society of Editors(SA) to meet in the half hour preceding the Society ofEditors meetings every two months. (the word)W

What's Inside

Branch NewsA.C.T. Region Branch

President's Report1995-96

Presented at the Annual General Meeting, Italian Club,26 March 1996

1995, the third year of the Branch, was dominated byconferences. The First International Conference"Indexers - Partners in Publishing" held at Marysville,Victoria, was attended by eleven ACT participants whopresented four papers and chaired two sessions.

The Committee is currently in the last stages of organ-ising the two-day conference "Indexing in the Elec-tronic Age" to be held at Ranelagh House, Robertsonon April 20-21, which has attracted participants fromNSW, ACT, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and NewZealand.

Other activities of the Branch during the year stimu-lated much thought and discussion. Our At Home atRobert Hyslop's house after the Marysville Conferencegave members an occasion to meet socially, but unfor-tunately overseas visitors were unable to attend.

On 7 June, a very lively panel discussion on the topic"are computers tools for indexers or replacements forindexers" resulted in the idea of having a conference on"Indexing in the Electronic Age."

Three interesting talks given on 26 September showedindexers in action. Marjorie Gilby described her indexto the Journal of the Canberra and District HistoricalSociety. Beryl Strusz illustrated her talk on the index-ing of postcards at the Australian War Memorial withexamples of postcards from the First World War.Robert Withycombe has created calendar summaries ofthe information on Australia, New Zealand and thePacific in the Library of the Lambeth Palace, Head-quarters of the Church of England.

Nor have we neglected our social gatherings. We haddinner at Chinese and Thai restaurants after themeetings and a special African banquet in July.

We have been very fortunate in our speakers, who haveprovided us with informed, entertaining and stimulat-ing presentations through the year. Unfortunately ouraudiences were disappointingly small. This raised thequestion as to whether we were effectively catering forour members' interests. We felt it was time to takestock and get some guidance from our members as towhether we should continue as a Branch and whatactivities were required if we continued.

We held a special meeting in November and wereheartened by the comments and support from members

attending the meeting. Many suggestions were made, inparticular interest was expressed in training courses inindexing. We will explore this possibility, eitherrunning our own courses, or running courses inconjunction with a college or university.

The committee has worked very hard this year. Wehave been meeting fortnightly to plan the conference,using Robert's place as the meeting place. He and hiswife, Dorothy, have overwhelmed us with their hospi-tality. I would like to thank everyone on the committeethis year - Shirley Campbell, Robert Hyslop, LynnFarkas, Laurelle Tunks, Joan Jensen, KerrieGrimmond, Barbara Dickens, Susan MacDougall fortheir wonderful support enthusiasm and loyalty.

Geraldine Triffitt

Office BearersPresident: Geraldine TriffittSecretary: ShirIey Campbell,Treasurer: Laurelle TunksCommitteeRobert Hyslop, Joan Jensen, Lynn Farkas,Susan MacDougall, Robert Withycombe.m

New South Wales BranchPresident's Report

1995-1996Presented at the Annual General Meeting, Ranelagh

House, Robertson, 20 April 1996

OfficersAt its first meeting, the Committee appointed thefollowing officers:President: Michael WyattSecretary: Garry CousinsTreasurer: Kingsley SiebelCommittee members:

Lorraine Doyle (publicity)Neale TowartMary TurnerAlan Walker (Medal coordinator)Dwight Walker (Internet coordinator)

General meetingsThe Committee has continued its search for suitablemeeting rooms, but so far has not found anywheresuperior to the State Library.

12 April 1995The Fifth Annual General Meeting of the New SouthWales Branch was held on 12 April 1995. After themeeting, we were joined by members of the ALIACataloguers' Section for a series of reports on the

2 Australian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 NoA, May 1996

Branch NewsInternational Conference held earlier that month inVictoria. Two overseas speakers from the Conference,Betty Moys and Irene Wormell, were present and gaveus their views of the Conference.

13 July 1995Jonathan Jermey spoke on indexing and the Internet,and demonstrated how the Internet can be used.

1 August 1995The Society was invited to hold a joint meeting withthe Society of Editors (NSW) on "Negotiating a brief'.Garry Cousins spoke on the panel from the indexer'sperspective.

Coordination with related societiesThe Branch held joint meetings with the ALIA Cata-loguers' Section and the Society of Editors, and hasarranged a joint meeting with the Australian Societyfor Technical Communication (NSW) for later in 1996.We have begun negotiations with the ALIA Informa-tion Science Section, and the Law Librarians' Group.

Services to membersThe Branch now keeps an up-to-date list of NSWmembers and their addresses.

In response to a request from the National Executive,the Committee wrote to lapsed NSW members askingwhy they had not renewed their memberships. Mostresponses were uncritical of the Society, but onecomment was that the Society emphasises book index-ing at the expense of database indexing.

The Committee also agreed to taking over the recruit-ment duties of the National Membership Officer.Although we spent a lot of time on it, so far we havenot been particularly successful in our effort to developeffective recruitment methods. However, we haveascertained that there has been an increase in countrymembership, particularly in the Blue Mountains, andwill canvass the possibility of holding events whichthey are more likely to be able to attend.

The Committee has discussed the establishment of abranch library, and will approach the membership fortheir views at the AGM.

EducationThe Branch continued to sponsor courses conductedthrough the School of Information, Library and Ar-chive Studies at the University of New South Wales.Two four-day courses covering an "Introduction toBook Indexing" (Alan Walker and Michael Wyatt) and"Computer-Aided Indexing"(Garry Cousins) was heldat the School in June and November 1995. In return forthis sponsorship, the Branch receives a royalty from theUniversity.

AusSImedalThe NSW Branch was asked by the National Executiveto take over the organisation of the award of the Medalin 1995. Alan Walker agreed to convene a MedalCommittee; his report is presented separately.

Indexing in the Electronic Age ConferenceThe Committee suggested to the ACT Region Branchthat a workshop or conference be held in conjunctionwith the Medal Award, and they agreed to organize andrun it. Two NSW members, Garry Cousins and DwightWalker, are speaking at the Conference.

InternetDwight Walker has written a series of introductoryarticles on the Internet for the Newsletter and TheIndexer. He has worked jointly with a Victorianmember in establishing up a World Wide Web page forthe Society, with links to and from similar societiesaround the world. He has been appointed the Society'sWebmaster, and initiated the Web Indexing Prize.

Michael WyattPresident

19 April 1996ID

INDEX

MACREXINDEXING PROGRAM

Don't be left in the darkjoin other enlightened MACREX users

to become

For details how,contact your Australian, New Zealand and

South-East Asian agent

Max McMasterMaster Indexing

Phone/fax +61 (0)3 9571 6341Email: mindexer@interconnect.com.au

Australian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 No. 4, May 1996 3

Conferences

Indexing in the ElectronicAge Conference Report

On 20-21 April 1996 at Robertson NSW the ACTRegion Branch mounted a highly successful conference'Indexing in the electronic age'. There were eightyregistrants - indexers, editors, publishers, librariansand other users.

On Saturday, Lynn Farkas began the conference bysummarising the issues that are arising from the needfor better access to the burgeoning mass of informationbeing created by new technologies. She called for ideason how indexers can contribute to this accessibility.

After a presentation of a variety of electronic indexesand finding aids by Roxanne Missingham, the confer-ence heard case studies of indexing from organisationswho have produced products in the multi-media field,including those of CCH Australia, Scantext and ACEL.

The current activities of publishers in this field wererepresented by Paul Mullins of AGPS, Helen Routhfrom CCH Australia, Richard Barber from ACEL andEvan Predavec from Butterworths. Garry Cousinscontributed a concept of indexing on CD-RaMs.

Dinner on Saturday evening was hosted by the NSWBranch to present a report on their stewardship of theSociety Medal for 1995.

On Sunday Tony Barry gave his views on indexing forthe internet, Dwight Walker explained an exercise inhypertext navigation, and Geraldine Triffitt told of acase study of dictionary conversion. [David Nathanshowed a hypertext aboriginal dialect dictionary. Ed.]

Peter Eden, RIMS Australia, presented indexing ofcorrespondence and business documents. Rick Clarke,Contec Data Systems, took us through a system oflibrary catalogues, and Sandra Henderson of theNational Library spoke of current indexing develop-ments.

Talks and papers at the conference will be available forpublication in the Society Newsletter, in The Indexer,in LASIE. [All articles will also be published on theAusSI Web site - Ed.]

The prominent thought that arose from the conferencewas that the complexity of the issues of indexing in thiselectronic age calls for action to achieve a new andcloser relationship of author, publisher, editor andindexer. It seems that the indexing profession is wellplaced to take some new initiatives to ensure th~t .wecan make an optimum contribution in these excitmgtimes.Robert HyslopW4

CINDEX Tip NQ12Getting started with patterns #2

Using *: the asterisk is used to indicateany number of occurrences of thepreceding character. This command wouldfind any two-digit number ending in 8:

FIND/PATTERN [0-9]8

So, 18, 28, 38, etc. But add an asterisk tothe command and it finds all sequences ofnumbers ending in 8:

FIND/PATTERN [0-9]*8

So 18, 168, 598, 1978, etc. Open an indexand try it. You can also use the asterisk incombination with the question mark (whichstands for any character) to search for anynumber of occurrences of any character.This command, for example, would findanything enclosed in round brackets:

FIND/PATTERN (?*)

Using 1\ and $: you can make a searchmore specific by using the caret or thedollar sign to find the pattern at thebeginning or end of a field, respectively.

If the" is used as the first character in apattern, CINDEX will find records whichmatch the remainder of the pattern only ifthe patterns occurs at the beginning of afield. So this command will find all recordswhich have fields beginning with the wordor letters "as":

FIND/PATTERN "as

Similarly, using the $ at the end of apattern will find matches of the pattern ~tthe end of a field. So to find records whichhave anything in parentheses (like a dateor an acronym) at the end of a field use:

FIND/PATTERN (?*)$

If you have a tip for other CINDEX users,or a problem, write to the Newsletter or

contactGarry Cousins Phone/fax (02) 9955 1525

/&0 WEBIXWeb indexing software ea"I $5" demo disk 03 DOS, Windows 3.1+ J\... Contact Editor for a CODV

Australian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 No.4, May 1996

Open-learning course for indexing books, peri-odicals, images and other information media.Write to:

SIGG contact address:the Training Administrator, Colin Mills

Society of Indexers, 38 Rochester Road, 70 Chestnut Lane, Amersham Common,\... London NW! 9JJ, England, UK / Buckinghamshire, HP6 6EH, UK, tel +44 1494726103~==~~~ED~~~E5~~WmAustralian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 No. 4, May 1996

-,

Yellow Pages CreatesPublishing Support HeadingsYellow Pages National Headings Committee hasapproved the creation of new headings for indexers andeditors. This is in response to Max McMaster's sugges-tion on behalf of the Society. They will become effec-tive in the 1998 issue of the Yellow Pages Metropolitanand Country Directories. Below is from the letter byJudy Elliott, National Administration Manager:

A new Heading:PUBLISHING SUPPORT SERVICES- See AlsoProofreadingWriters, Consultants &/or Services

Amended Index Cross References:EDITORIAL SERVICES - SeeINDEXING SERVICES - SeePublishing Support Services

(available for 1997 directories)EDITORIAL SERVICES - SeeProofreadingmNews: Web Site, Conference• The Robertson Conference Papers will be loaded inmid to late June as papers are provided by the confer-ence committee. Photographs of the conference willalso be mounted.• All the conference papers will be published in theNewsletter, one per issue for the months ahead.IDNSW Committee for 1996The following office-bearers were elected on 9 May:President: Kingsley SiebelTreasurer: Pamela JohnstoneSecretary: Madeleine DavisPublicity: Lorraine DoyleMedal Coordinator: Alan WalkerCommittee Members:

Caroline Colton, Garry Cousins, Caroline Jones,Dwight Walker, Michael Wyatt

Welcome aboard to the new committee members!W

rr m Society of Indexers (UK) 2STRAINING IN INDEXING

Formation of GenealogySpecial Interest Groups

Colin Mills, the newsletter editor of the Society ofIndexers Genealogy Group (SIGG), has approached ourSociety to see whether any indexers are interested informing genealogy special interest groups (SIGs) in ourSociety's branches and amongst members aroundAustralia. Currently in the UK, the Federation ofFamily History Societies Computing Working Grouphas teamed up with members from the Society ofIndexers to form family history groups. It is suggestedthat members not only include professional indexersbut also amateur family history and local historyindexers. Examples of indexes used by genealogistsinclude St Catherine's House index.

For those interested please contact your nearest com-mittee or for those without a local committee, pleasewrite to the Editor and I will circulate your names andcontact phone numbers in the next issue of the Newslet-ter.

I have contacted a few members of the Federation ofFamily History Societies to see what they are doingwith the Society of Indexers.

John V. Addis-Smith is the chairman of the Federationof Family History Societies (FFHS) Computer WorkingParty. He is in contact with the SI Genealogical Group(SIGG) because they are cooperating on a project toproduce a large UK historical gazetteer. He is not amember of SIGG.email: jaddis@rmplc.co.uk.

David Hawgood is editor of the computer section ofFamily Tree Magazine, a member of the computercommittees of the Society of Genealogists and theFederation of Family History Societies, and an ordinarymember ofSIGG. (He has also written a few books onthe use of computers for genealogy). He got involved inSIGG through some work on a gazetteer of UK placenames, and joined so he would see the journal. SIGGand FFHS are working together on the gazetteer.email: 100534.1066@CompuServe.COMURL: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David _Hawgood/

David Squire is also on the Society of Genealogistscomputer committee and has run courses and confer-ences with David Hawgood.email: 100277.243@CompuServe.COMURL: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Squire/sigg.htm

5

AwardsMEDAL FOR 1995 mDGES' REPORT

by Alan Walker, on behalf of the Judging PanelPresented at the Indexing in the Electronic Age Conference, Ranelagh House, Robertson, NSW, 20 April 1996

1. ENTRIES

In 1995, the Australian Society ofIndexersagain offered a Medal for the most out-standing index to a book or periodicalcompiled in Australia or New Zealand.

This year, a record number of twenty-eightindexes were submitted for the medal. Bypublication type, ten of the entries weretertiary textbooks, seven were scholarlyworks (three of them scholarly editions ofletters andjoumals), two were referencebooks, two were technical manuals, two were periodi-cals, and the remaining five (not falling into any of theabove categories), were the sort of publications whichoften appear in publishers' lists under "General".

While the range of publication type was thus quitevaried, the disciplines and subject matter of the publi-cations were more limited. Most were publications inthe social sciences; six were social or cultural histories;five were on contemporary social sciences and policies;five were works on commerce, economics or manage-ment; and four were on politics. Surprisingly, in termsof the current employment pattern for Australianindexers, and also considering the history of indexingawards throughout the world, only two entries had anyconnection with the law, and neither of these were legaltreatises or reference works. The only other disciplineswith more than one representative were the biologicalsciences (five books) and the history of science andtechnology (three).

As we have already announced, no medal was awardedthis year, but many high standard indexes were submit-ted and examined, and the judges would like to makesome comments on some of them, particularly the twoindexes which were highly commended.

2. THE JUDGING PROCESS

There were two parts to the judging process.

First, all indexes submitted were examined by at leasttwo members of the preliminary assessment committee.This committee consisted of the five members of theNew South Wales Branch committee of the Society whowere not themselves candidates for the Medal. Eachindex was rated against a checklist of technical criteria,and also given an overall assessment of Outstanding,More than competent, Competent or Less than compe-tent. Most entries submitted were at the very least

competent, as one might expect; perhapswhat is surprising is that one or two wereborderline.

The judging panel, consisting of three non-indexers with a variety of expertise andexperience in the information industry, plusone professional indexer, who is a formerwinner of the medal, made the final deci-sions at an all-day meeting where all theindexes rated highly by the preliminaryassessment panel were re-examined indetail.

3. THE JUDGING PANEL

The panel consisted of:

•

•

•

•

Prof. W. Boyd Rayward, Professor of Librarian-ship and Dean of the Faculty of ProfessionalStudies at the University of New South Wales.

Janet Donald, information consultant, editor andlibrarian.

John Nieuwenhuizen, editor of the AustralianBroadcasting Corporation's 24 Hours Magazine,and formerly publisher, Reed Reference Publish-mg.

Alan Walker, freelance indexer, and a previouswinner of the Medal.

Jeremy Fisher, who was the first recipient of the Medal,and is now an editor and publisher, originally agreed tobe a member of the judging panel. Among the bookssubmitted for this year's Medal, however, were twowith which Jeremy had been associated, as an editorand publisher. He therefore considered it inappropriatefor him to contribute to the assessment for the Medal,and so we were sorry that we were not able to use hisservices this year.

4. JUDGING CRITERIA

The checklist of technical criteria which was used bythe preliminary assessment panel was merely a guide tothe overall competence and an indication of anyoutstanding features of the indexes. In the final analy-sis, the judges were looking particularly for outstandingqualities, for creativity, for imagination, for innovation,for solutions to complex problems, for indexes whichcomplemented and added to the informative quality ofthe text.

Australian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 NoA, May 19966

'-- AwardsFor the record, however, the checklist of technicalcriteria which were considered as part of the prelimi-nary assessment was as follows:

• Length of the index, compared with the lengthof the text.Accuracy of spelling, alphabetical order andlocators.Number of undifferentiated locators.Appropriateness of punctuation; treatment ofabbreviations and acronyms.Choice bf headings.Quality of subheadings.Quality of cross-references.Appropriateness and quality of typography.Comprehensiveness of coverage and detail ofentries.Presence, appropriateness and quality of thepreliminary note.

•

•••••••

•

The judges expected indexes on the short list to be atleast competent on all these criteria, and preferablyoutstanding, but indexes which scored well overallwere not eliminated merely because of trivial flaws or apoor rating on a single criterion.

It should be recorded that the number of minor flawsencountered, even in otherwise very good indexes, wassuprisingly high. In common with previous judges ofthis and the equivalent overseas awards, we are boundto say that a perfect index appears to be very rare. Butwe emphasise that the final assessment was made notby counting errors, but by assessing the positivecontribution made by the index to the overall quality ofthe publication.

5. COMMENTS ON SOME INDEXESCONSIDERED

The variety of the items on the short list-this term isused rather loosely, since books other than thosediscussed here were considered in the final round ofjudging-well reflects the range of subjects andpublishing categories of the works submitted for theMedal. Among the items considered in the final roundwere both of the highly specialised technical manuals,two very detailed biological works (a textbook and areference book), and a well-known scholarly publica-tion.

The following comments on these are not intended asdetailed assessments of the indexes submitted, but theymay throw some light on the indexing requirementsand problems in the categories which these indexesrepresent.

Technical Manuals

The two manuals on the short list referred to mM andHewlett Packard products.

Michael Wyatt compiled the index to the IBM Data-base 2 Performance Monitor Version 3. Report Refer-ence. 1st ed (1985, 1993). The manual is in six vol-umes, each of which has an individual index; there is,in addition, a separate volume which is the MasterIndex to the entire manual. This was the most substan-tial work submitted for the award this year.

Hedley Finger compiled the index to HewlettPackard's 155/622 Mb/S ATM Analyzer User's Guide,which is an operating manual for an instrumentdesigned to test high-speed digital telecommunicationsequipment and transmission systems, such as repeaters,switches and multiplexers.

In both of these cases, the indexers had to expendmuch energy in designing an appropriate index, thedegree of difficulty for the jobs was high, and theindexers operated under some constraints of housestyle. The mM index was also compiled under somesoftware constraints, which had a strong effect on theindexing process. In both cases good, useful indexeswere produced.

The judges were pleased that good quality indexes totechnical manuals were submitted (perhaps for the firsttime?), and it does underline a number of questionswhich have been raised recently about the scope for theMedal, the range of work which might be consideredfor the award, and the appropriateness of the presentrules of eligibility. One of the judges will make aseparate report on these matters.

Biological Publications

Five works in this category were received, and we makea few comments on two which reached the short list.

Australian Beetles, by John F. Lawrence & E.B. Britton(Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1994) is acomprehensive reference book which was indexed byMax McMaster.

The best-selling textbook, Biology, editors: BruceKnox, Pauline Ladiges & Barbara Evans (Sydney:McGraw-HiIl Book Co., 1994), was indexed byMichael Wyatt.

Both of these indexes were outstanding in the amountof detail, though neither was found to be fully compre-hensive, consistent nor free from error. Both handle thelarge number of scientific names well, but also gobeyond this, especially the Biology textbook, whichprovides extensive access to the topics covered in the

Australian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 No. 4, May 1996 7

Awardstext. They also demonstrate, as biological indexesusually need to do, that indexes set in three or fourcolumns in very small type need not be illegible.

Scholarly Works

The good-looking books submitted in this categorygenerally had detailed indexes, which on close exami-nation did not live up to the promise of the typography.Some indexes which were compiled by non-profes-sional indexers (usually compilers or editors) did notdemonstrate familiarity with established indexingprinciples, often excluded important categories ofinformation and generally provided poorer access to thecontents than the reader might expect.

An exception was one of the three indexes to scholarlyletters and journals which we received. The publicationwas the widely known and highly regarded edition ofliterary correspondence, Patrick White: Letters, editedby David Marr (Milsons Point, NSW: Random HouseAustralia, 1994), which was also indexed by MichaelWyatt (who must have been kept busy in the past fewyears). This was by far the best index to books in thiscategory, thoroughly competent in structure, and givingaccess to a great deal of detail in the text. Nevertheless,it did not always assemble the topics in ways whichshowed that the indexer had taken up all the mainthreads (personal, literary and political) of White's life.We expect users of the book to include researchers inmany fields of contemporary Australian life; weconsidered that those wishing to track some of White'swell-known concerns (with the environment, forinstance) might find it difficult to identify all therelevant items through the index. In assessing this, andother indexes to works of this kind, we were looking forthe imaginative complement to the text which anoutstanding literary, social or historical index canachieve.

6. THE TWO HIGHLY COMMENDEDINDEXES

Glenda Browne is highly commended for her index toPharmacology and Drug Information for Nurses(Sydney: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1995).

This is both a reference book and a textbook. (Thepublishers describe it as a "reference text".) In thisedition, the preface states, the format has been radicallychanged to speed its use. The index is an integral partof the structure of the book, providing, through athorough system of cross-references, access to a greatmany technical terms, scientific names and brandnames, in a way which is clear and convenient for theusers of the book. As the title indicates, the book isintended to be used by nurses, including studentnurses, to provide accurate information about theclinical use of drugs, of which they may not have

detailed knowledge. A number of features of the indexindicated that the indexer had imagined how peoplewould actually use the book, on the job.

The typography of the index is excellent, with a cleardisplay and helpful differentiation of generic drugnames (in bold) and trade names (in italics).

The introductory note indicates the thoughtful way inwhich the index has been compiled with the needs ofthe user in mind. The topical, or subject indexing ismuch fuller than is usual for an index to a book of thistype, which is too often restricted to proper names. So,we have entries for topics such as "fibre, in constipa-tion", "first aid for poisoning" and "fluid replacement",as well as topical subentries under the names of drugsto differentiate their various uses, such as "methadone,in heroin withdrawal", "methadone, in pain relief' and"methadone, in pregnancy".

The few minor flaws and omissions which wereidentified by the judges were insignificant comparedwith the generally high level of professional compe-tence demonstrated by the indexer, and the evidence ofher thoughtful application of indexing principles to theneeds of this specialised text.

Also highly commended is Pamela Johnstone for herindex to the periodical Online Currents, vol. 9, 1994(Willoughby, NSW: Enterprise Information Manage-ment, 1995). It is interesting that the index is alsoavailable on the Internet through the web home page ofthe State Library of New South Wales. For the purposeof the medal judging, however, the index was assessedon its quality as a published periodical index, ratherthan as an online index.

The index covers one year (ten issues) of a periodical,which since 1986 has published articles, comments andnews items about the Australian and internationalonline information industry. As befits a periodicalcovering the cutting edge of a high-technology indus-try, a great deal of its contents is news, reporting onboth technical and business aspects of the industry. Oneexpects that the periodical would be read and consultedregularly by users of on line information, includinglibrarians and other information professionals, as wellas by publishers, database developers and other onlineinformation providers. The judges commend the indexfor the unusual and thorough detail with which itindexes the contents of the periodical, includingadvertisements, product notices and details of confer-ence, all of which are important for users of a currentawareness publication such as this. While the typogra-phy is not distinguished, it is clear, and the use ofcross-references is mostly as thorough as it has to be ina field in which obscure and inelegant acronyms sproutdaily. The indexer has tried to anticipate the users'needs by providing both a full range of cross-references

8 Australian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 No.4, May 1996

Indexing from A to Z, Second EditionApprox. 608 pages, 1996, ISBN 0-8242-0882-X, $40U.S. and Canada, $45 other countriesFor more information: Barbara Ottervik, Advertisingemail: bottervik@wlb.hwwilson.comURL: http://www.hwwilson.com W

Australian Society of Indexers Newsletter, Volume 20 No. 4, May 1996

Awardsand, very often, informative expansions of headingsand subheadings to indicate the nature of the informa-tion being indexed.

While the judges identified some minor errors andinconsistencies, and found the topical subject headingsto be limited and fairly broad (e.g. "Schools"), this is athoroughly competent periodical index, which mustincrease greatly the value of Online Currents to itssubscribers and users.

7. THE MEDAL

Finally, in deciding not to award the Medal this year,the judges were motivated by the value of the Medal tothe Society as well as to individual recipients and theirpublishers. Over and above the honour the Medalbrings to the recipient, the glory reflects on the Soci-ety's own standards. The Medal is the Society's highestaccolade; a recognition not just of quality, but ofoutstanding work of a standard which sets it apart fromthe very many good indexes which are produced inAustralia and New Zealand each year. This year, noone index was considered to fulfil all the requirementswhich the Society expects of its medal-winner, andtherefore the judges reluctantly, but unanimously,decided not to award a medal for 1995.

We applaud the two fine indexes which we have highlycommended. We congratulate their compilers. And wehope that the judges for the 1996 medal receive entriesat least as varied and exciting as the field we enjoyedassessing-and preferably even more so!W

Indexers Available 1995-96

The new edition of IndexersAvailable has recently beenpublished, and copies have been

_ distributed free to publishinghouses throughout Australia

who provide work for indexers.

--------

The cost to others is $15 per copy. Pleasemake cheques payable to:

Australian Society ofIndexersand post to:~

Indexers Available,Australian Society ofIndexers,GPO Box 1251,Melbourne, VIe 3001

Book ReviewsPress Release from H.W. Wilson

New Edition of Wilson'sIndexingfrom A to Zby Hans H. Wellisch

Like its highly praised predecessor, Indexing from A toZ will help authors, students, and beginning indexers,as well as experienced practitioners and specialists,with both back-of-the-book indexing and the indexingof periodicals and nonprint material.

The Second Edition also cites the newest standards inthe field, addresses new topics like automatic indexingand the indexing of legal and medical texts, andupdates many other sections, including the extensivebibliography.

Indexing from A to Z, Second Edition is arrangedalphabetically in articles that cover all aspects ofindexing, including such topics as alphabetical,chronological and classified order of entries; automaticindexing, corporate names, cumulative indexes,exhaustivity, keywords, the indexing process and itstechniques, legal and medical texts, length of indexes,natural and controlled languages, personal and placenames, proofreading, specificity, string indexing,technical manuals and reports, and thesauri. Alsoaddressed are topics of interest to professional indexers,such as author-publisher-indexer relations, contracts,copyright, costing equipment, fees, reference works,and typography.

The volume was written by Hans H. Wellisch, Professoremeritus at the College of Library and InformationServices of the University of Maryland, and formerpresident of the American Society of Indexers. Profes-sor Wellisch received the first H.W. Wilson Award forExcellence in Indexing for the index he compiled forhis own work The Conversion of Scripts.

Positive comments for the First Edition:

"On balance ... this is probably the most useful resourceavailable today for the person who must compile '!printindex and wants help in learning how to go about thetask." - Library Quarterly

"The author's style is easy and informal, his carefullyresearched text enlivened with illustrations fromhistory and personal serendipity." - The Indexer

"A must for any school, research or public library." -ARBA

9

~ Writing to the Editor Ji5COPY DEADLINE: 1 June 1996

post: 2/1 Nelson St. Randwick 2031tet: 02-3986726(h),02-4393750(w)fox: 02-4383729(w),02-3986726(h)email: dwight@zip.com.auIf greater than 1 A4 page, please providearticles on a disk in Rich Text Format,WordPerfect 5.1, Word for Windows 2.0 orplain text.Please provide images such as adverts in TIFF,PCX, WMF or EPSformat. It is also possible tofax them to the Editor's home fax modem.

AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF INDEXERS

NA TIONALNICTORIAN BRANCHGPO Box 1251Melbourne Vic. 3001Phone: (03) 9571 6341Email: mindexer@interconnect.com.au

World Wide Web URL:httpt//www.zeta.org.au/e-aussiWebmaster Email: aussi@zeta.org.au

President: John Simkin (03) 9429 8817Vice Pres: Max McMaster (03) 9571 6341Secretary: lan Odgers (03) 9398 4988

Email: igo@interconnect.com.auMinutes Secretary: Sandra WhitboumTreasurer: Joyce Gillespie (03) 9654 8527 or

Phone/Fax: (03) 9710 1270Editor: Dwight Walker

211 Nelson Street, Randwick NSW 2031Phone: (02) 398 6726, Fax: (02) 438 3729

Committee Members:Margaret FindlayGeorge LevickJosephine Me GovernAnn PhilpottMichael Ramsden

Advertising RatesThe Indexer (UK)Full page: £120Half page: £80Quarter page: £55Eighth page: £35

There is a special order form to be completed whenlodging advertisements in The Indexer. For order formand copy deadlines, please contact:Janet Shuter, Hon. Editor, The Old Chapel, Kings Rd,Bembridge, Isle of Wig ht, UK. P035 5NBemail: Shuter@cix.compulink.co.uk

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Metro (Melbourne, Sydney, ACT) $40Rest of Australia $30New Zealand $35Rest of World $35Students half price

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President: Kingsley Siebel (02) 477 3149Fax: (02) 476 4378

Secretary: Madeleine DavisPhone: (02) 438 5343

Treasurer: Pamela JohnstonePhone: (047) 57 3045

Committee Members:Caroline Colton, Garry CousinsLorraine Doyle, Neale TowartCaroline Jones, Alan WalkerDwight Walker, Michael Wyatt

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President: Geraldine Triffitt (06) 246 1177Fax: (06) 249 7310Email: grt@aiatsis.gov.au

Secretary: Shirley Campbell (06) 234 2225Fax: (06) 234 2237Email: Shirley.Campbell@Radford.act.edu.au

Treasurer: Laurelle Tunks (06) 234 1139rodtunks@netinfo.com.au

Committee Members:Robert Hyslop, Joan Jensen, Lyon Farkas,Susan MacDougall, Robert Withycombe

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L Melbourne Vie Australia 300110- - - - - - - - -AustrauanSocletYorlndexers Newsletter, Volume 20 No.4, May 1996