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	New England Chapter American Society of Indexers Past Events

Fall 1996 Conference Workshop Summary

Making the Indexing Process More Productive 

A Professional Development Workshop
presented by Ann Blum and Marilyn Rowland

September 28, 1996

Summary by X Bonnie Woods

Natural Rhythm

Marilyn Rowland and Ann Blum present an intriguing contrast in their approaches to indexing, and that is what made this large conference session on "productivity" so successful. What became apparent to anyone who attended is that every individual indexer must tailor their own working methods to their own life circumstances and needs, and must discover a natural working rhythm and pace. 

Blum and Rowland outlined the main characteristics that most productive indexers have in common. These include knowing the field, knowing the job expectations, enjoying the work (particularly, working alone), liking words, having an intuitive hard-to-describe sense of the meanings that lie behind words, and being able to create a finished product in a timely manner with a minimum of outside direction and guidance. 

The elusive notion of "in a timely manner with a minimum of outside direction and guidance" was the focus of their session. Rowland and Blum first addressed the topic individually, from their very different viewpoints, and then they jointly fielded questions from session attendees. 

Their contrasting workstyles are apparent from the moment they arise in the morning. Blum’s typical day consists of waking at 5:30-6 a.m., indexing until 8 a.m., exercising for an hour, indexing from 9 a.m. until noon, doing afternoon errands or outdoor activities until 3 p.m., and then finally indexing again from 3-6 p.m., with her evenings remaining free. She adheres to this schedule rigorously, and finds that if she breaks from the regimen, she becomes far less productive. 

On the other hand, Rowland, who has been indexing for 28 years (since she was a child!), thrives on a much less structured schedule. She has two young children, ages 8 and 10, who make demands on her morning and evening time, so she has settled on random working periods throughout the day. She sometimes works on indexing straight through the night hours until morning, depending on the project. She takes frequent daily breaks from the indexing for walks outdoors, for playing the piano, and for working on her web site design business. To her, the flexibility of the indexing profession is much of its attraction.

Improving Productivity

The nuts and bolts of this session consisted of tricks of the trade that can help any indexer who wishes to become more productive and efficient. Much of this was a useful discussion about the importance of your workstation and your personal reference library. Your chair, table space, computer, indexing software – all of these are essential elements that can often be modified and improved. The building of your own reference library is one of the best investments you can make. There should be no hesitation about getting all necessary reference books, as you need them. If your finances are limited in this regard, use the public library’s resources, where you can also check indexes of other books on topics related to your own current project. However, do not underestimate the importance of building your own specialized library at home. 

There are many other ways to improve productivity, and these were discussed in detail: 

• provide for uninterrupted work time by having an answering machine;
• keep careful records and logs of chapters that are arriving; 
• go through the manuscript page-by-page as soon as possible, to check consecutive page numbering; 
• keep track of your time on each project by hours and pages/hour, which will enable you to make better estimates on future projects; 
• keep a running style sheet for each publication; 
• get as much up-front information as possible from the editor regarding their guidelines and preferences; 
• determine whether the previous edition’s index was found suitable by the editor, and get a copy of it; 
• keep a running list of questions that arise for yourself and for the editor; and, 
• make sure your payment rate is clear before beginning any project.

The question and answer period was lively and informative, with experienced and novice indexers alike contributing their own anecdotes and tips. This session could have easily lasted longer, or could have been a day-long workshop in itself. Areas covered included various techniques of marking the manuscript, asking questions of the editor before beginning the project, dealing with unfamiliar subject matter, negotiating with publishers, setting up your process to enable assistance from a data entry person, approaching the editing stage of the index, and determining whether you work better alone or with other people.

Finding Your Own Way

In conclusion, Rowland and Blum agreed that the key to being a productive indexer is finding a working style that is appropriate to your own needs, thereby taking the work in your own stride. If we are attuned to the way that we do things in general, we will have some clear cues about the way we need to set up the ost productive indexing day for ourselves. It is essential to realize that everyone will have their own individual approach. 

Maintaining your health is of utmost importance. Don’t kill yourself energy-wise, they recommended; if the work load gets too heavy, experiment with raising your rates. In the end, as a successful indexer, you will have good clients and a good reputation among peers, you will make a comfortable income, and you will have challenging and satisfying work into the future -- on your own terms.