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	New England Chapter American Society for Indexing Past Events

Fall 2008 Conference Summary

October 4, 2008
Sturbridge, Massachusetts

The 2008 annual fall conference of the New England Chapter of the American Society for Indexing (NEASI) was held on October 4, 2008, at the Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center, Sturbridge, Massachusetts. The 17 people who attended came from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts (from across the state, from Boston to Stockbridge), and Washington State. In the morning, the two presentations discussed an ongoing index comparison project and relations between book production editors and indexers. The afternoon was dedicated to a term selection workshop. The conference ended with an index peer review session. Short summaries and biographical information are presented below.

Index Comparison Project
presented by Cheryl Landes
Cheryl summarized her work with the Index Comparison Project. Cheryl described the usability tests on indexes created for the same book by two indexers with different backgrounds, comparing their styles and approaches to the structure and terms in the index. She also interviewed readers for their reactions to the two indexes. After Cheryl presented the background and current status of the project, she had a lively discussion with the audience. Individuals brainstormed additional areas of usability to be tested and suggested new audiences for Cheryl to work with. Some people also were interested in taking the usability test themselves. Cheryl's handout from the meeting is updated to include all of the indexes from both comparison projects. Cheryl Landes has more than 17 years of experience as an indexer and a technical writer in several industries. After working for seven years as a technical writer for Phoenix Controls Corporation in Acton, MA, she recently left to return to full-time contracting through her business, Tabby Cat Communications, in Seattle. She is the president of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the American Society for Indexing.

Indexing from the Production Editor's Viewpoint
presented by Penny Stratton
Penny is a production editor who has edited and produced a wide range of educational, scholarly, and trade books over a thirty-plus-year career in Boston-area publishing. discussed how indexers and indexes fit into the book production process, and how she works with indexers and evaluates their indexes. Penny Stratton is director of book production at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. Her previous employers have included Commonwealth Editions, Editorial Services of New England (now nSight), Houghton Mifflin, OG&H Publishers, and D. C. Heath.

Term Selection Workshop
led and moderated by Seth Maislin
Text analysis and term selection are basic skills needed for writing all types of indexes. Using separate chapters from the same book, Seth asked three teams to review the chapters and select possible terms for an index. After each team's list of terms was recorded on a whiteboard, Seth led the workshop participants in a stimulating discussion about similarities and relationships among the terms, in general and in context, and how some of the terms might be used in an index for the whole book. The exercise emphasized how indexers select and refine terms to arrive at the wording of main headings and subheadings, and hinted at the interplay between an index's structure and its language. Seth Maislin is an independent information architecture and indexing consultant; an adjunct instructor at Middlesex Community College, Simmons College, and Bentley College; and a trainer at nSight, Inc. Seth has also served as President of the American Society for Indexing and of the New England Chapter.

Peer Review Session
coordinated by May Hasso
Peer review sessions are an opportunity for back-of-the-book indexers with various levels of experience to give and receive feedback on their indexes to improve the quality of their work. Indexers learn how to improve their indexing not only from receiving comments on their indexes but by reviewing others’ indexes. Three indexes were discussed in the session. May Hasso has been full-time indexer since 2000, specializing in back-of-the-book, Web-based environment, and journal indexing. She also provides data mapping, taxonomy, and research services for corporations and individuals. She has served as secretary of the Massachusetts Chapter.

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