All About Indexing #3: Index vs. Concordance
Hi, everyone! As promised, today’s column topic is about the similarities and differences between an index and a concordance. A popular question professional indexers get is “Why do I need you to index my book for me? Can’t computers do that?” The answer is, not really—or at least, not well.
Last time I explained what an index is, but this time I would like to explain what an index is not. An index is not a concordance—an unanalyzed list of words or phrases which appear in a book. There are computer programs on the market today that can do this, but is this an index? No. The Chicago Manual of Style’s definition of a good index mentions that it “records every pertinent statement made within the body of the text. The subject matter and purpose of the book determine which statements are pertinent and which peripheral.” Which, of course, can only be known by a human and not by a computer.
Although it is probable that many
of the entries in an index are identical to the words used in the text, there
are many more instances in which the human indexer must manipulate the text in
order to:
be more concise
put the most important word in a phrase first
provide other search terms that may lead the reader to more information on a similar topic
organize entries into main headings and subheadings, pulling together similar concepts coming from different parts of the book
These are all examples of ways that an indexer can make an index as easy as possible for the reader to find everything in the book that is important, all in alphabetical order.
Let me give you an example. Recently I indexed a health-food cookbook which included the following four recipe titles:
- Savory Mediterranean Chickpea Soup
- Spicy Hummus in Toasted Pita Loaves
- Lentil Stew
- Pasta e Fagioli Soup
In All About Indexing #4, we’ll talk about the history of index creation. Until next time!
Shoshana Hurwitz
Hurwitz Indexing
For Hire Now!
Summaries
Upcoming Events
Interesting, but the examples you give would require considerable cross-referencing. It would not occur to look up any of them under 'beans,' with the sole exception of fagioli, assuming that is what it means in English, and that I eventually remembered it.
Keep up the good work.