Indexing Books, Second Edition (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

Good mix of introductory background information on the field of indexing and rules and examples for the practice/art of indexing.Needlessly verbose at times when more examples might be better. Contradictory at times without clear explanations as to why.There are definitely worse books on the subject.

Before buying this book, I created a cookbook in Microsoft Word for my family as a Christmas gift. I ran into some unexpected issues that I never did resolve. I found time consuming work-arounds. This book was recommended to me by an experienced book indexer as her "Bible." This person explained to me how I could learn indexing professionally, and do it from home. I have read most of the book, and have already applied some of the concepts in my job as an annotator. Indexing is not as straightforward as it seems. Most interestingly, editing software programs that claim to have indexing functions like Word does, fail miserably, as I learned making my cookbook. Computers are unable to apply syntax, and fixing and editing an index without editing every computer-generated component of it quickly ends up in a mess. It explains in detail why search engines such as Google use very different logic processes than a book indexer needs to use. I have not read anything else on the market, but this book truly makes me feel as though I do not need to. It has already solved some of the issues I've run into, so it gets 5 stars.

Clear, effective, organized presentation of all of the minutia of indexing. The why as well as the how were explained and illustrated. She also explains the current controversies among professional indexers and allows the reader to decide. Lots of references for those who want to pursue any of the topics in greater depth. Easy book to read and then find your way back to some topic as you actually start to do the indexing. FYI: I used an excel spreadsheet as my "notecards" with topic heading in the first column and subheadings in the second column and the location of the reference in columns. I did this mostly because I was working with a rough manuscript (and hadn't yet read the section in Nancy's book about making notes in the text.) The sort feature in excel enabled me to alphabetize entries easily- as well as sort by chapter. Bottom line: If you can own only one book- this is it.

Just to be clear, the book does not tell you how to index books using software. It is more what I would call a style manual with lots of examples. So why do you need a style manual? Because you can't set your indexing formats without knowing industry standards. It is as though someone took the indexing section out of the Chicago Manual of Style and fleshed it out. I gave it four stars because it is easy to use, but I don't love it.

As an editor at times I had to index a book. Let me state for the record - I Hate Indexing. There are professional indexers out there who do an amazing job and I for one am more than happy to build their fee into a book's budget. BUT sometimes you just gotta do it yourself. For those times, this is the guide you need. I referenced it multiple times every time I had to index and shared it with others in the office. We all found it helpful.

Like writing, indexing is an art form. Some people can do it, and some people can't. If you want to attempt your own index, buy Mulvany's book. She's an instructor of index courses and she knows her stuff-- it shows. Notice how this book has ZERO negative reviews. The only complaint that I had was the price, but you really get what you pay for, so how can you complain when you buy the best?She should trademark the definition of the "Ideal Index"; it's a must read. She covers structure, arrangement, names, everything. It's all there.

THE book on indexing theory for anyone wanting to study book indexing.Mary C. Mulvany is mentioned in most other books on indexing. She teaches courses and wrote this as an accompaniment to one of her courses. It is an excellent textbook but it isn't a self-help manual - you won't find out how to index yoru own books, but you will find out the theory on indexing.

I am about 2/3 of my way through this book. I know, I know, its about indexing books, how exciting can it really be? Well, although this topic is not exciting, this book is just fabulous. Her writing style and explanations are clear, concise, and well throughout. If you are wanting to learn how to index a book, this is an excellent book with a solid reputations for a reason. You will not be disappointed.

Eine sehr informative Lektüre zum Thema Registermachen, auch für (Noch-) Nicht-Indexer lesenswert und hilfreich. Wer einen Index erstellen muss, findet hier guten Rat.