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Announcements

      Previous Announcements

In addition, note that ASI chapters regularly post information about chapter-sponsored events.

Southeast Chapter of ASI Inaugural Meeting Announced

The new Southeast Chapter is having its inaugural meeting November 13–14 in Savannah. For more information, consult the chapters page on this site.

May Board Minutes Posted

Minutes for the May 12, 2010 meeting of the Board of Directors are now available in the Members Area under Documents & Reports, Meeting Minutes.

Minutes from 2010 Annual Meeting Posted in Members Area

The ASI Business Meeting Minutes for May 15, 2010 have been posted to the Members Only area, Documents & Reports, Meeting Minutes

Kate Mertes' May President's Letter

Kate Mertes' May President's Letter is now available at ASI President's Letters.

Statement from ASI Officers Regarding ICI

Read the brief statement from ASI officers regarding the formation of the Institute of Certified Indexers (ICI).

The 2010 Hines and Wilson Awards

The Hines Award Committee is very proud to announce Enid L. Zafran as the 2010 recipient of the Hines Award. Enid is a shining example of “an individual who has shown continuous, dedicated, and exceptional service to the membership of ASI,” as this prestigious award warrants. ASI Members who attend the annual conference in Minneapolis will have the opportunity to celebrate Enid’s achievements at a special awards presentation, and to hear her speak about her career and indexing philosophy. Kay Dusheck, Chair, Hines Committee, Deborah Patton and Donna Drialo, Committee members

The ASI/H.W. Wilson Company Indexing Award is presented to an indexer and a publisher for a stellar index, an index that can serve as a model for emulation.The 2010 committee members agreed unanimously that none of the submissions were of that caliber. This is the seventh time that this award has not been bestowed. We had eight submissions, considerably fewer than last year. The varieties of volume type and subject matter were impressive, ranging from an encyclopedia to textbooks, from scholarly tomes to books for the general public. Single and multi-volume works were represented. Among the fields covered were children’s and social issues, history, anthropology, and medicine. The committee was very pleased to see the wide range of book type and subject matter.Unfortunately all of the submissions had serious flaws. Each index had internal inconsistencies, e.g., locators for double postings and for flipped entries were not identical. Serious cross reference issues arose with circular See also references appearing and basic See references (e.g., farming. See agriculture) missing. Orphan subentries abounded, as did long strings of locators off main entries. In some cases locators were inaccurate. In a number of cases entire topics were not in the index.In several books the typesetting made reading and deciphering the index difficult. The absence of continued lines at the top of columns left readers unsure if they were looking at a subentry or a sub-subentry. (The Award, it should be remembered, goes to the publisher as well as the indexer.)

The award process is completely blind. None of the judges had any idea of the identity of any of the indexers, or even if a submission came from the indexer or the publisher. All of the judges began the day-long process expecting to select a winning index. I thank the Wilson Committee members for their thoughtful analyses and hard work: Terry Casey, Rose Coad, Barbara DeGennaro (who was unable to attend), Terri Hudoba, Peg Mauer, and Kate Mertes. Thank you also to our registrar, Lee Humphrey, who completely covered any indicators of an indexer’s identity. And finally my thanks go to the H.W. Wilson Company for its commitment to excellence in indexing and for sponsoring this award for 32 years. I urge indexers to redouble their efforts to achieve excellence in indexing by applying the Wilson Award criteria to their work and by submitting those indexes for award consideration. Further, I urge publishers to remember readability and comprehensibility when designing and laying out an index. I am sure that many excellent indexes were published in 2009; the committee simply did not receive them. However, I look forward to participating in the selection of a Wilson Award winner next year. Ina Gravitz, Chair, Wilson Awards Committee

Indexing Society of Canada (ISC) Conference, May 26-27, 2010

"Ten for Ten: Perfecting Our Craft" will be held at Dawson College, Montreal. Keynote speaker is Michèle Hudon, an experienced indexer recognized internationally as a researcher and consultant in thesaurus development and multilingual subject access. Other sessions include a panel on ethics, a multi-speaker presentaton on indexing archival images, a presentation on the revised ISO guidelines for thesaurus construction, and a peer review session. For more information and updates, see http://www.indexers.ca/conf2010.html

Last Call for Hines Nominations

Do you know someone whose service to ASI makes them worthy of joining this elite group? If you know of someone who has offered distinguished service, perhaps as an officer, board member or committee member, or who has worked with ASI for the advancement and improvement of the indexing profession, then please consider nominating that person for the Hines Award. The deadline for nomination letters is February 15, 2010. All submissions should be made by e-mail to the Hines Committee chairperson, Kay Dusheck, dusheck@netins.net. You may also submit nomination packets via U.S. mail or overnight delivery to the Chair at: Kay Dusheck, 4193 Buffalo Ridge Road, Anamosa, Iowa 52205. Questions? Please call 319-3508657. The Hines Committee, consisting of Kay Dusheck, Deborah Patton and Donna Drialo, will review all applications/nominations and announce the recipient at the 2010 annual conference in Minneapolis.

Program for 2010 ASI Conference Now Available

The full program and registration information for the 2010 ASI conference in Minneapolis is now available on our new conference central page.

The 2009 Salary Survey Now Available.

ASI is pleased to present the results of its 2009 salary survey. This survey covers all segments of the indexing community and specialty applications, and provides a fascinating and valuable snapshot of indexers and indexing today. It is available in the member area of this site. (Member login is required to view this document.) Nonmembers may purchase the report for $200 through the ASI store.

New Edition of Index It Right! Advice from the Experts Now Available

ASI president Kate Mertes announced the publication of Index It Right! Advice from the Experts, Volume 2, edited by Janet Perlman & Enid L. Zafran, 2010. We all owe a vote of thanks to Janet, Enid, and all the contributors who worked so hard to produce this splendid volume and made it a book that should be in every indexer’s library. The second volume in this series provides a range of topics. Dealing with the technique of indexing, it covers how to write subheadings (Towery & Agee) and how to handle locators and page numbers (Russell). For specialty areas, articles deal with public policy (Zafran), textbooks (McVey), technical writing (Wright), and naval and military documents (Patton). In format types, it offers guidance on database indexing (Mamassian), taxonomies and thesauri (Hedden), and embedded techniques (Haskins). The book is available via the ASI Publications homepage, or directly through ITI (http://books.infotoday.com/books/index.shtml#index). It is priced at $32 for ASI members, $40 for nonmembers—a tangible member benefit!

Web Indexing Award, 2010

The Web Indexing SIG is now inviting entries for the 2010 Web Indexing Award. The award recognizes excellence in website indexing and is open to members of the ASI and affiliated indexing societies. The deadline for entries is April 23, 2010. Further details, including the award criteria and how to enter, are available at: http://www.web-indexing.org/web-indexing-award.htm

Golden Gate Chapter Conference Scholarship

The Golden Gate Chapter of ASI is again sponsoring a scholarship competition open to any chapter member who has never attended an ASI national conference. Details are available on the Chapters page.

November Board Minutes Posted

Minutes from the November Board meeting have been posted to the member area of this site. (Member login is required to view this document.)

New Benefit for ASI Members

By agreement with the H.W. Wilson Company, a complementary account has been set up that will allow ASI members access to Wilson's Library Literature & Information Science database. You can access it by logging into to the members area and clicking on the first item on the list under "Member Discounts and offers." Or you can simply click here for access instructions.

Palin's Book Receives ASI's First Golden Turkey Honors

ASI's first Golden Turkey Award for misadventures in indexing recognizes Sarah Palin's Going Rogue for having been published without an index.

2010 Annual Conference: Call for Presentations

Check out the 2010 conference pages for information about submitting a proposal for a presentation or poster.

2010 Wilson Award Application Information

Submission guidelines and application form have been posted for the 2010 Wilson Award

Starting an Indexing Business, 4th edition, Now Available

ASI is pleased to announce that the the fourth edition of Starting an Indexing Business is now available for sale on the publications page of this website and through our publisher, ITI. The editors are Enid L. Zafran and Joan Shapiro, and contributors include Fred Leise, Pilar Wyman, Christine Michaud, Melanie Krueger, and Fran Lennie (in addition to Joan and Enid). This edition has some new features that will be of interest to those in the indexing field for a while, as well as to newbies: for example, a sample letter agreement, an article about packagers, and an article on the various types of liability and risk that indexers may encounter. The 3rd edition has been a perennial best seller for ASI and ITI, and we are sure the 4th edition will continue this streak, so make sure to get a copy before they sell out!

ASI Announces UPS Discount as Member Benefit

Starting May 18, 2009, the American Society for Indexing members can now save up to 26 percent on their express shipping courtesy of UPS. For more information, check out the member benefit page.

2009 Web Indexing Award Announced

The winner of the 2009 Web Indexing Award, awarded by the ASI's Web Indexing Special Interest Group, is Mary Russell. Her index to the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI) web site at http://www.anzsi.org impressed the judges with its comprehensiveness and usability.

Submissions for the 2010 award will be accepted towards the end of 2009. The Award is open to members of ASI and affiliated indexing societies, in addition to members of the Information Architecture Institute (a partner organization).

Marketing Moves into the Spotlight

From Annette Rogers, Executive Director: The Board of Directors and staff of ASI have developed a comprehensive marketing initiative for the organization and we are excited to share it with you. The plan incorporates a three-pronged process: Marketing indexing as a whole, promoting indexers as individuals, and building ASI as a society. We are very excited to have a road map from which to work and are looking forward to a successful journey. Log in to the Members Area and click on Documents and Reports to see the full plan.

Business SIG Website Relaunch

The Business Indexing SIG is pleased to announce the re-launch of its website at http://www.businessindexing.org. The site has been completely redesigned to improve its 'look and feel' and to increase its useability by clients seeking a business indexer.

New Publication—Indexing Specialties: Cookbooks

Indexing Specialties: Cookbooks, edited by Alexandra Nickerson, Fred Leise, and Terri Hudoba, is the newest release in ASI's popular Indexing Specialties series. Visit our publications page for more information.

Wright recipient of the 2009 ASI/H.W. Wilson Award

Jan C. Wright is the recipient of the 2009 ASI/H.W. Wilson Award for her index to Real World Adobe InDesign CS3, by Olav Martin Kvern and David Blatner. The book was published by Peachpit Press in 2008. It is the first time a technical manual has won the award. Jan will receive a plaque and a check for $1000 at the ASI conference in Portland. See http://www.asindexing.org/site/WilsonAward.shtml#recip for more information.

ASI-PI Conference Speaker Guide Now Available

Getting ready for your presentation at Portland? Concerned about time management, or making sure attendees can hear you? Check out our new speaker's guide, a brochure jointly produced by ASI and Potomac Indexing. Full of useful tips!

Classic ASI Publications Now Available

Two classic ASI publications from the 1990s (Managing Large Indexing Projects and Subheadings: A Matter of Opinion) are now available for purchase from the ASI Online Store. These publications, long out of print, can be purchased as PDF downloads. Select 'Publications' and click on the 'More Info' button for product descriptions.

Any Announcements of Your Own?

If you have an announcement, please read the ASI Web Site Policy and contact the webmasters at webmaster@asindexing.org. 

To provide information or make a suggestion, send email to webmaster@asindexing.org
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