Workshops

Wednesday morning, May 10
8:45 - 11:45 am 
Basic Indexing: Part 1: Joanne Clendenen and Kay Schlembach

A two-part, fast-paced introduction to the basic concepts of classic back-of-the-book indexing techniques, including alphabetization, format, entry considerations, cross references, and simple editing. A short assignment will be given at the end of the first session to be evaluated during the second session. This workshop is a supplement to the USDA course.
Audience: Those considering indexing as a career, writers, editors, or other publishing professionals who want to increase their knowledge of the indexing process.
Presenters: Kay Schlembach and Joanne Clendenen are working partners and freelance indexers in Houston, Texas. Joanne, after stints in the Air Force and university administration, has been a freelance indexer, primarily in scholarly works, since 1995. Kay worked as a real estate appraiser and home schooling teacher before becoming Joanne's protégé in indexing. She has been freelancing full time, primarily in textbooks and business books, since 1997.

Beginning CINDEX: Maria Sullivan Young
This workshop explores the standard features of CINDEX for Windows, including keyboarding, data entry and editing shortcuts, file management, and preparing indexes for delivery to clients.
Audience: Beginning users of CINDEX
Presenter: Maria Sullivan Young has been indexing for 12 years. She also provides on-line technical support for Indexing Research and their family of CINDEX products.

Let's Get Profitable!: Part 1: Susan Olason
Let's Get Profitable! examines the business of indexing by applying PROFIT principles to both sides of profitability, income and expenses. This workshop provides new and experienced indexers with techniques that can be used to increase profitability and make informed business decisions at each stage of an efficient Indexing Business process.
Audience: New and experienced indexers who want to make their business more profitable.
Presenter: Susan Olason has a Masters degree in Business and is a full-time indexer. In her previous career, Susan spent 20 years as a Systems Engineer/Manager on contracts dealing primarily with how people use information. She has applied this experience to her indexing business which has been profitable since the first year, and she has been able to increase her profitability to over $80.00 per hour by using the techniques presented in the Let's Get Profitable! workshop.

Managing Large Projects: Patricia Aslin and Frances Lennie
This workshop will focus on the individual freelance indexer who may need to draw on outside resources in order to undertake a large project. We will define the different types of projects that are considered "large," and cover the basics of bidding, contract negotiations, staffing and task assignment, time-lines, indexer and client expectations, and payment schedules. We will also explore problems and solutions common to all large projects, as well as working with volunteers.
Audience: Established indexers faced with managing large projects involving several indexers.
Presenters: Frances S. Lennie has been indexing for 23 years. Over the years Frances has tackled indexing projects that have demanded diverse approaches, and currently specializes in converting and cumulating material from existing indexes. Frances is responsible for negotiating and overseeing large projects that her company (Indexing Research) undertakes.
Patricia Aslin specializes in large historical cumulative projects including the index to Rochester History, under the auspices of the Rochester City Historian, and most recently the 45 year cumulation of index material to American Heritage Magazine.

Wednesday afternoon, May 10
2:00 - 5:00 pm 
Advanced MACREX: Gale Rhoades
With MACREX Version 7 on a PC platform, learn techniques to improve your productivity, eliminate repetitive tasks, create multiple indexes in a single pass, use volume/page numbers for nonbook materials and index without final folios.
Audience: This workshop is for an advanced audience, those who have completed at least two indexes with MACREX.
Presenter: Gale Rhoades manages the North American office for MACREX and provides technical support for the product.

Let's Get Profitable!: Part 2: Susan Olason
See description of Part 1 on Wednesday morning.

Marketing Your Services: Anne Leach
This half-day workshop addresses the questions: What is marketing, anyway? Why do all freelance indexers, even long-established ones, need to find new clients? Why do most indexers find marketing disagreeable? How can we learn to market ourselves successfully? What are the proven, successful marketing strategies? The class will work together to develop telephoning skills and an initial pre-experience resume.
Audience: General
Presenter: Anne Leach has been involved in publishing as editor and indexer since 1985, when she also first joined ASI. Over the years, she was active in the Golden Gate chapter, and since 1988, the SoCal Chapter. She was a director of ASI for six years, editor of Key Words for six years, and headed up ASI's Publicity Committee for two years.

Web Indexing: A Corporate Perspective: Samantha Bailey and Katrina Hagedorn
This session covers the challenges, pitfalls and successes associated with developing indexes for corporate web sites and intranets. While predominantly presentation oriented, this session will combine dynamic examples with ample opportunities for interaction via discussion and question-and-answer sessions.
Audience: General audience
Presenters: Samantha Bailey is Vice President, Consulting Operations at Argus Associates, a leading information architecture consulting firm. Trained with a master's degree in library science, Ms. Bailey's goal is to break the mold of traditional librarianship by bringing the principles of information retrieval and organization to the Web.
Katrina Hagedorn joined Argus Associates as an Information Architect in 1998. Her background in biological sciences brings an added dimension to her expertise in creating classification schemes. At Argus, her projects have included classification scheme analysis for Procter & Gamble and Corning, Inc. and information architecture for Weather.com and AT&T.

Thursday morning, May 11
8:45 - 11:45 am
Advanced CINDEX: Maria Sullivan Young
For CINDEX users who want to maximize their productivity, this workshop focuses on advanced editing techniques, including importing data into CINDEX from other sources, handling extended and unusual characters, and working with multiple files.
Audience: Experienced CINDEX users.
Presenter: Maria Sullivan Young has been indexing for 12 years. She also provides on-line technical support for Indexing Research and their family of CINDEX products.

Basic Indexing: Part 2: Joanne Clendenen and Kay Schlembach
See description of Part 1 on Wednesday morning.

Browsing Strategies: Barbara Kwasnik
As indexers we know that careful attention to the structure and integrity of an index is invaluable not only for finding information that we already know or suspect is in the document or database, but also for exploring new or unfamiliar information. In this workshop we will learn about how to evaluate the design and structure of an index in terms of how it enables or constrains various kinds of information-seeking. Using a wide array of existing indexes as examples we will simulate searches, paying attention to design features such as cross-references, formatting, arrangement, and access points. Participants will not only learn how to evaluate an index along these criteria but also how to conduct evaluation studies of their own in the future.
Audience: General
Presenter: Barbara H. Kwasnik is an Associate Professor at the School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, where she has been teaching organization of information and indexing for 13 years. Previously she has worked as an editor and a freelance indexer in New York City. Her research interests are in classification, document genres, and browsing.

Introduction to MACREX: Do Mi Stauber
Learn the basics of creating index entries with MACREX.
Audience: Beginning indexers who have yet to choose indexing software or more advanced indexers desiring to switch to MACREX,
Presenter: Do Mi Stauber has been indexing full-time for 14 years. She specializes in back-of-the-book indexes for social sciences and humanities and also designs and presents workshops on indexing. She has been a happy user of MACREX for ten years.

Thursday afternoon May 11
2:00 - 5:00 pm 
Basic Indexing with MACREX: Gale Rhoades
Learn to create your fist real index with MACREX. Learn keyboard macros and keywords for double posting and other tasks, spell-checking, multitasking with Windows, and preparing electronic copy for submission to publishers.
Audience: MACREX owners who have completed the Getting Started exercises.
Presenter: Gale Rhoades manages the North American office for MACREX and provides technical support for the product.

Creating your Own Model Contract and Using It: Barbara E. Cohen
This workshop focuses on the development of a contract or confirmation letter "template" for indexing assignments. It will discuss a list of standard elements to include in a contract and the advantages of negotiating with a checklist of possible working conditions. Participants will engage in role-playing exercises focusing on negotiation scenarios. Everyone will leave with a sample contract they have drafted for themselves and a better understanding of the use of contracts.
Audience: General
Presenter: Barbara E. Cohen has been a freelance indexer, copy-editor, publishing consultant, and teacher for 16 years. She has served ASI as secretary (1993-96) and as national publicity coordinator (1995-97), and she is currently co-coordinator of the ASI History/ Archaeology SIG.

Web Indexing: Bill Meisheid
In this half-day workshop, Bill Meisheid will investigate the unique world of Web indexing. We will examine, from a more "how-to" perspective, the issues, tools, and unique concerns of the indexer trying to do indexing on the Web, Web sites, and Intranets. We will also look at the Web index as a product or service in itself.
Audience: Experienced indexers interested in indexing the Web.
Presenter: Bill Meisheid is the owner of Sageline Publishing and a principal in Sageline Software LLC. He is a member of the American Society of Indexers (ASI) and the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and a frequent conference speaker. He was Microsoft's first MVP (Most Valuable Professional) for Help systems, an honor he still holds. A certified RoboHELP instructor and active consultant, he teaches, writes, and creates and designs help and information systems for a broad range of government and commercial clients

The Taxman Cometh: Diana Witt and Alexandra (Sandy) Steen
Financial planning and tax issues for independent contractors, including discussion of tax forms, online tax filing, deductions and gross income estimates, and what to do with profits.
Audience: Freelance indexers, all experience levels.
Presenters: Diana Witt has been a freelance indexer for more than 20 years. She has filed taxes as an independent contractor for 15 of those years and has managed her own IRAs and KEO-SEP for all of that time.
Sandy is a CPA, based in Albuquerque, NM. She recently spoke to the Albuquerque chapter about taxes and financial planning for freelancers.
Our third speaker is Patricia Bender of American Express Financial Services, who will speak about retirement and financial planning for independent contractors.

Friday afternoon, May 12
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Achieving the Ideal Index: Barbara E. Cohen, Seth Maislin, and Kate Mertes
We invite you to take part in an orchestrated conversation/debate between two experienced indexers about topics relating to "achieving the ideal index." The moderator will pose a series of prepared questions to the two panelists, who will toss a coin to determine which side of the argument they will have to defend. The questions focus on those "well, it depends . . ." situations in indexing where there is no "right" answer, only a "better" answer for the circumstances of that particular text and index. Specific examples will be examined. In addition to the questions prepared in advance, the panelists will discuss questions raised by the workshop audience.
Audience: General
Presenters: Barbara E. Cohen has been a freelance indexer, copy-editor, publishing consultant, and teacher for 16 years. She has served ASI as secretary (1993-96) and as national publicity coordinator (1995-97), and she is currently co-coordinator of the ASI History/ Archaeology SIG. As an indexer with experience in scholarly, technical, and trade publishing, Barbara is well qualified to split hairs about what constitutes an "ideal" index under different circumstances.
Seth Maislin is a directory manager at Lycos, Inc. and sole proprietor of Focus Information Services. He provides indexing, information architecture, and consulting services to public and private audiences, regularly presents workshops at conferences, and indexes books and Web documents.
Kate Mertes is a freelance editor with over 20 years' experience in publishing, writing, and indexing. She currently specializes in legal and academic indexing, especially large and complex projects.

Indexing Scientific/Common Names: The Ideal and the Real: Hannah Huse
Indexing scientific and common names for plants and animals can seem deceptively easy. Following the ideal format is not as difficult as actually adapting ideal entries to a particular text, a diverse audience, differing press styles and the constraints of given formats and limited space. Members of the Gardening/Environmental Studies SIG will present a half-day workshop including brief presentations on the history of scientific terminology, the principles and maintenance of taxonomic nomenclature, differences between plant and animal terminology, tips for making and proofing index entries more easily, and a discussion of the practical aspects of the indexer's task.
Audience: Indexers who deal with scientific nomenclature in fields such as biology, geology, and anthropology .
Presenters: G/ES SIG members including Susan Olason, Therese Shere, and Hannah Huse. Dr. Tim Lowrey, Director of the Herbarium at the University of New Mexico, will contribute his expertise as a plant taxonomist.

Marketing for the Shy: Alternatives to Cold Calling: Carol Roberts
Explore and practice a variety of alternative marketing techniques, including effective use of business cards and brochures, how and with whom to network, persuasive mailings to publishers, and advertising. Learn to recognize and capitalize on opportunities.
Audience: Indexers who are shy about making cold calls to publishers. (In other words, most of us.)
Presenter: Carol Roberts has been indexing full-time for six years. Most of her work is on academic books in a variety of subjects in the humanities, especially philosophy, sociology, and art history. She is currently managing the Scholarly Indexing SIG. She has also taught beginning and intermediate indexing courses.

Using SKY Index Professional: Heather Jones
Topics covered will include:

• Data entry and navigation within SKY, with tricks to speed editing late
• Configuration (sorting options, cross reference format, file format, etc.)
• Use of macros for data entry and editing
• Use of groups and filters and other advanced editing features
• Use of tools for error checking, repaginating, adding volume labels, etc.

Audience: New users of SKY Index and more experienced users who want to learn more about indexing with SKY's advanced features.
Presenter: : Heather Jones has been indexing books in the sciences and social sciences since 1996. Her specialties are physics, mathematics, military history, and area studies of Asia and the states of the former Soviet Union. She was one of the first people to purchase SKY Index when it was released to the public, and has since used it to create dozens of indexes in many different formats.

Saturday afternoon, May 13
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Botanical Garden Field Trip: Hannah Huse
This is a primarily a social event offered as a follow on for Indexing Scientific/Common Names: The Ideal and the Real. There is no charge for it and you need not be specifically registered for it to attend.
Audience: Those who attended the earlier workshop Indexing Scientific/Common Names: The Ideal and the Real, and anyone interested in botanical gardens.
Organizer: Hannah Huse of the Gardening and Environmental Science SIG.

Embedded Indexing Techniques: Peg Mauer
When index entries are inserted electronically into the computer files along with the text of the document, they are called embedded. Instead of having a separate index file that is created with dedicated indexing software, an embedded index is created in the same software as the rest of the document. This workshop discusses the advantages and disadvantages of embedded indexing and demonstrates creating embedded indexes in FrameMaker and in Microsoft Word.
Audience: Indexers experienced with dedicated indexing software who want to understand the use of embedding software.
Presenter: Peg Mauer is the past-President of the Western New York State chapter of the American Society of Indexers (ASI), and has served on the ASI Board of Directors. She is the Manager of the Society for Technical Communication's (STC) Indexing Special Interest Group (SIG). Peg is the owner of Communication Link, providing professional services in technical writing, indexing, and editing.

Online Help Indexing: Bill Meisheid
All program help systems, including Web-based applications, need to be indexed. In many companies, this is the job of the help author. However, some companies, including Microsoft, contract out their help indexing. This session will help you understand the issues, tools, processes, and problems involved in participating in this market.
Audience: Advanced: Technical writers and indexers who want to prepare indexes for online Help systems.
Presenter: Bill Meisheid is the owner of Sageline Publishing and a principal in Sageline Software LLC. He is a member of the American Society of Indexers (ASI) and the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and a frequent conference speaker. He was Microsoft's first MVP (Most Valuable Professional) for Help systems, an honor he still holds. A certified RoboHELP instructor and active consultant, he teaches, writes, and creates and designs help and information systems for a broad range of government and commercial clients.

The Glory and the Nothing of a Name: Noeline Bridge
The presentation gives guidelines (handouts) for the entry of names in an index., answers questions, and shares favorite sources of names. It covers four types of names: personal, corporate, geographic, and names of objects (toys, transport vehicles, animals, for example). These are discussed in turn, followed by issues around any name in a index.
Audience: General
Presenter: Noeline Bridge has been a freelance indexer since 1990. Prior to that she was a librarian, with 15 years' experience in cataloguing books, in which she toiled daily over the entry of names, personal, corporate, and geographical. She is currently president of the Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada.