Kate Mertes, with her publisher, receives the 2015 ASI/EIS Publishing Award for Excellence in Indexing.
The ASI Award recognizes the normally anonymous indexers and the publishers who provide high-quality indexes to serve their readers. The indexer of the winning index receives $1,000 from ASI and a certificate. The publisher of the book is also recognized with a certificate.
This prestigious award was established in 1978 as the ASI/H.W. Wilson Award to honor excellence in indexing of an English language monograph or other non-serial print work published in the United States in the previous year (2016 for the 2017 judging). In 2011, the H.W. Wilson Company merged with EBSCO Publishing, and the award was renamed the ASI/EIS Publishing Award for Excellence in Indexing in late 2013. In 2016, the award was again renamed as the ASI Excellence in Indexing Award when EBSCO withdrew funding for the award. Its purpose is two-fold: for indexers, to provide and publicize models of excellence in indexing; for publishers, to encourage greater recognition of the importance of quality in book indexing.
Books with a 2016 copyright date, or those with a 2017 copyright date in distribution prior to December 31, 2016, are eligible (proof of distribution date is required).
The judges are interested in seeing indexes that address the text with high standards of index quality and are well-typeset, providing the user with easy, excellent access to the material in the book. ASI Award books serve as models for the profession.
Judging criteria, information on the judging process, FAQs, as well as submission guidelines and form are all available here. The 2017 award will be presented at the Annual Conference of the American Society for Indexing, June 15-17, in Portland, Maine.
If you have specific questions about the eligibility of an index for the award, please email the Registrar.
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