ASI News
—Call for 2020 Hines Award Nominations
—2020 ASI Excellence in Indexing Award: Call for Submissions
—ASI Webinar—Indexes Locorum: An Elegant Niche with Kate Mertes
—Plan to join us in Raleigh for "Indexing Crossroads"
Spotlight—Kendra Millis
ASI News
Call for 2020 Hines Award Nominations
The 2019 Hines Award for exceptional service to ASI was awarded to Fred Leise. At left, Ina Gravitz, chair and winner of the 2016 Hines Award.
Hines Award nominees should demonstrate an ongoing commitment to ASI and the indexing profession through service as an officer, board member, or in other leadership roles at the national level or within Chapters and SIGs. Other contributions worthy of note include active participation in national and regional conferences, web site management, publications, committees, educational activities, etc.
To submit a nomination, send a letter by email to Meghan Miller Brawley, Hines Committee Chair, documenting the reasons the nominee is worthy of consideration. The nomination letter should be accompanied by letters of recommendation from at least three other individuals who support the nomination. The award will be presented at the ASI national conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Rules and procedure for submitting nominations are available on the ASI website here.
2020 ASI Excellence in Indexing Award: Call for Submissions
Sheila Ryan was awarded ASI’s 2019 Excellence in Indexing Award for her index to Churchill Documents, Vol. 21.
The ASI Award for Excellence in Indexing 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 and a certificate. The publisher of the book is also recognized with a certificate. The 2020 award will be presented at the Annual Conference of the American Society for Indexing, April 23–25, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
For the 2020 competition, books with a 2019 copyright date, or those with a 2020 copyright date in distribution prior to December 31, 2019, are eligible (proof of distribution date is required). The judging committee is especially interested in seeing books that presented a challenge to the indexer. Scholarly as well as technical volumes and books on unusual or difficult topics often pose such issues. Trade and other types of books are also welcomed. The committee will be looking at how effectively and creatively the indexer has addressed challenges and maintained high standards of index quality and how well the publisher has typeset the index.
Judging criteria, information on the judging process, FAQs, as well as submission guidelines and form are all available here.
If you have specific questions about the eligibility of an index for the award, please email the Registrar.
ASI Webinar—Indexes Locorum: An Elegant Niche with Kate Mertes
January 15, 2020
Demand for Indexes Locorum is on the rise, and publishers are finding it hard to locate indexers able and willing to construct these finicky texts. Want to find out how to translate Cic. de or. 1.3.45 into a cogent and useful index entry? This webinar will introduce you to a whole new profitable world of indexing.
Types of Indexes Locorum:
- Legal Citations
- Manuscripts
- Biblical citations
- Classical references
Kate Mertes is sole proprietor of Mertes Editorial Serves, specializing in complex, challenging projects in law and the humanities. Kate is a winner of both the Hines Award and the ASI Award for Excellence in Indexing (twice). She has also served two terms as president of ASI.
To register for the webinar, visit this page.
Plan to join us in Raleigh for "Indexing Crossroads"
VisitNC/visitRaleigh.com
Conference chair Kendra Millis has lined up a great schedule of educational programs, which will soon be released. Mark your calendar for April 23-25, 2020, to join indexers from across the country when they meet in conveniently located Raleigh for Indexing Crossroads.
Spotlight
Our Spotlight this month is Kendra Millis, Past President of ASI, chair of the Annual Conference Marketing Committee, and ASI’s International Representative. If you would like to be in the Spotlight, or would like to nominate someone for it, please contact the editor, Roseann Biederman.
Where do you live now? Where are you originally from? Do you share your home with pets or family?
I currently live in central Maine, which is also where I am originally from. However, I spent approximately 20 years moving around and so have lived in other states in the northeast, Illinois, North Carolina, and various cities in Russia. I share my home with my 12-year-old daughter and three rather energetic cats.
What is your educational background?
My time in college and graduate school was focused mostly on studying Russian and Polish language and literature, as well as related Slavic languages. However, I also incorporated some studies in English and comparative literature, and for my master’s degree had a minor in social philosophy.
Do you have any hobbies, travels, volunteer work, or other interesting things to share?
In addition to my indexing business, I have a second business hand-dyeing yarn and wool roving (used for spinning). Although most of the business is devoted to knitting and spinning, I have recently expanded to include items related to weaving, rug hooking, crocheting, felting, and pretty much anything related to fiber.
What kind of work did you do before you studied indexing? Are you still doing that or other work in addition to indexing?
Most of my pre-indexing career was in the field of international education. For a number of years, I worked for a non-profit that facilitated student exchange programs between the U.S. and the countries of the former Soviet Union. I started in their Washington, DC, office, but eventually moved overseas to work in different offices in Russia. My last non-indexing job was as the Assistant Director of the UNC-Chapel Hill Study Abroad Office.
When did you start indexing? When did you join ASI?
I started indexing in 2008, shortly after my daughter was born. I was specifically looking for something that I could do from home, so that I could return to Maine to raise my daughter and be able to avoid putting her in day care. I joined ASI right around the time I completed my indexing course.
For you, what is the best advantage of ASI membership?
It’s hard for me to say what the best advantage is—I simply can’t imagine that I would have been nearly as successful an indexer had I not joined and participated in ASI. From the very beginning, the conferences have been extremely valuable, not only for the continuing education opportunities but also for the networking, not to mention the job opportunities that came my way as a direct result of conference attendance. Getting to know my fellow indexers in person has certainly assisted me in my career, but meeting in person also helps create the strong sense of community we have. Serving on the board and in various volunteer roles has allowed me to get to know even more indexers, to think through various issues that we encounter in this field, and to work toward improving the services and educational opportunities that ASI offers its members. In short, ASI has proven to be invaluable.
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