ASI News
—Don’t miss out on timely ASI conference
—Annual Meeting looks back, and ahead
—New members: Learn all about ASI
—Janet Perlman has died
Associated Industry News
—Shuttered macros business makes software available
Spotlight on David Troyan
ASI News
Don’t miss out on timely ASI conference
Catch it while you can! Registration closes Wednesday, June 3, for ASI’s 2026 virtual conference—“Indexing in Interesting Times.” It will be held Wednesday, June 10, and Thursday, June 11.
The conference will feature sessions designed to help professional indexers hone their skills as well as programs that focus on preparing for an uncertain future. Proactive preparedness—including planning, mitigation, and building resilience—significantly reduces or prevents the impact of these interesting times, often transforming potential catastrophes into opportunities for progress. Sessions include:
- Indexing in the Era of AI
- Cautionary Considerations on So Many Levels: Vigilance, Mitigation, Prevention, and Recovery for Indexer
- Meditation Practices for Care of the Body, Spirit, and Mind
- Disasters, Indexing through Them
- The Current State of Scholarly Publishing
- Government Contracting
- Mastering the Marketing Game in 2026
- Cindex: Be Prepared and Double Check that Index
- Potential of Macros for Indexers
A bonus session includes a demonstration of ASI’s New Principles of Indexing Course and how it works in the platform Moodle.
Learn about the full program and our engaging speakers and how to register by clicking on this link.
Annual Meeting looks back, and ahead
Indexers gathered by Zoom on May 15, for ASI’s Annual General Meeting. Outgoing President Jen Weers began by sharing highlights of the events and accomplishments of the past year, including:
- Launch of the new training course, Principles of Indexing: From Theory to Practice. Led by Shana Milke, the Training Course Planning Committee has worked exhaustively for several years to create an engaging program designed to prepare the next generation of indexers.
- Formation of a committee on artificial intelligence, led by Elizabeth Bartmess and Michele Combs. The committee’s work has put into practice ASI’s thoughtful and proactive approach to evaluating and responding to the presence of AI. They published two white papers and developed language members can use when educating clients. On National Indexing Day in November, a coordinated effort on social media helped raise awareness about the challenges and limitations of AI in indexing.
- Redesign of the ASI website, and efforts continue to modernize the operation of the site and update the documents residing on it.
- Starting up Meet-and-Greet events last June to introduce new members to the benefits of ASI while also creating opportunities for attendees to get to know one another.
- Creation of the THRIVE team, to support the priority of increasing member retention and recruitment. In addition to focusing on membership, the team will investigate indexing trends and publishing industry transformations to better understand the landscape we work in.
Following the treasurer’s report given by Cheryl Lenser, our newest board members were introduced: Heather Dubnick and Jessica Siddiqi as directors, Judy Staigmiller as president-elect, and Vickie Jacobs as secretary.
In acknowledgement of those members who provide an inordinate amount of support for ASI, recipients of Kohlrabi Awards were announced, and Jen spoke about the history of the Hines Award, recognizing the Hines Award winners over the years whose dedication and exceptional service has helped sustain ASI.
The meeting ended with the transfer of the presidency to Shannon Li, who shared her vision for the upcoming year. Her primary goal is to foster a culture of volunteerism in ASI where a large portion of our members will do their part to keep our organization running smoothly. She plans to set up a volunteer page on the ASI website as a place where interested members can see the various volunteer opportunities that are available with a short explanation of the responsibilities and time commitments involved.
Thank you to Shelley Quattrocchi for this report on the Annual Meeting
New members: Learn all about ASI
New to ASI? You are invited to attend a virtual Meet-and-Greet for new members on June 24 at 10 a.m. Pacific / 1 p.m. Eastern.
In addition to the opportunity to meet fellow indexers, during this hour you will learn about:
- How membership benefits can help you grow your career.
- How to access ASI resources.
- How you can be involved in ASI and why you should be.
- Who to contact when you have questions.
If you’re a new member (within the past year), you will receive a Zoom link a few days before the event. If you don’t receive a link and want to attend, email Gwen Henson to request it.
Janet Perlman has died
Longtime ASI member and volunteer Janet Perlman died recently in Arizona. The cause was cancer.
At various times, Janet was on the ASI Board of Directors, served as Key Words editor, and she received the Hines Award in 2006. She also authored Running an Indexing Business (2001) and Indexing Tactics & Tidbits: An A to Z Guide (2016).
A letter of nomination for the Hines Award pointed out Janet’s dedication to serving ASI. “Janet’s professional qualifications are stellar. She has served national ASI in many ways, as a member of the Board of Directors, the Wilson Award Committee, the Web site committee, the chapter relations committee, the archive committee, the salary survey committee, and the publicity committee.”
Janet and her many contributions to ASI were highly valued, as reflected in the many memories on ASI’s discussion list following the announcement of her death.
A full obituary and information on memorial donations is available here.
Associated Industry News
Shuttered macros business makes software available
The company behind the Windows-based macro software Macro Express went out of business recently.
Elizabeth Bartmess of ASI’s AI Committee kindly pointed out this information on several indexing discussion lists: Before shutting down, they made their software available with a free permanent license on their webpage. That webpage is now down, but it (and the software downloads) are still available through the Internet Archive.
If you are a Windows user and have been on the fence about trying macro software to automate repetitive tasks, you can now download and use it for free—see the link above for instructions, Elizabeth wrote. The downside is that Macro Express may eventually stop working with some future version of Windows.
Spotlight on David Troyan
This month’s Spotlight is on indexer David Troyan. He is the new webmaster for the Gardening/Environmental Studies Special Interest Group and is on the ASI Webmaster Team.
If you would like to be in the Spotlight, or would like to nominate someone for it, please contact Laurie Hlavaty.
Where do you live now? Where are you originally from?
I’m from Riverhead, New York. I’ve always lived on Long Island.
What is your educational background?
I have a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Hofstra University. My graduate education includes master’s degrees in computer science (Hofstra University), applied math, (Stony Brook University), and library science (Long Island University). Additionally, I have a post-graduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems.
Do you have any hobbies, travels, volunteer work, or other interesting things to share?
I am a 26-year member of the Rotary Club of Riverhead. Currently, I am a webmaster for the club. I enjoy doing local history research, reading biographies and non-fiction, and writing.
Later this year, I will be attending the U.S. Open in both golf (held this year at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club) and in tennis (in Flushing Meadows, Queens).
What kind of work did you do before you studied indexing? Are you still doing that or other work in addition to indexing?
I had two careers before retiring two years ago. In my seventeen years at Brookhaven National Laboratory, I was a software developer in the Atmospheric Science Department. I held the position of Metadata Manager during my last few years at the Lab. This position required detailed knowledge of indexing, taxonomy, and metadata. I joined ASI to obtain extra training in these areas.
On either side of my tenure at Brookhaven Lab, I was employed by the Riverhead Free Library. I spent most of my time working IT (yet another webmaster role) and Technical Services. I have been interested in indexing since I took a course in Abstracting and Indexing as part of my library science curriculum.
What is a favorite strategy to help motivate or inspire when you are feeling stuck during a work project?
I have found that it is sometimes difficult to maintain enthusiasm and energy during long-term projects. The strategy that works for me is to set aside a time when I work on older projects before I spend time on a newer project. It is good to remind myself that I could be done with a task in a week or a month if I work on it for, say, three hours a morning.
The finish line is the best motivator.
When did you start indexing? When did you join ASI?
I never formally worked as an indexer, but during my time as metadata manager I did, however, use many principles and tenets of indexing in developing and maintaining taxonomies and metadata schemas.
As I recall, I joined ASI in 2016.
For you, what is the best advantage of ASI membership?
I’ve always felt that the best reason to be an ASI member was the available training courses and continuing education opportunities. The new Principles of Indexing course is a fantastic benefit of membership, but so too are the myriad webinars and articles curated by ASI leadership.
Only after I volunteered for the webmaster positions did I realize how much members contribute to the betterment of the organization. Everybody who I encountered has been extremely friendly and highly professional. This prompted me to increase my volunteer tasks. I urge my fellow members to take any opportunity to volunteer with ASI.
Items to be considered for the See Also newsletter should be submitted by the 15th of the month before publication. For July 2026 issue, please email SeeAlsoEditor@asindexing.org by June 15. Thank you.