ASI News
—REMINDER: Culinary Indexing—Food for Thought
—Appointment of Devon Thomas as ASI International Representative
Chapter/SIG News
—Chicago/Great Lakes Indexers Chapter releases analysis of COVID-19 inquiry
—New England Chapter’s fall meeting with presenter Nan Badgett—October 3
Other Industry News
—ISC/SCI announces winner of Diversity in Canadian Publishing Bursary Award, 2020
—In memory: Mary Ann Gilbert Chulick
—Purple Pen Award winner announced
—Taxonomy Bootcamp at KMWorld Connect 2020 conference, November 16-20
—New look for Australian Style, the national newsletter on Australian style and English in Australia
Business and Marketing
—Margery Towery talks indexes for history books
—Nan Badgett is an accidental indexer? That can’t be!
Spotlight—Amy Hall
ASI News
REMINDER: Culinary Indexing—Food for Thought
Three-part ASI online course—October 14, 21, 28
Amy Hall presents Culinary Indexing—Food for Thought, a three-session online learning course from ASI. Session one is an introduction to cookbook editing, session two covers cookbooks that use specialty ingredients or that focus on one style of cooking or one subject, and session three covers all the unique challenges of indexing cookbooks. Read more about the opportunity here.
Amy Hall is a contributing author to the ASI Publication Indexing Specialties: Cookbooks and has been indexing both comprehensive and specialty cookbooks since 2006.
Appointment of Devon Thomas as ASI International Representative
Devon Thomas (past president of ASI) has been appointed the International Representative of ASI. Devon’s main responsibility will be to represent ASI to ICRIS, the International Committee of Representatives of Indexing Societies. This entails maintaining communication between ASI and the other member societies, as well as representing ASI members in matters of international interest. The international representative can also attend conferences of other societies, as well as the Triennial Meeting of ICRIS. More information about ICRIS can be found here.
ASI president, Meghan Miller Brawley, has this to say about the appointment, “Devon Thomas has been appointed the new International Representative for ASI. She is replacing Kendra Millis, who served previously. Devon has been an active ASI volunteer for many years, serving on the board and as 2018-2019 president. Devon is currently at work planning the 2021 ASI Annual Conference. As an experienced indexer and someone well known throughout the indexing community (in the US and abroad), she is a great choice to represent ASI internationally.”
Chapters and SIGS
Chicago/Great Lakes Indexers Chapter releases analysis of COVID-19 inquiry
Since April, Jim Fuhr has been querying indexers regarding the pandemic’s influence on scheduling, payments, and rates. Jim has put together a spreadsheet analysis of the data collected. A PDF file of the analysis is available on the Chicago/Greatlakes Chapter’s web page here.
Still time to register for New England Chapter’s fall meeting with presenter Nan Badgett on October 3
The New England ASI Chapter will be holding its fall meeting virtually on October 3. Nan Badgett will be the featured speaker of the event. Nan will discuss themes from her book The Accidental Indexer including marketing, deadline management, and work-life balance. Nan will provide tips and strategies based on material from her book, other outside resources, and anecdotes from her own experience. Please go to the chapter’s website for more information and to register.
Other Industry News
Indexing Society of Canada announces winner of Diversity in Canadian Publishing Bursary Award, 2020
The Indexing Society of Canada (ISC) is pleased to announce that Sandra Muchekeza is the 2020 ISC Diversity in Canadian Publishing Bursary Award recipient. With this bursary, ISC aims to help achieve equality of opportunity for aspiring indexers belonging to underrepresented and/or marginalized groups. The bursary covers fees for an approved indexing program, two years of ISC membership with listing, and entry into the Mary Newberry Mentorship program.
In memory: Mary Ann Gilbert Chulick
Mary Ann Gilbert Chulick passed away on August 17, 2020, at her home in Cleveland, Ohio. Mary Ann started working in the Indexing Department of Banks-Baldwin Law Publishing Co. of Cleveland in 1980. After on the job training, it was clear she was a natural indexer, and she remained a legal indexer for the rest of her working career. She ran the Indexing Department of Banks-Baldwin and for the Cleveland office of West Legal Publishing when it acquired Banks-Baldwin. She retired from Thomson-Reuters (the successor to West Legal Publishing) in 2019.
Mary Ann wrote for ASI publications (including a chapter in Indexing Specialties: Law) and gave several presentations at ASI conferences throughout her career including a full-day workshop on legal indexing and a highly regarded talk on indexing fiction.
Mary Ann had a great career in indexing and trained many legal indexers who are active today. Her wit, kindness, and intelligence will be missed.
Purple Pen Award winner announced
Jess Klaassen-Wright has won the Institute of Certified Indexer’s 2020 Purple Pen Competition. Her index appears in the book Deep Knowledge: Ways of Knowing in Sufism and Ifa, Two West African Intellectual Traditions by Oludamini Ogunnaike (to be published in October 2020 by Pennsylvania State University Press). She created an index for this 450-page book dealing with interdisciplinary practice combining the fields of religion and philosophy, a most challenging text for a newer indexer. The judges noted Jess’s work for its attention to detail in a book with many non-English terms and diacritics and for the web of connections Jess built through many helpful cross-references, especially linking foreign phrases to their English synonyms.
Taxonomy Bootcamp at KMWorld Connect 2020 conference
November 16-20
The Taxonomy Bootcamp, the leading conference on taxonomy building and management, is a featured virtual event of the KMWorld Connect 2020 conference. Join the KMWorld Connect 2020 conference to discover future-focused strategies, technologies, and tools to help organizations transform for positive outcomes. Find out more here.
New look for Australian Style, the national newsletter on Australian style and English in Australia
Australian Style is a reference hub for academics, students, and professional communicators. It offers articles, ABC language reports, surveys, a Rubicon devised by Davis Astle, Australian style words, an archive of previous editions of Australian Style, and much more. It has been restyled as one of the essential spokes of Macquarie StyleHub—a joint effort between Biotext Pty Ltd and Macquarie University.
Business and Marketing
Margery Towery talks indexes for history books
Head over to the History/Archaeology SIG website to read Margery Towery’s excellent article Indexes: A Critical Component Of Any Successful History Book. Although Towery focuses on history indexing, there is much in the article that is useful to indexers in other subject areas. In fact, the resources and publications pages of the SIG’s website offer many excellent reference resources that are of use to indexers of various subject areas.
Nan Badgett is an accidental indexer? That can’t be!
As listed above, Nan Badgett will be presenting on key elements of her book The Accidental Indexer at the NEASI fall meeting on Oct. 3. The book is a must have addition to any newbie or seasoned indexer’s library. Speaking of Margery Towery, she has this to say about Nan Badgett’s book (excerpted from the foreword):
Beyond a concise history of the indexing profession and an up-to-date overview of its current challenges, Nan Badgett has written a substantive guide to the many facets of an indexing career. Potential and newer indexers, curious onlookers, and even seasoned pros will find in these pages much to enlighten and delight them. Potential and fledgling indexers will find specific guidance on whether or not indexing is a good choice for them, where to get training, what types of indexing projects are available, what equipment and resources are needed, and how to market and deal with clients, along with cautionary advice on the pitfalls of the profession…In short, it is an inspirational map of the challenging, ever-changing indexing profession, and a great starting point for making it one’s own.
Spotlight Amy Hall
If you would like to be in the Spotlight, or would like to nominate someone for it, please contact Daniel Heila.
NOTE: Amy is the presenter of ASI webinar Culinary Indexing Food for Thought being held in October (see above under ASI News).
Where do you live now? Where are you originally from?
I live in Montgomery County, Maryland, with my husband and almost-grown kids. I’m originally from California.
What is your educational background?
I have a BS in Advertising from San Jose State University. I have a certificate in Basic Indexing from the Graduate School of the USDA, a certificate in Perinatal Issues, and I regularly take classes just for fun in all kinds of subjects.
Do you have any hobbies, travels, volunteer work, or other interesting things to share?
I love to cook and learn about different cuisines. I took a fantastic course a couple of years ago about the history of royal food and feasting. I like to read and learn new things. Last winter I started doing volunteer work at a local hospital, but unfortunately, that’s on hold for a while.
What kind of work did you do before you studied indexing? Are you still doing that or other work in addition to indexing?
I worked as an editor at a high-tech research lab. I have always been drawn to editing. Professionally, I rarely do editing work anymore, only as pro bono work and for one particular client.
When did you start indexing? When did you join ASI?
As a mother of a newborn and two small kids, it took me a while to complete the USDA course. I finished the course in 2006 and joined ASI right away.
For you, what is the best advantage of ASI membership?
My Indexer Locator listing is extremely valuable to me. It’s helped me connect with a significant portion of my clients.
Finally, what is your best coping strategy for the pandemic?
The truth is, the pandemic hasn’t affected my workflow very much. The highs and lows are cyclical, in my experience, and it’s been that way for years. I try to take a walk outside just about every day.
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