The Indexing Society of Canada / Société canadienne d’indexation (ISC/SCI) is Canada’s national association of indexers.
We invite you to find an indexer for your project, read our publications, discover our conferences, events, and resources for indexers, find out about membership, and learn about the Society.
Find an indexer
Find an indexer who works in the subject area of your project.
Find resources
Find information about indexes, indexing practices, and training in indexing.
Attend an event
Attend a local meeting of indexers or attend the annual conference.
Become a member
Join the Society and enjoy the benefits of membership.
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What practices will help me with good index term selection?
Society News
Indexing Society of Canada
For your information, Tere Mullin, co-president since March, has had to step down from the position. We are grateful for her hard work and wish her the best as she continues her indexing career. Make sure to thank Tere as you see her in the regional and national meetings.
Jolanta Komornicka has agreed to stand as co-president. She, along with the rest of the executive committee, will stand for election at the next AGM in 2023.
Jolanta has previous academic experience in history, particularly medieval European history. She holds a PhD and has both taught and published at the university level for several years. Jolanta studied indexing at Toronto Metropolitan University (previously Ryerson).
Previous to accepting this position as co-president, Jolanta was co-regional
representative for the Central (Ontario) region.
Conference 2023: See also Newfoundland. Come share with us!
Indexing Society of Canada
Call for Proposals
The Conference Committee invites your proposals for ISC/SCI Conference 2023.
Proposals are being accepted until October 3, 2022.
The committee is seeking proposals in the following areas:
▪ aspects of running an indexing business (social media for marketing, profitability, project scheduling, websites, etc.)
▪ technology related to indexing such as devices or equipment, non-indexing software, or apps
▪ improving/assessing index quality or usability from broad topics such as improving your speed to niche topics on specific languages, communities, or subjects
▪ non-back-of-book indexing such as taxonomy, controlled vocabularies, thesaurus development
▪ any niche or specialty topics you feel passionate about
This is an in-person conference taking place in St. John’s in early June. Attendance is expected unless conference plans need to be changed closer to the date. Sessions will be 50 minutes in total (35–40 minutes for presentation followed by a 10–15 minute question-and-answer session).
Application form and more information can be found here.
2022 Tamarack Award: Lisa Fedorak
Indexing Society of Canada
The Indexing Society of Canada / Société canadienne d’indexation (ISC/SCI) is pleased to announce the 2022 recipient of the Tamarack Award. Lisa Fedorak (Vancouver) is being recognized for her contribution and commitment to the society.
Lisa was chosen for her warmth, her diligence, and her independent spirit. Lisa’s colleagues had the following to say about her:
I wanted Lisa to be given the Tamarack Award to acknowledge her courage and stamina. Through Lisa’s initiative and her untiring efforts, we are on a path to becoming better at our business.
Lisa is highly conscientious and has donated an enormous amount of energy to the ISC/SCI. Lisa is a team player who is always doing what she can to make things better for others.
[Lisa] is someone in the world you’re so grateful to have crossed paths with, and I appreciate her gifts of compassion, human values, and warmth.
Co-Presidents Alexandra Peace and Tere Mullin said: “We are thrilled to present this award to Lisa, and we are honoured to have her as a member of our society. Thank you, Lisa, for all you have given to the society and its membership.”
The Tamarack Award was instituted to recognize members who go “above and beyond the call of duty” in their volunteer work for the Society. Past recipients can be found on the website here: https://indexers.ca/isc-awards/
ASI Webinar: Establishing Yourself as an Expert
Indexing Society of Canada
Marketing Strategies No One Talks About
with Jen Weers and Gwen Henson
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
A good marketing plan for indexers should include more than a letter-writing campaign and the dreaded cold calls. Even savvy marketers are often missing a key part of their plan: establishing yourself as an expert. When faced with a multitude of indexers in the mix for a single project, you need to be proactive in proving you are the right person for the job.
In this webinar, you will:
• explore out-of-the-box marketing tools for establishing yourself as an expert
• learn how to be seen as an expert even with limited experience
• identify different audiences for your message
• hear from experts who have successfully used this concept
• explore imposter syndrome and ways to see yourself as an expert, even if you don’t believe your own message
If you are a member of ISC/SCI, you can receive the member discount using the coupon code on the Member Benefits page.
Register and get more information at
https://www.asindexing.org/webinars/expert-weers-henson/
2022 Ewart-Daveluy Award
Indexing Society of Canada
The ISC/SCI will not be presenting the Ewart-Daveluy Indexing Award this year. While the committee is pleased with the number of submissions and the diversity of trade and scholarly books, we agreed unanimously that none of the indexes reach the level of excellence that merits the award.
All of the indexes do some things well. Specifically, most of the indexes are clearly structured and easy to navigate, include multiple and relevant access points, are clearly worded, and accurately map the contents of the text. These are qualities we expect in all professional indexes. All of these criteria and more are listed on the ISC/SCI website.
What we are looking for is that elusive quality of elegance. Elegance is that sense that there is an unusual clarity, a memorable ease of use, a succinctness, or even a strikingly simple presentation of difficult ideas. Another view of indexing elegance appears in the criteria for the ASI Excellence in Indexing Award: “Succinctness; the right word in the right place—even if the word isn’t found in the text; a certain ‘charm’; visual appeal; a sense that the index contains exactly what it needs to, no more, no less; simplicity; grace.”
We encourage indexers to strive for elegance. Take the extra time to go over the index once more. Tighten up the phrasing; search for the precise word, and imagine what readers might look for that you have not included. The index does not need to be perfect, but it does need to stand out. Give your index that final polish to make it shine!
Next year we will begin again to look for an elegant index. As you write indexes this year, look for that index that is almost there, the one that needs a bit more care, and then consider giving it the extra polish so that you can send it when submissions open in the fall.
Thank you to those who submitted indexes. As mentioned in the submission form, we will send summaries of our comments and suggestions.