The House of Commons, Canada’s lower house of Parliament, is steeped in tradition. But progress carries on. When television cameras were installed in the 1970s, news coverage was changed forever, and arguably so were debating styles and citizens’ impressions of politicians.
Now renovations on the House of Commons original workplace have begun. When Centre Block reopens after 10 years, every aspect of the building and its systems will have been upgraded. Who can guess at the impact of these changes?
A recent change that has had a deep impact is the development of the House of Commons’ integrated system to record, publish, and manage parliamentary information. In our conference in Ottawa May 24-25, Alexandre Grandmaître and Martine Rocheleau from the House of Commons will explore how this technological change has turned indexing into information management, how business processes were adapted accordingly, and what challenges they face going forward.
Date and time: May 26, 2019, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Place: 12th Floor Desmarais Building, 55 Laurier Avenue E.
Cost: $105 Canadian (includes lunch)
Enid’s workshop was amazing! As expected, it was of tremendous help to new indexers, but even experienced indexers left the workshop quite pleased with what they had learned. Don’t miss your last chance to learn from the master.
—Connie Binder, chapter chair ASI Mid-Atlantic Chapter, January 2019
No matter what field of indexing you specialize in, no matter how long you have been an indexer, names always present a challenge. In addition to names of people, other types of proper names are considered, including major events, legal materials, titles, book characters, etc.
In this day-long workshop, Enid Zafran will consider names indexing from three aspects:
the strategies to make them into index entries,
determining when a name is “indexable,”
the correct formatting and sorting of names of various types.
There will be hands-on exercises during the day (no laptop or software required).
This workshop was given for the first time in Chicago in October 2018.
Enid covered so many different naming principles that challenged us and illuminated our knowledge. Everyone who attended was enthralled with the presentation from this veteran indexer.
—conference participant
Note that this is the final time this workshop will be offered at a conference, so be sure to add this day to your conference time when signing up!
The ISC/SCI has set the program for the 2019 conference taking place in Ottawa on May 24 and 25.
In keeping with the conference theme, Beyond the Page—New Platforms, New Realities, the program offers a variety of topics that are timely and informative for new and experienced indexers alike.
Sessions on indexing practices include working with scholarly texts (Enid Zafran), biography and memoirs (Kendra Millis), structuring indexes (Fred Liese), and editing indexes “from the get-go” (Anne Fifer). Kate Mertes will talk about a growing and profitable market that you’ve probably never heard: of the indexing of locora.
Special sessions taking us “beyond the page” include
solutions toward decolonizing access and classification presented by a panel from the Indigenous Matters Committee of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (they raised this issue in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee report)
a step into the world of parliamentary information—an underpinning of informed democratic engagement—with Martine Rocheleau and the House of Commons indexers on intelligence-based search
a discussion of ethics presented by Christine Jacobs and a panel of indexers and editors
business practices by Pierre Joyal
techniques that will change the way you work—physically and mentally—to restore energy and reduce stress, in a mini-workshop given by Ruth Paulauskas, founder of BreathWoRx
Conference packages are available for Friday-only, Saturday-only, or both days. Full-time students receive a special reduced rate. As a reminder, we have discounted rates for accommodations.
Early Bird pricing is on now until April 15. Visit the conference page for the full conference agenda and links to the registration form.
Take advantage of these early bird rates until April 15:
Members (including ASI, ANSZI, SI, all other affiliates and Editors Canada): $291 for full two-day conference, $159 for one day
Non-members: $344 for two-day conference, $211 for one day
Special rate for eligible full-time students: $158 for the two-day conference and $80 for one day.
And on Sunday we have a workshop “Names”, presented by Enid Zafran, $105.
All prices are in Canadian Dollars.
The program so far includes expert indexers on indexing scholarly work, indexing biographies and memoirs, and for our technical tool bag, structuring indexes, editing without pain, and indexing software. Specialty topics include Kate Mertes on the practice of indexing locora and the Ottawa Hansard indexers on the intelligence-based search engine for parliamentary information. We also have a number of special guests who you’ll hear more about soon.
Register now before Early Bird pricing ends April 15.
12th Floor, Desmarais Building, 55 Laurier Avenue East
The publishing and information world continues to bring new challenges and new opportunities. At this conference, we’ll fine-tune our indexing practices, grow our business skills, offer our support and encouragement to newcomers, and pick the brains of those who have experience.
Ottawa is more than the political centre of Canada. It’s also home to some of the nation’s most important cultural venues. (Our conference site, which is on the University of Ottawa campus in the city’s centre, is just across the street from the new Ottawa Art Gallery.) The city is very walkable, with pathways on either side of the Rideau Canal.
The University of Ottawa is a medium-size campus and east to walk. Conference sessions will be on the top floor of the Desmarais Building (55 Laurier Avenue East). A map will be included in the conference packet.
View and download conference handouts (Members Only content)
Friday
Anne Fifer, “Editing Without Pain” Alexandre Grandmaître and Martine Rocheleau, “Accessing Parliamentary Information: from Traditional Indexes to a Database Integrated Information Management System” Fred Leise, “Brilliantly Structured Indexes Redux: New Realities in Index Structure” Lunch Kate Mertes, “Beyond the Subject Index: The Index Locorum” Gale Rhoades and Marian Sullivan, “Above and Beyond: The Experts Help You Get the Most from Your Indexing Software” Annual General Meeting Banquet and Awards
Saturday
Camille Callison (Canadian Federation of Library Associations) and Katherine Kasirer in “A Behind-the-Screen Look at the Indigenous Knowledge Materials Classification Schema (IMCS) Implementation during the Creation of NFB’s Indigenous Cinema” Enid Zafran, “Indexing Scholarly Books: Go Deep” Ruth Paulauskas (BreathWoRx), “BreathWoRx for Desk Workers” Lunch Kendra Millis, “Indexing Lives” Pierre Joyal on incorporating your business Heather Ebbs, Christine Jacobs, Anne Louise Mahoney, and Elizabeth Schwaiger, “Ethical Choices: Thinking Beyond the Page”
Sunday (optional) – Sold Out
“Names, the Challenge of Indexing”, a full-day workshop with Enid Zafran, has been sold out, but you can be added to the waiting list when you register. Location is same as conference venue.
Friday, May 24: Breakfast around 8, sessions from 9 until 5, followed by banquet at Signatures Restaurant, 453 Laurier Ave. E. Cash bar from 6:15 p.m. Banquet at 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 25: Breakfast around 8, sessions from 9 until 5, followed by optional dinner (pay your own) at Colonnade Pizza, 280 Metcalfe St. from 6 p.m. on.
Sunday, May 26: “Names” workshop from 9 until 4, location is same as conference venue (12th floor, Desmarais Building, 55 Laurier Avenue E.)
Accommodations
We have negotiated special rates for conference attendees at two venues:
University of Ottawa Housing
90U Residence 90 University, less than a five-minute walk to the conference venue Two bedroom suites with double beds and kitchenette for $125 per suite per night Rates apply until April 11, 2019
Lord Elgin Hotel
Lord Elgin Hotel 100 Elgin Street, less than 10 minute walk to the conference venue Classic King, Classic Queen, Classic 2 Queen Beds: $239 for Single or Double Rates apply until April 22
There are many other accommodation options in downtown Ottawa, including boutique hotels such as the Byward Blue Inn and ARC the Hotel, B&Bs such as Auberge McGee’s Inn and Auberge des Arts, and chain hotels such as Novotel, Days Inn, Fairmont and others. Airbnbs in Sandy Hill and the Byward Market area are closest, but Downtown and Centretown are also quite close. Even the Glebe neighborhood is only a 30- to 40-minute walk along the Rideau canal, and it will be a beautiful walk at the end of May.
