JoAnne Burek

In an interview, David Allen, the creator of “Getting Things Done”, described a Year End Review that will motivate and inspire you for the year ahead.

First, bring closure and acknowledgement for the past year. By yourself, or together with your partner, make a list of all your accomplishments. It’s likely you’ll find that your perspective has changed—which can be enlightening and satisfying. Also, ask yourself what has been left unfinished.

Second, take some time to clean a space in your house. David compares the effect to “discovering the fresh breeze that blows through your brain when you clean a drawer in your desk.” He adds, “Cleaning a space gives you a place to make those New Years ideas and new directions and new habits come from a much more natural and organic place.” Reserve a day, or even half a day, to clean and let the creativity flow.

When that is done, block some time and ask yourself, what do you want to be true next year? What does that look like? What do you want less of than last year, and what do you want more of?

Does your vision for 2019 include more socializing and networking? Professional development? Fun and adventure? A gift to yourself? Then write on the top of your list, “Book travel for ISC/SCI Conference in Ottawa, May 24-25”. You can visit the conference page here.

Have you ever indexed a scholarly book with views that you disagree with? It would have felt good to ignore the offending paragraphs or put quotes around the headings you dislike. But you did the right thing and treated the material with same unbiased analysis that you gave to the rest of the book. The author has the right to his views, and you have the duty to index them.

It might be a comfort to know that your index exposes content that could be re-examined by future scholarship. As historian David Bercuson said, “No serious scholar…should be saved from the age-old processes of historical review, revision and re-writing to reflect more recent research when it is more accurate.”

The scholars Bercuson was referring to are authors as well as museum staff, and the topic was the exhibit on the Combined Offensive of World War II at the Canadian War Museum.

After the new building opened in 2005, war veterans complained loudly about a panel text which they believed portrayed the Allied bombing of German cities as “terror bombing and akin to war crime.” The museum stood by its words. The fight escalated with both sides bringing in historians to weight in. When the conflict was over, the museum director had been forced out and the panel text was revised, almost by committee.

Four years later, Bercuson, who was pressed into consulting on the exhibit, wrote about his experience and his evaluation of the text. It’s a fascinating look at how historians work and think about scholarship.

The Canadian War Museum is both a history museum and a place for reflection and contemplation. You can visit the museum when you come to Ottawa for the ISC/SCI Conference May 24-25, 2019.

Mamoudou Gassama, the Malian man now called the “Spiderman of Paris,” climbed four levels up the side of a building and rescued a four-year-old boy dangling from a balcony. As a bonus, he was honoured with a medal for bravery, the promise of citizenship, and a job with the fire brigade. That success will come—if you are prepared and courageous—was demonstrated again.

How was Gassama prepared? Well, he is athletic and fit. He may even have rock-climbing experience. Anyway, he seemed to know what he was doing.

His skills and his courage made the rescue not only successful, but awesome.

How does this apply to indexing, you wonder?

Preparation and a little courage can help you win more indexing business. At the conference in Winnipeg June 8-9, I’m revealing selling secrets that will help you write compelling responses to authors’ and editors’ queries…those emails that ask “Would you be interested in indexing my book?”

By the way, if you are still on the fence about attending, be aware that the deadline for the banquet numbers is Thursday, May 31.

See you at the conference!

Time is a non-renewable resource. Thus we were reminded by Christine LeBlanc when she led a recent Editors Canada webinar on starting a freelance career. She strongly encouraged word workers to feel confident in what we charge because of the time we put into doing our work well.

Her statement also reminds us—freelance or not—of occasions when that precious resource feels badly spent. An hour embroiled in solving a tech problem when you’re on an indexing deadline feels so different from an hour spent catching up with a dear friend, playing with a child, or reading a good book!

Wouldn’t it be nice to spend an hour with an indexing tech expert in a non-stressful—even pleasantly collegial—environment to save some stress and time down the road?

Bring your questions to the ISC/SCI 2018 conference in Winnipeg and spend some time with indexing software experts Kamm Schreiner (SKY), Gale Rhoades (MACREX), and Frances Lennie (CINDEX) who know these powerful programs better than anyone. They’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Speaking of time, the conference is June 8-9—less than a month away. We hope you can make it.