Cuts after cuts

Film editing has a methodology. Why not index editingIn the methodology of classic film editing, there are four orderly cuts to get to the final film. First, the film editor assembles the footage and puts the scenes in proper order. This product is called the rough cut.

Next, the editor, director, and producer review the sequences and footage selection and agree on a version that becomes the first cut.

Then the team zooms in on the details of the scenes and the rhythm and structure to create the fine cut.

Finally, the music and sound effects are added to create the final cut.

Considering how much money is poured into making a film, it’s only natural that the industry should have a film-editing methodology.

As an indexer, you pour a lot of time into your indexes. Have you thought about your index-editing methodology? (Or lack thereof?)

Come to the conference in Winnipeg on June 8-9, when Anne Fifer shares all her secrets on editing indexes. (First tip from Anne: It starts as soon as you write first entry.)

Early Bird Registration Now Open

The annual ISC/SCI conference in Winnipeg is now open for Early Bird registration.

Take advantage of these early bird rates until April 20:
Members: $275 for full two-day conference, $150 for one day
Non-members: $325 for two-day conference, $200 for one day

We have a special rate for eligible full-time students: $150 for the two-day conference and $75 for one day.

The full conference program will be revealed soon. Here are the highlights:

The keynote session is an interview with Maureen MacGlashan, editor of The Indexer, the International Journal of Indexing from 2004 to the present. Maureen is retiring this year. In this session, she’ll be sharing plenty about her experiences and unique perspectives gained from producing this quarterly journal that indexers find so essential to their practice.

The closing session will be Dr. Gregory Younging, the author of Elements of Indigenous Style. Choosing appropriate words around difficult topics is a challenge in index-writing. In this session, Dr. Younging will give us the mindset we need to construct an index that is a worthy bridge between the author’s message and the reader.

We will have sessions on indexing academic books, tips for editing your index more efficiently, the latest research on index usability, and from our Hansard indexers, a case study of browsing and navigation technologies for indexed documents on the web.

Our business skills sessions will help you navigate the stages of a freelancing career—from making a splash with bids that impress clients and win business, to staying afloat with managing clients and schedules, to sailing gently into retirement with ease and purpose.

Get with the flow and register before Early Bird pricing ends April 20.

Doing the right thing by the author and the reader

Over the last week, we’ve had a riveting discussion on the ISC-L forum.

It started because a Canadian indexer was indexing a book on racism in the US, and had asked an American indexer for advice on approaching the language. For the benefit of ISC-L forum readers, the American indexer posted the very useful guidance that she gave to the Canadian indexer.

That post started a flood of comments about our struggles in indexing books that deal with difficult issues.

We really want to do the right thing by the author and the reader.

As indexer Alicia Peres put it very eloquently:

As indexers, we are acutely aware that our work comes at the end of the publication process, and we must deal with the text as it has been written. Yet, in dealing with the terms readers are likely to look for, we are not without influence, both in educating readers through terminology and in how we select and word index listings.

Alicia wrote these words not for the forum, but in her invitation to Gregory Younging, a Member of Opsakwayak Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba, the Indigenous Studies Program Coordinator at University of British Columbia Okanagan, and author of “Elements of Indigenous Style.”

And that is how she convinced Dr. Younging to come to Winnipeg to speak at our conference.

Learn first-hand from an author who has thought deeply about language when you come to the ISC/SCI conference on June 8-9.

Every Three Months a Treasure

The Indexer: The International Journal of IndexingEvery three months, a treasure lands in my mailbox. As I pull it out of the clear plastic envelope, and read the article titles laid out on the smooth pastel cover, I feel again how lucky I am to be a member of the indexing community.

As usual, The Indexer I am holding is full of smart—and sometimes humourous—information, advice, and stories on all things indexing.

How is it that they never run out of ideas?

Editor Maureen MacGlashan wrote about that in 2008 in an article titled “The Indexer: past, present, and future” for the occasion of The Indexer’s 50th anniversary. In the article Maureen says that in the early years, “Those who knew no better (and, from my own experience as editor, still know) saw no future for a journal dedicating to indexing…Editors were warned: ‘You’ll never be able to keep it up; you’ll find that by the end of another year you have completely exhausted all the possible aspects of indexing.’”

Maureen then explains why that did not happen, and why it wasn’t going to be a problem, at least not in 2008.

That was ten years ago. Would Maureen say the same today?

Well, get ready to ask her at our opening session at the ISC/SCI conference.

We’re thrilled to announce that Maureen is going to give us the lowdown on her years as editor of The Indexer, in an interview with Christine Jacobson. The conference is in Winnipeg June 8-9.

A Unique Plug-in Opportunity

At the 2014 Conference in Toronto, Margery Towery gave us one of her best indexing tips: plug yourself into the subject. If you index in the Humanities, or hope to start, you cannot get more plugged in to the human condition than by exploring the world’s story of human rights.

You will have your best opportunity when you come to Winnipeg for the conference June 8-9.

Indexing in the Humanities: visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the only museum in the world that explores human rights as a topic and an aspiration. The stories and interactive displays cover human rights through the ages and up to current times with a uniquely Canadian lens. The building’s stunning architecture gives you space to reflect on what you learn. And the stories of triumph will leave you inspired.

The museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm every day except Mondays, and stays open to 9 pm on Wednesdays.

Before you book your trip, consider making room in your travel plans to spend three to six hours at the CMHR.

P.S. If you plan to stay at the Fort Garry Hotel, phone to get the special rate with our Group Code. The code doesn’t work for online reservations.