2018 conference

Announcements about the 2018 conference

Patterns of indexing careers

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Indexers cwheel of fortuneome into their careers from many directions. For some, it’s a natural progression from a job in a publishing house. Others discover the calling accidentally. There are indexers who started out by volunteering to write an index for a friend or a local society.

Once the decision is made to become an indexer, the career launch is more or less predictable: training, followed by practice, then marketing and building up a list of active clients.

Throughout your career, it’s all on you. You will become so good at your work that your clients won’t want you to stop.

So how does an indexer move into retirement gently? Join us for the ISC/SCI conference in Winnipeg June 8-9 as Heather Ebbs shares her thoughts and wisdom on what it means to glide away from a successful career.

The scent of information

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Have you heard of a rule in web design called the three-click rule? It states that users will leave your web page or app if they can’t find what they want in three clicks. However, the rule has been challenged by numerous studies. It turns out that users don’t actually stop searching after three clicks, as long as the navigation is easy and there is a constant “scent of information.”

Users of on-line Hansard databases have no choice but to keep clicking when they’re searching for something that was said in parliament. They can’t just throw up their arms in frustration and look somewhere else—because there is no other source of information.

Hansard team members Julie McClung and Michael Sinclair will show us how they keep users happy at the BC Government when they present “Digital Innovation and Parliamentary Indexing” at the ISC/SCI conference in Winnipeg June 8-9.

If you still haven’t registered, you can still get the Early Bird Pricing until end of day Friday.

ISC/SCI Unveils 2018 Conference Program | Early Bird Pricing Closes Soon

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Pileated woodpeckerThe complete program of speakers and sessions for the 2018 conference in Winnipeg is now available on this website.

View and download the details on two phenomenal days of sessions plus the Thursday evening pre-conference event and the Sunday morning workshop.

Last week, we announced the Sunday morning workshop. You can register for this event here.

As a reminder, the Early Bird Pricing ends April 27. Receive your discounted price by registering for the conference today.

Post-Conference Sunday: Embedded indexing

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The client wants an index for a printed book and an eBook. You’ve heard about embedding indexes, but you haven’t attempted one yourself. The client won’t pay you to learn on the job. So, do you bid or not?

If fear and uncertainty is holding you back from bidding on these projects, then you’ll want to attend the post-conference Sunday morning workshop “Indexing for Multiple Outputs” presented by Cheryl Landes.

Cheryl will talk about the differences between embedded and traditional back of the book indexing and how to tag content for multiple outputs. You’ll take away strategies for planning the index, working with the publisher (they all have their unique ways), and tagging entries to make the publisher happy. And of course there will be live demos and practice exercises.

It all happens on Sunday, June 10 in Winnipeg in the Fort Garry Hotel.

Learn more about the workshop or go register now on Eventbrite.

New ideas where you weren’t looking

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fresh fish I tell my writer friends that a good way to find new ideas is to read a scholarly book that’s not quite in their field.

As an indexer of such books, I’ve been surprised to find new insights several times. For instance, in Collaborative Consultation in Mental Health, I learned about a proven process for mentoring. In Food Sovereignty, Agroecology, and Biocultural Diversity, I read a riveting story about a company that was struggling with cultural differences.

In a scholarly book that you wouldn’t normally choose to read, there are gems of knowledge that you would never know were there. And only an indexer would know that.

Mary Newberry and Judy Dunlop have been joyfully indexing scholarly books for years. Join us as they share their experiences in a joint presentation in Winnipeg, June 8 and 9.

JoAnne Burek