Re: indexing question

["Wayne A. Meeks" <wayne ! meeks () yale ! edu>]

Dear Step,

I asked much the same question several months ago, and while I had 
several kind replies, none really dealt with the central point, which 
you make quite directly: indexing the _manuscript_ is worthless for 
producing a usable index of the _book_.

My solution is somewhere between the old-fashioned way (index cards 
spread out all over the floor) and the automatic indexing of NB. It is 
kloodgy, but it does in fact work in a reasonable time, if you have a 
lot of patience. What I did was first to mark up the proofs, using a 
different color for each type of index (names, subjects, references, 
etc.), as if I were going to do it by hand (following the procedure 
suggested in the CMS). For the subject index, in most cases, I was not 
just marking a word in the text, but using a more general rubric. The NB 
index function provides for that, though the process is a bit tedious. 
Then, I created a new file for each index, which was, in effect, a 
skeleton manuscript containing _only_ the words to be indexed and 
paginated according to the page proofs (That is, I inserted a <PG> delta 
at the appropriate point on each page, to keep page numbers parallel to 
those of the book). Once that was done (it doesn't take as long as it 
sounds), NB generated each index accurately and in short order.

It will pay to experiment with a couple of pages first to get into the 
rhythm and to learn the key strokes, testing the results by actually 
indexing, then discarding the results until you're happy with them. NB 
offers several styles for the output, so you can find one that fits the 
specifications of your publisher.

Good luck! You'll find it not the most fun way to waste time you've ever 
tried, but it does beat sitting on the floor with all those note cards.

Stephen Feldman wrote:

> I have a question about indexing.
>
> I still use NBWIN 7.0b. Because I have been working on a book for 
> several years, and hope to finish this summer, I am planning to delay 
> the transition to version 8 (until after I complete the book project). 
> Basically, I do not wish to invest time in a transition to the new 
> version of NB or to risk encountering large problems in the transition.
>
> So, before everybody forgets how to use 7.0b, here is my question. 
> Although I have used NB for more than 15 years, I have never used the 
> indexing function. I wrote the index to my first two books manually in 
> NB, and I paid a professional indexer for an anthology index (I edited 
> the anthology). These two options?writing the index manually myself, 
> or paying a professional?are possibilities for this new book. But why 
> not write the index with the NB indexing function? As I understand it, 
> I mark items (words or passages in the text), and they are then 
> magically included in an organized index (I?m sure I?m missing a few 
> steps here).
>
> I don?t understand, however, how such an index, marked in the NB text, 
> would be useable. For my previous books, the publisher has sent me 
> page galleys, and then asks for an index (within a week or so). 
> Naturally, /the publisher wants the index coordinated with the page 
> numbers in the galleys, not the page numbers in the original NB text/ 
> (or the original NB text converted into RTF or something else). How, 
> then, is the automatic indexing function useful?
>
> The only possible remedy that I can imagine would be to convert the NB 
> document into whatever font the publisher is using (in the galleys), 
> thus approximating in the NB document the page breaks in the galleys. 
> But, at best, this would be an approximation and would require manual 
> checking (if I want the index to be accurate).
>
> I hope that an experienced Nota Bene indexer can tell me that there is 
> an easy solution to this difficulty.
>
> Step
>
> * * * *
> Stephen M. Feldman
> Jerry W. Housel/Carl F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of Law and 
> Adjunct Professor of Political Science
> University of Wyoming
> 307-766-4250
> fax: 307-766-6417
> sfeldman@uwyo.edu


--
Wayne A. Meeks
Woolsey Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies
Department of Religious Studies
Yale University