Why Index Plus

Index Plus can create a back of the book index, or an index for your periodical. There are many benefits to a good index. It makes your book easier to use, increases the chance that a reader purchases your book instead of a similar title, and adds a marketing element compared to a book without an index. For tagging purposes, it provides a built-in list of tags people can use when talking about your book on their website or social media.

Professional affiliations include:
  • American Society for Indexing, member 2006-present. www.asindexing.org
  • Pacific Northwest Chapter of ASI, Secretary 2008-2009 and 2016-2017, Conference Planning Team 2010-2011 and 2014-2017, and Membership Coordinator 2018. www.pnwasi.org
  • Legal Indexing Special Interest Group of ASI, Officer 2006-2011 and 2016-present.  www.legalindexing.org
  • American Association of Law Librarians, member 2000-present, Government Law Libraries Special Interest Section member 2000-present, Pacific Northwest Chapter member 2000-present, and Education Committee member 2014-2016.  www.allnet.org
  • Oregon Bar Association, member 1991-1997, inactive member 1998-present.  www.osbar.org

Education and training:
  • Certificate of Practical Competency in Indexing from Index West, a Certificate of Participation for the Building Indexes and Taxonomies for Legal Materials workshop by Enid Zafran and Kate Mertes, and completion of the ASI Training in Indexing Course.

  • Continuing education includes attending regular meetings with fellow indexers as well as ASI national and chapter meetings.
 
  • Degrees include a JD (law degree) and a BS (psychology). Employment history includes work as an attorney, law librarian, and freelance writer. 

Specialty subjects include:
  •  law and criminal justice
  •  teaching and education              
  •  children, families, and parenting        
  •  psychology and social sciences         
  •  finance and money management
  •  business          
        
I will consider any subject if I feel that I can do a good job with the material.  I've done a variety of topics in addition to those listed.     

Why do you need a professional indexer?
  • A good index requires objectivity an author lacks. An indexer can see the book from the reader's perspective, and allow the reader to access information in multiple ways.
  • An indexer uses professional software that increases indexing speed to meet tight deadlines and to offer various output options.
  • An indexer has technical training and practice in indexing.
  • Although the author is the expert on the subject, the indexer brings a sense of priority and structure to the work from an outsider's view.
  • Read this in the words of someone who tried to do it herself: chronicle story
  • Three reasons why scholars should hire an indexer:
  • Why you need a human, not a computer, for your index: human versus computer
  • Electronic searching is just not enough to replace a real index.
  • Best Practices for Indexing from the American Society for Indexing: Best Practices from ASI
  • Learn more about indexing by taking an online asynchronous class about indexing called Indexing Books as a Career. 
  • In a Google Era, Indexers are the Unsung Heroes of the Publishing World
  • You can learn a lot about a book from the index.  For an example, see this article about the index to Fire and Fury.

  A little bit about me:
https://potomacindexing.com/pi-associate-interview-maria-sosnowski