Society of Indexers

National Indexing Day 2026 The Society of Indexers is celebrating National Indexing Day for the tenth successive year on Tuesday 31 March 2026. This year we will be celebrating with a hal

Are you a publishing professional who needs to know more about book indexing? Join us for our #IndexDay workshops in London @publishersassoc.bsky.social on 31 March. Learn about indexing and technology, what makes a quality index, and try indexing for yourself. Book at

Glad to be part of @indexers.bsky.social National Indexing Day #IndexDay event team again with @tanyaizzard.bsky.social and Rachel Gee. Non-fiction publishing professionals, we’d love you to join us there to talk about how we can make book indexes and indexing processes better together.

National Indexing Day 2026 The Society of Indexers is celebrating National Indexing Day for the tenth successive year on Tuesday 31 March 2026. This year we will be celebrating with a hal

Meet the speakers for our #IndexDay workshop on 31 March
@publishersassoc.bsky.social
: @baindex.org on the value of human indexing, Rachel Gee on how indexes make information accessible, and
@tanyaizzard.bsky.social
on technology and AI. Book your place at www.indexers.org.uk/posts/nation...

National Indexing Day 2026 The Society of Indexers is celebrating National Indexing Day for the tenth successive year on Tuesday 31 March 2026. This year we will be celebrating with a hal

The full programme for our #IndexDay workshop for publishing professionals on 31 March @publishersassoc.bsky.social is out. Join experienced professional indexers to discuss a range of indexing topics. See the programme and book your place here - places are limited, so book soon!

Excellent point here - bad indexes disappoint readers and make them a bit cross.

Thanks as always to Ruth Martin and Ann Hudson for facilitating such stimulating discussions.

The Society of Indexers: benefits of membership What can you gain from joining the Society of Indexers? How do we support our members to develop their indexing skills and businesses? In this post, indexer Sus

We talked about indexing distressing topics, and treating yourself kindly by taking breaks and doing other activities. Reading a sample before you commit can help you decide whether a project is right for you. And SI members can find support through our groups and forums. buff.ly/QFIeeyW

Taboo topics can really foreground the needs of the reader - do they need access to help quickly, or to see their particular situation reflected in the index? This can increase the sense of responsibility for the indexer.

Ruth Martin discussed indexing two books which focused on the denial of death. Both books involved complex blends of science and spirituality and new ideas and concepts. Both were vulnerable to indexer bias and required a lot of objectivity and emotional intelligence to index.

For younger readers, it’s important to make the indexing very direct with highly accessible language.

@susanpennyindexing.bsky.social had indexed resource collections for teaching teenagers about tricky topics such as puberty and sexual health. Her most challenging book in this series was one about suicide, which needed calm and positive language, with an emphasis on finding and getting help.

Taboo topics may have hundreds of potential entries, because there are so many terms and euphemisms.

@nicolaking.bsky.social shared her experiences of indexing poo in art history and archaeology, which treat this subject in very different ways. In archaeology it’s just more evidence, whereas in art history the taboo can be the point.

On 19 February 27 indexers and friends from @the-ciep.bsky.social and @cilipmdg.bsky.social met to discuss indexing taboo subjects.

We also talked about how amendments to index can introduce bias or unbalance an index. Poorly or densely written material can be difficult to index, which creates another form of bias if it's hard to create useful index headings. This can be another point where discussion with the client can help.

One member shared her story of indexing a book that started as a standard work of history, but ended as an outline of the author’s views on sensitive topics. She dealt with this by relating index entries to the main theme of the book and by consultation with her client.

Our two online meetings this month have dealt with the related topics of bias and taboos. On 4 February, 20 indexers gathered to talk about bias in indexing.

I went to this event a couple of years ago and can strongly recommend it for anyone interested in indexes.

Good thread about how readers use book indexes and why ctrl+f isn't at all the same. Thanks @hbflyte.bsky.social

National Indexing Day 2026 The Society of Indexers is celebrating National Indexing Day for the tenth successive year on Tuesday 31 March 2026. This year we will be celebrating with a hal

Our annual celebration of indexes and indexing, National Indexing Day, takes place on Tues 31 March 2026. We’ll be celebrating online (follow #IndexDay) and running half-day workshops all about indexing for publishing professionals in London. Find out more and book your place at: buff.ly/y0rLvyT

Paula Clarke Bain @baindex.org is Chair of Society of Indexers @indexers.bsky.social - this session will explore the commonalities of the fields of book indexing & library & information science + the shared purpose of helping people to find information in books & other media
#MetaFutures #Conference

I was burnt out from non-profit management. I liked words, problem solving, project based work and needed the flexibility of working for myself. I was considering editing, saw indexing was part of the training. Remembered a librarian who told that people specialize in indexing. Sold!

Keep your readers happy (and healthy). Include an index in your book.

Contents | The Indexer 41, 1 The wonder of reading and the pleasure of an index that surpasses just ‘being good’ are intertwined experiences. In this thought piece, the index is understood to be in service of the reader, a…

Great that @livunipress.bsky.social have included @indexer.bsky.social (41, 1, 2023) as a free to read journal issue. Articles cover the joy of reading, indexing excellence, peer reviews, finding your first indexing job, book reviews and conference reports. Lots to enjoy! #IndexSky
buff.ly/YiLKWzB

The Stoller Organ above the medieval oak carved screen and quire in Manchester Cathedral.

Photo of The Old Wellington pub in Manchester, showing its black and white half-timbered exterior.

Exterior of Manchester Cathedral against a blue sky on a sunny winter day.

A beautiful day with @indexers.bsky.social North West local group, having a fine lunch in The Old Wellington pub and then a guided wander around Manchester Cathedral @mancathedral.bsky.social.

View from a train window of blue sky on a sunny winter day, taken from Stockport Viaduct, looking over the River Mersey, the Stockport Pyramid and the M60 motorway.

Indexer on a train, January 2026. 🚂 Lovely day to meet the North West local group of @indexers.bsky.social for a lunch and cathedral tour in Manchester.

I took the Toronto Metropolitan University course as part of my publishing certificate and was delighted at how much fun it was. When I moved from editing in-house to freelancing, I knew that I wanted to offer indexing as one of my services. And it's still fun! #indexing

A lot of indexers get into this work by trying it out first #IndexSky

A blocked mini crossword 7x7 grid with 11 clues and the introductory text: Mini Cryptic Crossword set by Pixie A themed mini cryptic crossword for the Society of Indexers December Coffee Morning Zoom on puzzles. Originally published at www.mycrossword.co.uk/mini/187, where online solving options and annotated solutions are available. Reprinted here with permission.

The January issue of @indexers.bsky.social SIdelights newsletter is now out. This first issue from new editor Susie Marques has a Cryptic Corner, and reproduces my mini crossword from @mycrossword.co.uk
www.mycrossword.co.uk/mini/187. So this is Pixie’s first ever published puzzle elsewhere! 🧚🏻

I was a university administrator doing a part-time PhD when my partner, then running an indie press, needed a book index. I enjoyed it so much I retrained via the @indexers.bsky.social training course and have been indexing full-time since I completed it. #IndexSky