The Indexer Vol 23 No 1 April 2002
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Reviews Edited by Philip Bradley and Nancy Mulvany Indexes and indexing The English novel in the magazines, 1740–1815 (BE23): The catalog is very carefully prepared, with all the needed indexes Early periodical indexes: bibliographies and indexes of literature and supporting lists. Impressive. published in periodicals before 1900. Robert Balay. Lanham, One of the longest annotations is devoted to Chadwyck-Healey’s MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2000. xxx, 317 pp., 23 cm. Bibliog., PCI: periodicals contents index (http://pci.chadwyck.com/). indexes. ISBN 0-8108-3868-0; $55.00. Balay provides a detailed description of the scope and workings of When the author worked as a reference librarian in Sterling this ‘very large and ambitious index’. Currently (October 2001) PCI Memorial Library at Yale, he ‘often wished for a guide that would has indexed 12 million articles from 3615 journals and plans to list the sources that index the periodical literature from the begin- include 20 million articles from 5000 journals. Balay states that PCI nings of publishing in periodical form in the 1660s through the is ‘the largest index to periodicals ever attempted’ and that every early 1900s’. Robert Balay’s Early periodical indexes is the result of journal ‘is indexed over its entire run, extending backward in time this desire. Obtaining information about periodicals from approxi- to 1770’. ‘It should therefore be an extremely useful source, partic- mately 1920 onward is not difficult. However, it was far harder to ularly for research before 1900, where its coverage is unparalleled’. locate earlier sources (pre-1900) prior to the publication of this While this Goliath of an index grows and grows in size, why book. would Balay’s book be such a major contribution? PCI may be Surely Balay’s book is a godsend for reference librarians. large, but the indexing policies followed by the compilers leave a lot Undoubtedly, it is already a classic in the library world. For anyone to be desired. I will address only one of several deficiencies as interested in the history of periodical indexing, Balay has provided noted by Balay. an indispensable reference source. The book is divided into three main sections. The front matter The indexing process, however, rests on the contents pages as contains a useful Introduction to the book and an extensive Source transcribed; the indexing staff not only did not see the articles at Bibliography. The back matter includes no less than four indexes: any point, they did not see the journals themselves. Additionally, Authors, Titles, Subjects, and Dates of Coverage. All index entries the only attempt at subject indexing is to assign each journal to refer to reference locators for the bibliographic entries themselves one of the 23 subject categories listed above; no subject terms rather than page numbers. The Subjects index is quite useful, are assigned to individual articles, and no enrichment terms are particularly the cross-references. The subject headings are based added. Neither is possible when the articles themselves are not on Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Generally I examined. object to LCSH headings for a book index, however, in this case the That this approach to indexing is seriously flawed needs little headings are appropriate for the audience and the cross-references comment in a professional journal of indexing. Robert Balay’s help the rest of us. Early periodical indexes stands in stark contrast to PCI. It has depth The main body of the book, the Bibliography, contains six classi- and demonstrates scholarship, a quality so often lacking in expan- fied groups: General, Humanities, History and Area Studies, sive but shallow Internet resources. Social and Behavioral Sciences, Science and Technology, Library and Information Science. Within each group the categories are Nancy Mulvany, freelance book indexer further broken down into subcategories appropriate for the topic. The Table of Contents displays this classification scheme quite nicely. Indexers and indexes in fact and fiction. Edited by Hazel K. Bell. All bibliographic citations are detailed and, as the author notes, London and Toronto: The British Library/University of Toronto based on the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR2) and Press, 2001. 160 pp. 22 cm. Index. ISBN 0-7123-4729-1 (pbk): International Standard Bibliographic Description. References to £16.00. online documents were complete and those that I checked were When we realize that Hazel Bell indexed A. S. Byatt’s highly available. For the most part, the bibliographic entries are of complex novel Possession originally as a labour of love (among a English and West European origin. Balay has ‘included any bibli- few dozen other tasks), we can expect this collection to reflect the ography or index, whenever published, if it in some way gives access editor’s wit and dedication to detail. She does not disappoint us in to pre-1900 periodicals by date’. Approximately 400 titles are cited. any of the three sections. First we have a history of the index enliv- Beyond the gathering and arrangement of this bibliography, the ened with examples from earlier centuries: quaint, comic, over- author’s annotations are extremely valuable and informative. That elaborate or downright dreadful; many showing blatant prejudice the author has thoroughly reviewed these documents is apparent. or attack, and one used as a form of possible blackmail unless a While the annotations often provide an overview of the topics spot of protection money was forthcoming. There is even an index covered and the arrangement of the bibliography/index, some whose entries all share the one page reference: ‘see Pulping’ comments are more subjective. Here are some examples: (Hilaire Belloc’s Caliban’s Guide to Letters). Why? See pages 63–4. The next section covers fiction and verse, including examples Second bibliography and catalogue of the fossil vertebrae of North from Pope, Richardson and Nabokov. We also have a sample of America (EF11a): Very thorough. the humorous index to A. P. Herbert’s collections of imaginary American geological literature, 1669 to 1850 (EF12): Printed from court cases, a good index to an anthology of bad verse, and an reduced typescript, making pages crowded and unattractive. example of story-telling by index. Perhaps the best way of Extremely useful in spite of that. conveying the flavour of this amusing and informative book is to give some of the irresistible item headings: Mythical indexing; Index of archaeological papers, 1665–1890 (DE4): There is no Indexmanship (Stephen Potter, who else?); Cramming it onto a subject index, an unfortunate omission. This index began publi- page; Deer-stalkers and data banks; The subject elusive: anti-index; cation in Archaeological review (1888–90), but when that journal and Indexing in Baker Street. Not only are there examples of died was complete only through the letter B. indexes, but of the way indexers are regarded in fiction, especially The Indexer Vol. 23 No. 1 April 2002 51 Reviews in the works of Barbara Pym; readers will be familiar with many of Running an indexing business. Edited by Janet Perlman. Medford, the quotations in The Indexer. There is a fascinating foreword by A. NJ: Information Today in association with the American Society S. Byatt, an introduction by the editor, and contributions from of Indexers, 2001. xiv, 79 pp. 22 cm. Index. ISBN 1-57387-112-5 well-known SI members. There is, of course, an index of authors (pbk): $31.25 ($25.00 to ASI members). and contributors, and Hazel’s poem, Life: not an index, which sums This multi-authored book is a collection of 12 short pieces on some it up for all of us. of the business aspects of freelance indexing. Some of the material The cover cartoon depicts the indexer as male, chaotic, impover- has been published in Key Words (the ASI Newsletter), and some is ished and working with card boxes. A case can be made for the first summarized from various email listserv discussions. The chapters three, but the fourth reinforces the prejudice of the general public! vary considerably in length and level of detail. The first, on business basics, is a very brief introduction to finances and taxes, getting Valerie A. Elliston, freelance indexer and lecturer in English work, time management and business expansion issues. Two chap- ters on offices and project management present descriptions by several indexers, giving a glimpse of different approaches to office location, equipment, and layout and project-tracking methods Indexing: the manual of good practice. Pat F. Booth. Munich: K. from initial client contact through project completion. Kate Mertes G. Saur, 2001. xiv, 489 pp. 22 cm. Index. ISBN 3-598-11536-9 € looks at the legal and tax status of US freelancers in her chapter, (hbk): 110.00 (£60.92). providing a good description of what it means to be an independent Pat Booth has provided a reference tool for every indexer. It is both contractor, as well as how to deal with requests for private informa- comprehensive and informative. Based on the lectures from which tion from clients who are concerned about proving that you are not most members have profited over the years, plus additional an employee. specialist information from friends and colleagues, this authorita- Setting and collecting fees are among the most critical aspects of tive volume covers nearly everything anyone could wish to know keeping a freelance business afloat, and several chapters deal with about the strange world of indexing. this. Jan Wright compares per-page and hourly rates, discussing Using the index to the book, which is excellent, the answers to all when and why you might want to use each method, or a combina- those questions we all ask at some time or another can be found.