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Training courses
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Forthcoming training
29 October 2010
Asessing and Editing Indexes (Melbourne)
with Max McMaster
This half-day workshop outlines the processes involved in assessing an index created by an author or an indexer for publication. Participants will work though a three-stage process of assessment: analysing the internal structure of the index; checking page numbers from the index to the text; and checking page numbers from the text back to the index. At the end of this process, participants will be able to decide whether an index is good, bad or indifferent.
The second half of the session covers editing an index where the index is far too long for the amount of space available. Strategies that editors can adopt to prune the index without compromising too much on the quality of the index will be presented. Grammar and style issues will be mentioned briefly.
Topics covered
Assessing the index:
- Reading the index for sense and logic.
- Are entries formatted correctly?
- Do cross-references lead to meaningful terms?
- Are there glaring omissions of key terms?
- Are locators (page numbers) used correctly?
- Checking entries from the index to the text.
- Checking entries from the text to the index.
- The overall assessment.
Editing the index (from the editor’s perspective):
- Grammar issues.
- Style issues – 10 elements of indexing style.
- Zealous methods of editing the index.
- Cutting the index down to size:
- Determining how much needs to be cut.
- Pruning strategies: changing the number of columns, removing sub-headings, changing indexing style, deleting entries, reducing turnover lines, additional strategies.
About the trainer
Max McMaster has been a freelance indexer for the past 18 years. He has worked across a diverse range of subject disciplines including science, social sciences, the environment, business and accounting, and has over 1800 indexes to his name. Max lectures on indexing to editing and publishing students at a number of Australian universities and runs indexing training courses for the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI) and other organisations throughout Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. He is also an instructor for the online indexing course run by the University of California, Berkeley. Max has been awarded the ANZSI Medal for book indexing on three occasions, is a Life Member of ANZSI and is currently a member of the ANZSI Council.
When: Friday, 29 October 2010, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: CAE, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Cost: Members (Soc Eds, APA, ASTC, ANZSI, VWC) $161.50, non-members $210.00. Tea, coffee and biscuits are provided.
Bookings
The closing date for bookings is 5 pm, Friday, 22 October 2010. As bookings are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, they may close before this date and a notice will appear on this website.
Individuals: Please complete the booking form (Word, 390Kb) and e-mail it to training@socedvic.org to book a place in this course. It is necessary to do this whether you are paying by direct deposit or by cheque. In the unusual case of a person paying for this course after all places have been taken and before a notice appears on the website, a full refund will be given. In all other cases no refund will be available but you may give your place to another person.
Organisations who wish to send employees: Please request an invoice from the Training Officer, stating the names, positions, e-mail addresses and an after hours contact number of all those who are to attend. In asking for an invoice, the organisation is deemed to be placing a firm booking and making a purchasing decision. If one or all of the named people are unable to attend, the organisation is still liable for the full booking cost. It may send other people in place of those named up to the number of those booked into the course. Payment is required within 60 days of the invoice being issued. Late payment may involve additional costs to the organisation, according to the discretion of the Training Officer. The Society is a not-for-profit organisation.
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