Society of Indexers

Promotional graphic with black-and-white speaker headshot photo on a purple background image of Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. I'm speaking at CILIP MDG CONFERENCE 2026 Indexers and information professionals: crossovers and co-operation Paula Clarke Bain Chair and Fellow, Society of Indexers #METAFUTURES | 11-13 MARCH 2026 | ENGINEERS' HOUSE, BRISTOL MDG Metadata & Discovery Group logo

Glad to be speaking at the CILIP MDG #MetaFutures conference in Bristol next week on ‘Indexers and information professionals: crossovers and co-operation’ and links between @cilipmdg.bsky.social @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social. Keen to tackle the evening pub quiz too. 🤓 #IndexSky

I had a super time talking about how much I enjoy indexing archaeological site reports, and keeping up with current research with @currentarchaeology.bsky.social (although a fair few of the articles are about books I have already worked on). And I got to talk about poo again! Fecal steroids!

Many thanks to Nicola for sharing her expertise, to Ann for facilitating the discussion, and to everyone else for their insightful questions.

SI Directory of Professional Indexers Directory of professional indexers. To find an indexer by subject specialism, select a subject using the drop-down menu.

There are relatively few indexers working on archaeology so indexers should be booked early – our Professional Directory gives details of indexers who specialise in this work. buff.ly/HHOtK0L

Both Nicola and Ann Hudson, also an archaeology indexer, recommended the magazine Current Archaeology if members are interested in learning more about the topic; Nicola shared a longer list of very useful resources for indexers interested in this area of work.

We discussed the decision-making process for term selection in these texts and how to deal with the different text sections, and the level of expertise an indexer might need to deal with reports on sites outside the UK.

Because of the range of potential readers, multiple points of entry and/or cross-references are very important, and you need good indexing software skills to manage these. These books also need careful cross-checking between texts and images – and therefore a consistent, patient approach is vital.

To be a good archaeology indexer, you need to understand the time periods involved, the terminology used, and have a basic appreciation of the scientific techniques.

Archaeological reports have become increasingly scientific, but the language is usually very clear and accessible – and as these methods are described in many reports, they soon become familiar to the indexer.

Nicola gave an overview of the typical sorts of headings that might help meet the needs of those readers, including historical periods, materials, scientific techniques and the people involved with the site or the project.

These books can have a broad range of readers. As well as archaeologists and archaeology students, they may be read by clients, consultancies, scientists and people with a general interest in the topic or place discussed.

These books are often produced to a very high standard, with a lot of illustrations, charts and diagrams; space available for the index is usually quite generous. While these books include a large amount of detail that is daunting at first, the broader themes are often very clearly explained.

They usually follow a fairly standard format with an introduction, account of fieldwork, reports of findings and a discussion section explaining the significance of the project. This can be used to create a useful index structure from the outset.

Our March session featured indexer @nicolaking.bsky.social talking about indexing archaeology texts. These are published by a range of organizations – consultancies, societies, universities, museums as well as publishers.

Yup, even popular non-fiction needs an index. Readers notice and want better.

Indexing and… bookselling Many of the Society of Indexers’ members combine indexing with other work. In this post, professional indexer Sue Penny discusses combining indexing with librar

Another World Book Day treat. SI member @susanpennyindexing.bsky.social combines her indexing career with work as a bookseller, seeing the book trade from two very different perspectives:

The human art of indexing Book indexes might seem the perfect candidate for AI automation. They're not.

For World Book Day, enjoy our President @carosanderson.bsky.social's celebration of the human art of indexing. Every non-fiction book needs an expert, professionally produced index. buff.ly/bfZfDw4

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.