Indexing Pathfinder

AI and Indexing

• "AI and Book Indexing: Trajectory Data" (March 2026), Elizabeth Bartmess and Michele R. Combs

• American Society for Indexing, "AI and Indexing"

• Book Industry Study Group (BISG) webinars on AI

• DPI-SIG (Digital Publications Indexing, Special Interest Group), "Statement on the Role of AI in Indexing" (April 7, 2026)

Authoritative Works

• Facing the Text: Content and Structure in Book Indexing by Do Mi Stauber (Cedar Row Press, 2004)

• Handbook of Indexing Techniques by Linda K. Fetters (Information Today, 2013)

• Indexing Books by Nancy C. Mulvany (University of Chicago Press, 2005)

• Indexing from A to Z by Hans Wellisch (H.W. Wilson Co, 1995)

• Ten Characteristics of Quality Indexes by Margie Towery (Information Today, 2016)

Copyright

• Copyright Basics, University of California 

• Copyright and Fair Use, Stanford University 

• Copyright and Moral Rights, Society for Indexers (UK) 

• U.S. Copyright Law, U.S. Copyright Office 

Ethics and Professionalism 

• A Code of Ethics, Harold Borko and Charles Bernier (Indexing Concepts and Methods, 16.2.2) 

• Code of Professional Conduct, Society for Indexers

• Ethical places, Ethical Spaces: Stopping to Listen by Christine Jacobs (The Indexer, 25:3) 

• Professionalism and the Indexer by Jill Halliday (The Indexer, 25:3) 

Guidelines

• ANSI/NISO Z39-19-2005 : Guidelines for the Construction, Format, and Management of Monolingual Controlled Vocabularies

• Best Practices for Indexing by American Society for Indexing

• Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. Chapter 16: Indexes

• Indexing Best Practices by Institute of Certified Indexers

• ISO 999-1996 : Guidelines from Content, Organization, and Presentation of Indexes

• NISO-TR02-1997 : Guidelines for Indexes and Related Information Retrieval Devices (Anderson)

• NISO TR03-1999 : Guidelines for Alphabetical Arrangement of Letters and Sorting of Numerals and Other Symbols (Wellisch) 

Heading Authorities

• HURIDOCS – How to Record Names of Persons 

• Indexing Names, ed. by Noeline Bridge

• Library of Congress Authorities

• Virtual International Authority File

• WorldCat, OCLC 

History of Indexing

• "The Book index: child of letters, tool of knowledge, weapon of deconstruction" by Michele Combs (The Indexer 40:1)

• Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan (W. W. Norton)

• "Index: The Word, Its History and Meanings" by Hans Wellisch (Indexing from A to Z, Second Edition, 200-210) 

• Indexes, Encyclopaedia Britannica

• "The Oldest Printed Indexes" by Hans Wellisch (The Indexer 15:2) 

Inclusive Terminology Guidelines

• The 519: Glossary of Terms

• APA (American Psychological Association): Bias-Free Language guides

• Conscious Style Guide

• Diversity Style Guide

• GLAAD Reference Guides: An Ally’s Guide to Terminology, : Lesbian / Gay / Bisexual / Queer  Glossary of Terms, : Transgender Glossary of Terms

• Homosaurus: An International LGBTQ Linked Data Vocabulary

• Living Justice Press: Convention Style Sheet for Native Subject-Matters

• Mother Jones’ Style Guide

• NASAA (National Assembly of State Arts Agencies): Inclusive Language Guide

• NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English): Statement on Gender and Language

Index Editing/Review

• Index Editing Checklist, Chicago Manual of Style 16.133

• Index Evaluation Checklist, American Society for Indexing

Organizations

• American Society for Indexing (ASI)

• Association of Southern African Indexers and Bibliographers (ASAIB)

• Australia and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI)

• China Indexing Society

• Deutsches Netzwerk der Indexer (DNI) / German Network of Indexers

• Indexing Society of Canada / Société canadienne d’indexation (ISC / SCI)

• Institute of Certified Indexers (ICI)

• International Federation of Libraries Associations and Institutions (IFLA) – Subject Analysis and Access Section 

• Nederlands Indexers Netwerk (NIN) / Netherlands Indexing Network

• Society of Indexers (SI) 

Poetic Essays

• "The Indexer" by Tyler Gobble (The Indexer 32:1)

• "Indexes, in Praise of" by Sasha Archibald (Key Words, 22:128–134) 

• "The Secret Lives of Indexers" by Judith Pascoe (Key Words: 21:90–95) 

Private taining courses and workshops

• Hedden Information Management, courses

• “Indexing Books as a Career” MOOC free course by Sylvia Coates 

• Indexing Partners, Indexing Boot Camp

• Index West, courses and workshops

• Learning to Index list of courses, Pacific Northwest Chapter of American Society of Indexing 

• Sherry L. Smith Indexing Services, classes and workshops 

Professional Journals

• Key Words, American Society of Indexing 

• The Indexer, Society of Indexers 

Specialty Reference Sources 

: Art 

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus (Getty Research Institute) 

• Association of Art Editors Style Guide

• Cultural Objects Name Authority (Getty Research Institute) 

• Union List of Artist Names (Getty Research Institute) 

: Geography

• Thesaurus of Geographic Names (Getty Research Institute) 

• U.S Board on Geographic Names, USGS 

: Health and Medical

• Medical Subject Headings, U.S. National Library of Medicine 

: Music

• African American Music Reference (Alexander Street)

• Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online

• Oxford Music Online

• Rock’s Backpages 

: Science

• APA Style

• Scientific Style and Format Online, Council of Science Editors 

• See also Index It Right! series and Indexing Specialities series, Information Today, Inc. 

Starting an Indexing Business

• The Accidental Indexer by Nan Badgett

• Business of Indexing by Kate Mertes and Enid Zafran, American Society for Indexing course

• A Guide for the Freelance Indexer by April Michelle Davis

Super Indexing (aka index mashups)

• Eat Your Books

• "Indexing Across Titles" by Mark Fretz (Scribe)

• Publications Mashup, American Society for Indexing 

Training Institutions and Courses on Indexing

• American Society for Indexing, Principles of Indexing Course

• Simon Fraser University, Indexing continuing studies course

• Society of Indexers (UK) Training Course and Indexing Basics workshop

• UC Berkeley Extension, Indexing Theory and Embedded Indexing courses 

See also Indexing FAQs