Excerpt from”NINieuws” the newsletter of the Netherlands Indexers Network, October 2011:
“The Indexer” began life in 1958, modest in size but ambitious in intent, and has gradually grown from its initial 28 pages twice a year to the current 48-page quarterly publication, available in both print and online versions: and costs indexing society members (rates frozen for 2012) just £28 per annum. To subscribe (and for all sorts of other useful information) visit www.theindexer.org.
The journal falls into two sections: regular features and articles. The regular features include book reviews, „Indexes reviewed‟ (a collection of extracts from book reviews which comment on the index or the lack of an index) and Around the World (ATW). ATW carries news about the societies including conference reports and indexing awards, takes a transnational look at how indexers approach their task and, increasingly, reports on what is going on at the international liaison (ICRIS) level. „Regular‟ features also include the Browser Bar, where Pierke Bosschieter keeps us in touch with useful web-based information.
The journal has a dual remit, to meet the needs and interests of both the practitioner and the scholar, so every issue is likely to have at least one very practical „how to‟ article, and at least one strongly theoretical with a balance between „must read instantly‟ articles and those to be turned to at greater leisure. Falling into this latter category are the popular, supplementary, Centrepieces, focusing on indexing „teases‟ (so far mainly the handling of place and personal names). As a look at the classified contents or index on the website will demonstrate, the coverage over the years has been astonishingly broad with not many indexing-related issues left unexplored.
The journal, published by the British Society of Indexers (somebody has to be legally responsible for paying the bills!), is very much an ICRIS organ, with all the indexing societies represented on the editorial advisory board. And all the societies, including NIN and DNI (October 2006), have taken a turn at guest-editing an issue. More than 70% of the contributions come from outside the UK. Nor, with at least one article in each issue from a non-indexer, is it just indexers talking to indexers.
So something for everybody, including you!