Indexes: A Chapter from "The Chicago Manual of Style," Eighteenth Edition

Indexes

A Chapter from The Chicago Manual of Style

Eighteenth Edition

The University of Chicago Press

Chicago and London

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637

The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London

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Published 2024

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ISBN-13: 978-0-226-83768-0 (paper)

ISBN-13: 978-0-226-83769-7 (ebook)

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15   Indexes

Overview   15.1

Components of an Index   15.9

Main Headings, Subentries, and Locators   15.9

Cross-References   15.15

Run-In Versus Indented Indexes   15.24

General Principles of Indexing   15.29

What Parts of a Work to Index   15.32

Indexing Proper Names and Variants   15.40

Indexing Titles of Publications and Other Works   15.55

Alphabetizing   15.64

Letter by Letter or Word by Word?   15.66

General Rules of Alphabetizing   15.70

Subentries   15.76

Personal Names   15.79

Names of Organizations and Businesses   15.96

Names of Places   15.98

Punctuating Indexes: A Summary   15.102

The Mechanics of Indexing   15.109

Before Indexing Begins: Tools and Decisions   15.109

Marking Proofs and Preparing Entries   15.116

Editing and Refining the Entries   15.125

Submitting the Index   15.130

Editing an Index for Publication   15.131

Typographical Considerations for Indexes   15.134

Examples of Indexes   15.140

Index

Overview

15.1   The back-of-the-book index as model. This chapter offers basic guidelines for preparing and editing an alphabetically arranged index that will appear at the end of a book-length work. Though the advice is modeled primarily on the requirements of a book with fixed page numbers (as in print or PDF) or other fixed locators (like the paragraph numbers in this manual), the principles should apply also to works that lack such mileposts (see 15.13). General principles of indexing are covered, as are the specifics of Chicago’s preferred style in matters of typography, alphabetizing, and the like.

15.2   Why index? In this age of searchable text, the need for an index made with human input is sometimes questioned. But a good index can do what a plain search cannot: It gathers all the substantive terms and subjects of the work, sorts them alphabetically, provides cross-references to and from related terms, and includes specific page numbers or other locators or, for electronic formats, direct links to the text. This painstaking intellectual labor serves readers of any longer work, whether it is searchable or not. For searchable texts, an index provides insurance against fruitless queries and unintended results. For example, if the text reads, In the 1960s, countries outside the sphere of US and Soviet influence played those two nations against each other, there should be an index entry for Cold War. A search for that term may not pick this up. In a word, a good index makes the text more accessible.

15.3   Who should index a work? The ideal indexer sees the work as a whole, understands the emphasis of the various parts and their relation to the whole, and knows—or guesses—what readers of the particular work are likely to look for and what headings they will think of. The indexer should be widely read, scrupulous in handling detail, analytically minded, well acquainted with publishing practices, and capable of meeting almost impossible deadlines. Although authors know better than anyone else their subject matter and the audience to whom the work is addressed, not all can look at their work through the eyes of a potential reader. Nor do many authors have the technical skills, let alone the time, necessary to prepare a good index that meets the publisher’s deadline. Some authors produce excellent indexes. Others would do better to enlist the aid of a professional indexer.

15.4   The indexer and deadlines. Most book indexes must be made between the time page proofs are issued and the time they are returned to the typesetter—usually from two to six weeks. (For an illustration of how indexing fits into the overall publishing process for books, see 2.2.) Authors preparing their own indexes will have to proofread as well as index the work in that short time span. Good indexing requires reflection; the indexer needs to stop frequently and decide whether the right choices have been made. A professional indexer, familiar with the publisher’s requirements and equipped with specialized software and experience, may be better equipped for such reflection. For those few journals that still publish a volume index (see 1.119), the indexer may have several months to prepare a preliminary index, adding entries as new issues of the journal arrive. The final issue in the volume is typically indexed from page proofs, however, and the indexer may have as little as a week to work on the last issue and prepare the final draft of the index. In a similar manner, page proofs for textbooks and other very large works may arrive in sections over several months, and the index is usually due one to two weeks after the final proofs arrive.

15.5   The role of software in indexing. A concordance—or a complete list of terms (typically minus articles, prepositions, and other irrelevant elements) and their page locations or frequency of use—can be produced automatically. But a concordance is not the same as an index. Most indexes of the type described in this chapter are produced from scratch, typically from paginated page proofs, either electronic or hard copy, generated by a page-layout program. Word processors are typically used in entering and editing terms and locators in a separate document and can provide rudimentary help in the process of sorting entries and managing cross-references. Most professional indexers use dedicated indexing software, which provides shortcuts for creating and editing entries and automates formatting, allowing the indexer to focus on the creative analysis of the text. This type of software is an essential investment for a professional indexer and may be worth it for an author planning to index many books over time (see 15.113). See also 15.7, 15.13.

15.6   Single versus multiple indexes. A single, comprehensive index—one that includes concepts and names of persons and other subjects—is recommended for most works. Certain publications, however, such as lengthy scientific works that cite