Index (publishing)

This article refers to Indexes in publishing, for other meanings see Index.

In publishing, an index is a guide to the contents of a book, publication, or multimedia collection. It is prepared for the reader, to help the reader more quickly and easily find information. An index is not simply a list of the major terms in a publication. Rather, it is an organized map of the contents of a book, arranged to make the contents clearly visible and comprehensible to the reader.

The indexing process includes both selecting terms to be indexed, and also qualifying these terms with subentries where appropriate; and editing the index after a first draft is produced to improve its cohesiveness, consistency, accuracy, and usefulness to the reader.

An index is found at the back of a book. It complements the table of contents page because it gives access to information by its specific name; contents pages, on the other hand, give access through broad categories. Indices are usually organised alphabetically; contents pages are organised according to the order of pages in the book.

Indexing skills have also been applied to periodicals and databases, and web indexing is now becoming important.

External links

• American Society of Indexers