Indexing Books: Online Training & Resources
Online training & resources
(This is also a Blog post.)
Online Courses
The American Society for Indexing (ASI)
This training course is available to ASI members and consists of four modules. Students can enter knowing little-to-nothing about book indexing and come out with a solid understanding of what it takes to index a book.
Find out more about my own experience with the ASI Training Course, here.
Indexing: Theory and Application (University of California, Berkley)
The university course has open enrollment and allows students 180 days to complete the coursework. Taught by a respected indexer, it provides foundational knowledge of what goes into indexing books. It pertains to the Interdisciplinary Writing Program.
Library Juice Academy: Intro to Book Indexing
This six-week course is asynchronous, giving students the structure of a semester-based course but the flexibility of online learning. Taught by a respected indexer, it introduces students to the fundamentals of indexing books.
Training in Indexing (Society of Indexers, U.K.)
The Society’s 5th Edition of its course “leads to Accreditation and Professional Membership of the Society. Accreditation by the Society of Indexers is a professional and vocational qualification and a high standard is set to ensure competency in the commercial world.” Like the ASI course listed above, students of the SI course pay for each module as they progress, and have four years to complete the program.
Side-by-Side Indexing Foundations Mini-Course (IndexerIndex)
Run by Michelle Guiliano, this mini-course uses a co-working instruction method to walk participants through the process of indexing a book. It gives students a peek at an experienced indexer’s strategy and approach, from the first steps through the final edit.
Other Online Training Resources
The Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI) website lists several training resources.
Some indexers provide email-based training courses via their websites (see below), while others post general information that will give non-indexers a glimpse into the book-indexing process, satisfying curiosities without getting into the weeds.
Blogs & Podcasts
Book-Indexing Blogs - by Vickie Jacobs (substack.com)
In June (2024), I published a Substack post listing a number of indexing-focused blogs and podcasts. Currently listing 12 blogs and one podcast, I’ll update it periodically, as I learn of new resources.