Bell examines the history of the index and the depiction of the indexer (from diffident drudge to frankly insane) in both fact and fiction. A fascinating look at a previously little-considered element of the book.

A New York Times Editors' Choice Book and a New Yorker Best Book of 2022 So Far Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Literary Hub and Goodreads A playful history of the humble index and its outsized effect on our reading lives. Most of us give little thought to the back of the book—it’s just where you go to look things up. But as Dennis Duncan reveals in this delightful and witty history, hiding in plain sight is an unlikely realm of ambition and obsession, sparring and politicking, pleasure and play. In the pages of the index, we might find Butchers, to be avoided, or Cows that sh-te Fire, or even catch Calvin in his chamber with a Nonne. Here, for the first time, is the secret world of the index: an unsung but extraordinary everyday tool, with an illustrious but little-known past. Charting its curious path from the monasteries and universities of thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first, Duncan uncovers how it has saved heretics from the stake, kept politicians from high office, and made us all into the readers we are today. We follow it through German print shops and Enlightenment coffee houses, novelists’ living rooms and university laboratories, encountering emperors and popes, philosophers and prime ministers, poets, librarians and—of course—indexers along the way. Revealing its vast role in our evolving literary and intellectual culture, Duncan shows that, for all our anxieties about the Age of Search, we are all index-rakers at heart—and we have been for eight hundred years.

Stories of human lives can be fascinating but frequently difficult to index well. The new, updated fourth edition of Hazel K. Bell’s Indexing Biographies is a valuable guide to the points for consideration when indexing life histories, biographies, autobiographies, letters and other narrative texts. Topics include the indexing of fiction, analysis of the text before indexing, names and their various forms, appropriate language choice for index entries, impartiality of the indexer, and how to treat main characters (through appropriate subheading structure) and minor characters (where strings of locators are sometimes unavoidable). The book also discusses more technical matters of index layout, presentation and arrangement of entries, such as how to judge whether alphabetical, chronological, page order or thematic grouping is most appropriate for the text. Examples of good practice and outstanding indexes are provided throughout. Lists of useful reference works and relevant articles from The Indexer journal are also suggested. There is, of course, a comprehensive index. Indexing Biographies contains fine advice on best indexing practices for book indexers, trainee indexers, authors, publishers and all lovers of life histories. It is an excellent overview of the complex, important and rewarding task of indexing such material.

The new edition of Hazel K. Bell's IndexingBiographies is a valuable guide to indexing life histories, biographies,autobiographies, and other narrative texts. This updated guide contains fineadvice on best indexing practices for book indexers, trainee indexers, authors,publishers and all lovers of life histories.

Writing in a lively, informal style, two editors with extensive experience in a wide variety of fields--fiction and nonfiction, trade and reference, academic and commercial publishing--explain what editors in different jobs really do in this concise practical guide.

This important reference volume covers developments in all aspects of British library and information work during the five year period 2001-2005. The book provides a comprehensive record of library and information management during the past five years and will be essential reading for all scholars, library professionals and students.