• Member Health Insurance Benefits Program now available (June 2007)
• Online ASI conference evaluation form is now available (May 2007)
• New Publication - Indexing Specialties: Web Sites (May 2007)
• President's Letter - February 2007 - Posted (April 2007)
• Legal Indexing SIG: New Discussion Group (November 2006)
• Minutes of 2006 International Indexing Meeting Available (November 2006)
• ASI Announces the Training in Indexing Course (November 2006)
• President's Letter Posted (November 2006)
• The Washington, D.C. Chapter Has Changed its Name to the Mid- and South-Atlantic Chapter (MSA)(October 2006)
• The Newest ASAIB Newsletter Now Available to ASI Members(October 2006)
• Judy Reveal Named New Editor for Key Words (October 2006)
• Strategic Planning Report: June 15, 2006 (September 2006)
• ASI Training in Indexing Course Appointments (July 2006)
• Ina Gravitz Accepts Position of SIG Coordinator (July 2006)
• Stephanie Reymann Accepts Chair of Membership Committee (July 2006)
• Cumulative Index to The Indexer Now Available Online (July 2006)
• New Board Member Announced (July 2006)
• Indexing Body of Knowledge Available for Review (June 2006)
• ASI Appreciates the Generosity of the 2006 Conference Sponsors (June 2006)
• 2006 Wilson Award Recipients (June 2006)
• Latest Credentialing Committee Minutes Posted (May 2006)
• 2006 Hines Award Recipient (April 2006)
• Newsletters of Other Indexing Societies (December 2005)
• ASI Brochures Available Online (November 2005)
• Selection of Conference Papers and Slides Available Online (November 2005)
• Index It Right! now available (October 2005)
• ASI Training Course and Credentialing (October 2005)
• Resource Center for Associations Jointly Accredited (October 2005)
• Indexing Specialties: Scholarly Books is now available! (April 2005)
• Web Indexing SIG: New Web Site and New Discussion Group (January 2005)
• DHL Partners with ASI (January 2005)
• The 2004 Salary Survey is now available (January 2005)
• Indexes: A Chapter from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., is now available (November 2004)
• Member Benefit Items (August 2004)
• 10 Tips to Make Your Locator Listing Work for You! (June 2004)
• Order of the Kohlrabi (June 2004)
• Best Professional Practices (December 2003)
• Promotional Brochures for ASI Members (September 2003)
• Jobs Hotline Sign Up Now Available (July 2003)
• Advertising Opportunities in ASI Publications (December 2002)
• Buy books online through the Amazon.com Associates Program (November 2002)

A Health Insurance Benefits Program is now available thru USI Affinity Health Plans as an optional benefit to ASI members.

An online ASI conference evaluation form is now available. If you attended the Annual Conference in Philadelphia, please use the form to provide feedback for use in planning future conferences.

ASI Publications Committee is pleased to announce a new entry in the Indexing Specialties series. The book, by Heather Hedden, is entitled Indexing Specialties: Web Sites.

The book presents a logical and coherent explanation of how to index web sites using various types of software. Heather has given popular online courses and conference workshops on web site indexing. She intends the book for use by both those experienced with HTML and those new to the world of web indexing. She deals with topics of converting book indexes to web formats, discusses specific software tools, and explores style and presentation considerations.

More information about this publication is available on our publications page.

The third in a bimonthly series of president's newsletters has been posted to our site.

The Legal Indexing SIG has been established and is for indexers who are interested in legal indexing.  The SIG is open to any member of ASI and the other indexing societies worldwide. The dues for this SIG are $20.00 per year. There is a new Legal Indexing SIG discussion group. For more information on this and other ASI Special Interest Groups, visit our SIGs page.

The minutes of the 2006 international meeting of the indexing societies, which took place immediately before the opening of the joint ASI/ISC Toronto conference last June, have been posted in the Members Area of this website. The next international meeting is scheduled in 2009, at the triennial meeting and conference. Comments are encouraged; please send them to our international liaison at international@asindexing.org.

The ASI Training in Indexing course is now available for ASI members. You will be able to learn about indexing and how to index via 3 self-study units supplied on an interactive CD-ROM:

Unit A - Indexers, Users and Documents

Unit B - Choice and Form of Entries

Unit C - Arrangement and Presentation of Indexes and Thesauri

Each unit provides self-assessment exercises with answers, as well as interactive exercises as you proceed through the material. Study time for each unit is approximately 40-50 hours.

Examinations, testing acquired knowledge as well as indexing skill, may be taken at the completion of each unit. Students successfully meeting the requirements of all three examinations will be awarded a certificate of completion by ASI.

Note (November 21, 2006): Unit A of the Training in Indexing course has now shipped to a charter group of students. Units B and C will be ready to ship within the next two weeks.

Full information about the course and links to the course brochure and online registration are available now.

Additional inquiries should be sent to trainingcourse@asindexing.org

The second in a bimonthly series of president's newsletters has been posted to our site.

The Washington, D.C. Chapter has changed it's name to the Mid- and South-Atlantic Chapter (MSA).  Founded in 1978, the DC Chapter was created for indexers serving the Washington publishing community, spurred in part by the publishing needs of the U.S. government.  Over the years this Chapter's membership has provided workshops on a variety of topics which have drawn attendees from large distances.  While chapter meetings have been in the metro DC area, we do hope to locate meeting spaces further afield to transform this local chapter into the regional chapter it has become. Recently the September (2006) workshop on getting started in indexing drew people from North Carolina and western Pennsylvania.  More localized meetings in northern Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania have also provided forums for indexers to gather and share experiences and ideas. Members of this chapter range from Pennsylvania, through Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Florida in addition to other states and countries.

Discussions about changing the chapter name began last spring at the suggestion of Barbara DeGennaro.  The bylaws had to be changed by a vote of chapter members and approved by the ASI Board.  Instead of paper ballots, we used the ASI office electronic voting system.  Participation was the best ever -- 50% of the membership voted. Participation with paper ballots had never been that good.  The balloting was complete in early September.  ASI Board approval followed in mid-September.

There are many procedural changes to be made on the ASI website, on the chapter website, and with emailing the chapter officers.  We were hoping to make some of those changes before this announcement but decided the announcement was too important, so watch for those changes in the weeks to come.

Chapter Officers, 2006-2007:
Deborah Patton, Chair
Peg Ruppel, Vice Chair/Chair Elect
Kate Mertes, Immediate Past Chair
Mauro Pittaro, Treasurer
Jean Bray, Secretary

 

The latest newsletter from the Association of South African Indexers and Bibliographers (ASAIB)—No. 23, September 2006—is available in the member area of this Web site.

ASI is pleased to announce the selection of a new Key Words editor, Judy Reveal. Her three-year editorship contract is scheduled to begin when our current editor, Pilar Wyman, steps down at the end of 2006. For more information, please read our official press release. In addition, ASI is looking to build an editorial committee to help manage and acquire content. If you are interested, or have other ideas for the future of Key Words, contact the editors at keywords@asindexing.org.

A comprehensive report on ASI's strategic planning efforts, encompassing several surveys and notes from multiple meetings, is now available for members online.

In the spirit of improved communication among members and officers of ASI, we've implemented several corporate-style email addresses. Not only are these easy to remember (and guess!), but they're also persistent over time as officers change. Please see our email addresses page for a complete list.

ASI Training Committee announces the appointment of Hines Award winner Janet Perlman as Course Administrator. She will be joined by Exam Markers Katie Bright Banks, Sandi Frank, Leah Hotimlanska, Terri Hudoba, Marion Lerner-Levine, Carol Roberts, Kay Schlembach, Carolyn Weaver and Pilar Wyman.

The ASI Training in Indexing course overview provides more information about the course.

Ina Gravitz, who has served as the chair of our Membership Committee, has agreed to accept the position of SIG Coordinator. Her background will serve her well, as she works to develop stronger communication and collaboration among ASI's many affiliated special interest groups and to encourage their development as an integral part of ASI's function. She writes, "As SIG Coordinator I will facilitate communication among the SIGs. Why reinvent the wheel? Many SIGs already developed effective marketing ideas and innovative education programs. ... I intend to publicize the existence of SIGs to the general indexing community and to the ASI community through ASI-L and Key Words." You can reach Ina at sigs@asindexing.org.

Stephanie Reymann is taking over the chair of the Membership Committee. She served on this committee for the past two years, on the Nominating Committee, and on the board of the Twin Cities Minnesota Chapter for 2000–2004, so she has demonstrated skills in talking to our members at all levels. She is a freelance indexer who specializes in a wide variety of subject matter, holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Notre Dame, and was a senior buyer for two major department store retailers ... before finding her true calling with us! We are excited having Stephanie more involved in membership concerns. It is our expectation that she will help ASI to meet the needs of our membership, as well as help our members and potential membership better understand the opportunities and value that ASI provides. You can reach Stephanie at membership@asindexing.org.

The cumulative index to The Indexer, vols. 20–25 (1996–2006) is now on The Indexer website (www.theindexer.org). The index will be further developed by the journal's editorial board as time permits.

Kay Schlembach has accepted a board appointment, replacing Lucie Haskins, who resigned from the national board for personal reasons. The board voted to appoint Kay Schlembach to complete the two-year remainder of Lucie's directorship term. Although Kay stepped down at the end of her 2006 term, by accepting the reappointment she returns to service through 2008.

The Credentialing Committee has developed a DRAFT description of an Indexing Body of Knowledge that would form the basis for any credentialing process that might be eventually adopted for ASI. The document is now available for review and member comment in the Members Area under Documents & Reports.

The success of the Toronto conference this month was due in large part to the contributions of our sponsors. We'd like to give them special acknowledgment by mentioning them all here:

• Fred Brown
• Coughlin Indexing Services
• Indexing Research
• Kay Schlembach, IndexPro
• WordCo Indexing Services, Inc.

Thank you for helping us put on an excellent annual meeting and conference!

Congratulations to Charlee Trantino and New World Library as the 2006 Wilson Award recipients! Details are now posted on the Wilson Award web page.

Minutes for May 2006 meeting of the Credentialing Committee have now been posted to the member area of this site. Minutes of previous meetings are also available.

Congratulations to Janet Perlman as the 2006 Hines Award recipient! View the details on the Hines Award web page. Janet has recently been appointed as the ASI Training in Indexing Course Administrator.

Selected newsletters of ASI's sister indexing societies are now posted as PDF files in the Members Area.

Selected ASI brochures are now available in the Members Area for viewing and download.

A selection of speaker slides and papers from past ASI conferences is available for viewing and download.
 

Here is the premiere title in a new series presenting selected expert coverage in key indexing areas. Volume 1 includes top tips and advice on indexing philosophy (Carol Roberts), theology (Kate Mertes), biography (Martin L. White), horticulture (Thérèse Shere with Lina B. Burton), art (Susan DeRenne Coerr), encyclopedias (Marion Lerner-Levine), computer manuals (Beth Palmer), and Web sites (Fred Brown). Edited by Enid L. Zafran. Available from Information Today, Inc. Press release is here.

The ASI Board and Officers have carefully prepared the answers to members' FAQs regarding the ASI Certificate Course. We hope that you will find them helpful and informative.

ASI's staff, more formally known as The Resource Center for Associations (RC), is a professional association management company (AMC) that is active in the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the International Association of Association Management Companies (IAAMC). Both organizations offer accreditation to members that meet very high and stringent criteria and standards. ASAE accredited RC as a charter company and reaccredited them last year. IAAMC has just announced RC's accreditation also.

There are hundreds of AMCs around the world. However there are only 18 AMCs worldwide jointly accredited by both ASAE and IAAMC. RC is proud of the recognition and the honor and wants ASI members to know that they will continue their commitment to these standards of excellence and towards ASI's successful future.

A new ASI publication is now available: Indexing Specialties: Scholarly Books, edited by Margie Towery and Enid Zafran. Visit the ASI Publications page for more information.

The Web Indexing SIG has been reactivated and has a new web site: http://www.web-indexing.org. There is also a new discussion group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/web-indexing/.

DHL - Take a Look!
The American Society for Indexing has partnered with DHL to bring members a full suite of domestic and international shipping services, covering over 220 countries and territories around the globe.
Members are also eligible for preferred DHL association member pricing. To find out more about your DHL benefits and set up your account, or if you have questions regarding your current account, please contacted the dedicated association hotline at 1-800-MEMBERS (1-800-636-2377) 8am–7pm ET, or visit http://www.membersales.com/ASI.

ASI is pleased to present the results of its 2004 salary survey, including analysis and commentary on results of interest and historical comparisons. The survey covers all segments of the indexing community and specialty applications. The Executive Summary is available in the public area of the Web site. The full survey is available to ASI members in the Members Only Area.

By special arrangement with the University of Chicago Press, ASI is able to offer Indexes: A Chapter from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. Download the order form to purchase just the indexing chapter.

Check out the Membership Information page to learn about the new DHL Express and Mutual of Omaha plans for ASI members.

Renewing your Locator listing or purchasing a new one? Check out these suggestions before submitting your form.

Information on the esteemed Order of the Kohlrabi has now been posted. Learn how it all began and who the members of the Order are.

Best Professional Practices

ASI recognizes that appropriate professional practices benefit both indexers and their clients. For more information on Best Practices, see http://www.asindexing.org/site/practices.shtml.

To those members conducting workshops, classes, or seminars in indexing, we now have brochures available that may be used as reference tools or teaching aides. We also have the promotional brochure "Authors and Indexers: Do It Yourself or Hire a Pro?" available. For information on obtaining these brochures, see the Obtain Brochures page.

Those who wish to locate an indexer for their projects can now post their request to the ASI Jobs Hotline. The sign-up form is available online.
Indexers who wish to sign up for this service can subscribe to a newsgroup. For more information, see ASI Indexer Jobs Hotline service.

Check out these opportunities to advertise your business in Key Words and ASI conference materials.

The American Society for Indexing is now a member of the Amazon.com Associates Program. When you buy books, electronics, and other items at amazon.com, your purchase benefits ASI at no additional cost to you. In order for ASI to benefit from your purchase, you must access amazon.com through the ASI web site. Members may still buy indexing books from ITI (Information Today, Inc.) at a discount. To use either of these online resources, simply click on the Buy Books! link on the main page of the ASI web site to access the Purchase Books Online page. The amazon.com link is directly below the Information Today, Inc. link. Happy shopping!

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