The complete program can be downloaded as a PDF file (610kb). Please note: This Web page has the most current version of the program. The PDF file is a preliminary program and does not list all sessions and speakers.

You may register online or print out and mail a copy of the registration form in PDF format.

Opening Conference Events—See also Pre-Conference Workshops and Post-Conference Workshops.

3PM–6:45PM

Exhibit Area Open

6PM–6:45PM

Welcome Reception

6:45PM–9:00PM

Dinner and Awards Ceremony

Presentation of the ASI's H.W. Wilson Award for Excellence in Indexing and the Hines Award for Service to ASI. The featured speaker is Benjamin Healy.

7AM–6PM

Registration

7AM–8AM

Continental Breakfast

8AM–9AM

Oregonian Index Conversion Project

Risa Stephanie Bear

The focus of this presentation is the Oregonian Index (1850–1987) conversion project. The presenter will describe how 200,000 entries of the 800,000-entry Oregonian Index were converted for a Web interface, how the interface is being tested, and when the project will go live. The project can serve as a model for a collaborative index search page for statewide or regional public access to newspaper/periodical indexes.

8AM–9AM

Bits and Bytes

Dave Ream

The presenter will discuss the various character sets in use by computer operating systems, particularly with respect to special characters. He will demonstrate how to represent them for publication via Word, desktop, and other composition systems.

8AM–9AM

Locating and Evaluating Online Indexing Resources

Nora Harris

Locating quality online indexing resources can be difficult. This presentation provides specific methods that indexers can use to locate needed resources in their subject areas. Nora also outlines specific selection and evaluative criteria to use in evaluating the resources found. At the end of the session, participants will be able to quickly locate needed online information that is accurate, complete, and reliable. Handouts will be provided.

8AM–9AM

Microsoft Learning's Next Generation Indexing Process

Krista Wall

What if we could have all the benefits of embedded indexing without any of the drawbacks? Microsoft Learning has been working on an answer to this question for the last eight months. In this presentation, we'll share the theory and process we've developed to address the needs of both publishers and indexers. We'll demonstrate how our process will allow indexers to continue using the standalone indexing tools of their choice while still realizing all the advantages of embedded indexing that publishers find so appealing. Join us to hear more about this new approach to the indexing process.

9AM–10AM Morning Refreshment Break

9AM–7PM Exhibit Area Open

9AM–10AM

Poster Sessions

Poster sessions coordinated by Nancy Zibman.

Poster 1—Jeffrey Sowder

Magazine Content Index at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Poster 2—Paul Cullum

J.G. Ballard's "The Index": Information Retrieval as Autobiography

Poster 3—Carol Roberts

Financial Planning for Indexers

Poster 4—Dave Ream

Extracting Native American Plant Names

10AM–11:30AM

Today's Technology

Frances Lennie and Janet Perlman

This presentation is an interactive discussion of how today’s technology affects our industry, client expectations, our work life and work methods, and the "final product." It promises to be a lively session by two presenters who are long-time, experienced indexers with a broad knowledge of the field.

10AM–11:30AM

Indexing Political Science and Public Policy

Deborah Patton, Moderator

Scott Smiley, Sherry Smith, and Enid Zafran, Panelists

The panel will focus first on the "multiple" difficulties: those presented by multiple authors and multiple forms of names (of individuals and government agencies, NGOs, and the like). The discussion's next emphasis will be on dealing with tables, figures, and/or boxes. The general discussion will include opinions and tips on run-in style and its problems, when to use lengthy lists of locators, what types of connectors to use, and precise entries vs. reflective entries. The presentation promises to be entertaining and full of practical information.

10AM–11:30AM

Indexers as Consultants

Carolyn Weaver

Community libraries need indexes to local newspapers, but they often lack the funds and staff expertise to prepare the index. The Vashon Island Branch, King County (Washington) Library System, used funding from several local agencies to hire a professional indexer to design a Web-based prototype cumulated index for eight weekly newspapers published on Vashon Island from 1907 to date. The indexer advised library staff on database structure and search interface and trained library staff and volunteers to complete the index. This presentation describes a collaborative model for professional indexers working with non-profits to produce high-quality indexes that would otherwise be unaffordable for the agency.

Noon–1:30PM

Lunch

Keynote Address: "Illumination, text, meta-, role of the indexer in"
—Michael Bywater, Consulting Chaos Engineer

2PM–3PM

Ask an Indexer

Janet Perlman, Anne Leach, and Pilar Wyman

This session is a reprise of an immensely popular panel presentation given at the 2004 conference. It gives attendees the opportunity to ask those questions they’ve always wanted to ask, on either business or technical aspects of indexing. Panelists have more than 50 years of indexing experience among them.

2PM–3PM

A Taxing Business: Embedded Indexing at the IRS

Enid Zafran

This presentation describes the process of indexing IRS publications. Enid will discuss the workflow and how decisions were made to use extraction, a standardized set of headings, and checking after embedding. Embedded indexes are becoming increasingly common, and attendees will learn techniques that they will be able to apply to similar projects in their own businesses.

3:15PM–4PM

Word Association Testing and Thesaurus Construction

Louise Spiteri

This presentation is targeted to an audience familiar with the principles of thesaurus construction. It examines the use of word association tests to generate user-derived descriptors, descriptor hierarchies, and categories of inter-term relationships. Thirty Library and Information Science practitioners were asked to provide response words for 15 stimulus terms and to describe how the response and stimulus terms are inter-related. The word association test successfully generated a set of user-derived descriptors. Participants identified 20 types of inter-term relationships, the most commonly cited of which are Type, Part, Synonym, Activity, and Tool. Word association tests can be used to examine how users group and inter-relate terms they commonly associate with any given concept.

2:30PM–5:15PM

Business Models/Practices: A Collaborative Discussion

Fred Leise and Alexandra Nickerson

Newcomers to indexing face a myriad of decisions that reach beyond indexing knowledge and skills. Should I incorporate? How do I set up my office? What kinds of financial information do I need to track? What kinds of insurance do I need? Do I need any licenses? What equipment is essential? Two experienced indexers will lead a collaborative discussion of what is important when running an indexing business.

3:30PM–3:45PM

Afternoon Refreshment Break

3:45PM–5:15PM

Breakout Session 11 — To Be Announced

5:15PM–5:45PM

Annual Business Meeting

6PM–7PM

Reception in Exhibit Area

7PM–7:30PM

Chapter Leaders Meeting

7:30AM–6PM

Registration

7:30AM–8:30AM

Breakfast and SIGs Informal Meetings

8AM–Noon

Exhibits Open

8:30AM–9:30AM - Plenary Session 1

Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Subject Index

Denise Goetting

One of the co-authors of Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Subject Index will discuss the ins and outs of publishing this reference book. Denise will describe the intended audience for the work, the publication deadline, the purpose of the book, finding a publisher, and dealing with the problems, choices, and decisions encountered in producing the work.

9:45AM–10: 45AM - Plenary Session 2

Usability Study of Web Indexes at an Academic Institution

Ilana Kingsley

Theories of index usability need to be based on real-world research. This session presents results from a study observing the success rates of users trying to find information on a Website with an index, versus one without an index.

11:00AM–Noon - Plenary Session 3

ASI/SI Training Program

Frances Lennie, Seth Maislin, Kay Schlembach

In concert with ASI's growing focus on the indexing world at large, the Society has taken huge strides in developing an educational system. ASI's Distance Education and Learning for Indexing program, DELFI, is the first ASI-sponsored series of training courses directed toward anyone who wants to learn how to index or to become an indexer. This session explores the promise and challenges of this new educational program, as well as its role within ASI, as we move closer to its launch.

12PM–1:30PM—Lunch