It is time to cast your vote in the 2023 ASI Board of Directors election.
ASI is pleased to announce this year’s slate of candidates for positions on the Board of Directors. The Nominations Committee had several goals when working to put together the slate of candidates, all of which focus on securing a strong future for ASI. These goals include the development of a strong Board of Directors that will function well as a whole while also representing the diversity of ASI members and their views; broadening the number of people who are included in ASI leadership at all levels; and ensuring that ASI will continue to have active members with board experience who are willing to take on future leadership roles at the highest levels. We believe the candidates presented here will help achieve all of these goals, and that they will work diligently to further the mission of ASI.
The following candidates have agreed to serve and, if elected, will take office on May 19, 2023 at the ASI Annual Meeting.
Biographies and vision statements appear below. Click on the individual names for more information.
President Elect
Secretary
Director at Large (Two positions are open in 2023)
————> Click here to complete your ballot. <————
DEADLINE FOR VOTING IS 5 PM PACIFIC TIME, April 7, 2023.
Candidate Biographies and Vision Statements
Shelley Quattrocchi (Candidate for President Elect)
Biography
Shelley Quattrocchi came to indexing after 21 years as a librarian in both public and art library settings. She has a B.A. in English and a Master’s of Library and Information Science. Shelley learned indexing through the Graduate School USA (formerly USDA Graduate School) distance learning indexing course and has been indexing professionally since 2013. She creates back-of-the book indexes for trade books in a wide range of subjects.
Shelley lives in the Indianapolis metro area with her husband Mike. Her special interests are playing the piano, yoga, and four quickly-growing-up grandchildren.
Vision Statement
I have been a member of ASI since 2011 and have served as secretary since 2020. ASI has been a great benefit to me in my journey as an indexer. The robust discussion groups respond to indexing questions of all kinds, including software questions, and continuing education in the form of webinars and conference presentations make ASI an especially helpful resource. As president-elect of ASI, I look forward to continuing our work on advocacy and education and I welcome the opportunity to serve ASI in this new capacity.
Alexandra Nickerson (Candidate for Secretary—three-year term)
Biography
Alexandra Nickerson wrote her first index with her research biochemist/indexer mom as her mentor and submitted it on hand-printed 3x5 index cards. She continued indexing part-time while completing her bachelor’s degree and pursuing two master’s degrees and a career in vocational rehabilitation counseling, moving from index cards to the Carnegie-Mellon mainframe computer, and finally to a PC. With the advent of the personal computer, she turned to indexing as a full-time profession in 1986. She joined ASI in 1977 and has found ASI and her indexing colleagues an invaluable source of information about the craft, technology, and industry trends. She has served as a presenter at chapter, national, and international meetings, Wilson Award Committee Chair, ASI/EIS Award Committee member, chapter chair, director, and president (1997-98). She lives in northern Vermont with her partner and Bengal cat, Sula, and balances her indexing time with her work as a fiber artist.
Vision Statement
As a long-time member, I have found ASI an essential resource in my professional development for networking, sharing knowledge about the profession, industry, and technology, and advocating for the profession. I would like to support ASI by serving as secretary.
Kara Pekar (Candidate for Director—three-year term)
Biography
Kara Pekar has been indexing for over 25 years. After graduating from college in 1985, she spent several years as a bookseller and bookstore manager, then taught English and drama for almost five years. When the school closed while her child was still a toddler, her sister (already an indexer), suggested indexing as a career that would allow her to work from home. She soon discovered that she enjoyed indexing as much for the intellectual challenge as for the flexibility, and never looked back. Over the years, she has created indexes for scholarly, trade, and children’s books in a wide range of subject areas, including the arts, history, biography, the social sciences, and science. She considers herself fortunate to work in a field that feeds her endless curiosity! When not indexing, she reads (voraciously), sings, spins and knits, and I has recently returned to writing fiction. For 10 years, she directed two community choirs for children and teens. She currently serves as vice president of her local fiber arts guild.
Vision Statement
When I attended my first ASI conference in 1996, I was impressed by how welcoming and supportive the indexing community is — an impression confirmed many times in the years since. Indexing is generally a solitary occupation. Through chapter meetings, conferences, discussion lists, and interest groups, ASI provides forums for us to make connections, exchange ideas and learn from one another. ASI's training program, publications, Indexer Locator service, and public outreach and education are equally valuable, offering professional development and continuing education to new and veteran indexers alike. I look forward to the opportunity to support ASI and continue building our community of indexers.
Johnna Dinse (Candidate for Director—three-year term)
Biography
Johnna’s initial foray into indexing was shortly after she was hired as a proofreader at Macmillan Computer Publishing in 1990. She started bugging her supervisor to let her cross-train because she was intrigued by indexing after her initial tour of the production department. Once trained, Johnna filled in when one woman went on vacation and she became the go-to girl to cover indexing duties when someone was out. When a position opened, she was in, and she has not looked back except to reflect on her luck. She moved on to Manager of Indexing. She even met her husband when he was hired as an indexer, and trained him! She has been a freelancer since 1998, working on computer titles, trade books, academic titles, etc. She has gotten job leads through ASI, acquired new information, and loves telling "lay" people that, “Yes, there is such a thing as the American Society for Indexing.”
She lives in a historic neighborhood in Indianapolis with her husband, Tom, who is also a freelancer working in publishing and their cat Elliott who wants nothing to do with indexing. They hike on the weekends, and she dabbles in some drawing and watercolor painting as well as knitting and spinning her own yarn.
Vision Statement
I’ve gotten a lot from ASI. I enjoy talking to people about indexing and what it is and who we are. I’ve referred people transitioning from a job in a related field to the ASI web site so they could explore, and I’ve referred authors and other publishing professionals to the information ASI has about good indexes and indexing practices. So the idea of "paying it forward" by being part of an organization that offers the educational opportunities ASI does as well as the community it offers is something I look forward to.