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2024 ASI Indexing Awards

ASI has recently reimagined its awards program that honors excellence in indexing. Rather than recognizing a single winner, a winner will be selected from both scholarly/technical and trade book categories. An Honorable Mention award may also be awarded at the judges' discretion. The two winners will each receive $500. Questions regarding the ASI Awards process can be directed to Amy Hall, Chair of the Awards Committee.

Hines Award

The Hines Award honors those members who have provided exceptional service to ASI. It is considered ASI’s highest honor to its own members.

ASI Excellence In Indexing Award (Retired)

This award was retired in 2021. The following information is maintained for historical/reference purposes only.

Order of the Kohlrabi

The Order of the Kohlrabi recognizes ASI members who have served ASI above and beyond the call of duty.

2024 ASI Summit Awards

Rules and Submission Guidelines

  1. Indexers submitting an index for consideration must be current members in good standing of the American Society for Indexing (ASI). Indexes may be submitted for consideration by the book’s publisher, but the indexer who wrote the index must be a current ASI member in good standing.
  2. Only one (1) entry may be submitted per indexer.
  3. The index should be for a book with a publication date of either 2022 or 2023.
  4. Members of the ASI Awards Committee or the ASI Board of Directors are ineligible to participate.
  5. A PDF copy of the published book, with the typeset index in place, should be submitted along with the entry form and the $35 entry fee.
  6. Only print books are eligible for consideration.

Criteria for the the Awards

SUBSTANCE

Elegance
Succinctness; the right word in the right place—even if the word isn't found in the text; a certain "charm"; visual appeal; a sense that the index contains exactly what it needs to, no more, no less; simplicity; grace. Elegance is the quality that makes an exceptional index more than the sum of its parts.

Usability

  • Does the index appropriately anticipate the needs of its users?
  • Are the significant concepts indexed?
  • Are there appropriate alternative terms for accessing concepts?
  • Are special treatments such as italics and boldface appropriate to the complexity of the material and the needs of the user?
  • Is there a headnote explaining special treatments?
  • Does the format provide for ease in visually scanning the index?
  • Is the phrasing of entries and subentries clear, with significant terms first and no unnecessary prepositions?

Coverage

  • Does the index cover the ground? Does it do so in an evenhanded fashion?
  • Look up a few important topics to see if coverage is adequate.
  • The index should go beyond listing the main headings in each chapter or rearranging the table of contents.
  • Significant concepts should be indexed, and scattered discussions of a concept should be brought together.
  • Irrelevant information, such as scene-setting material or passing mentions, should not be indexed.
  • There should be no apparent indexer bias.

Analysis

  • Are main entries analyzed appropriately into subentries?
  • Are subentries overanalyzed so that the same page numbers are repeated again and again in close proximity to one another?
  • Are there strings of undifferentiated locators at an entry?
  • Are the number and level of subentries appropriate to the complexity of the book?

Access

  • Is there more than one access point to significant concepts?
  • The index should use the author's vocabulary but should also provide alternative terms and cross-references that will give the reader access.
  • Entries should be "flipped" where necessary or appropriate.

Cross-referencing

  • Are cross-references adequate and useful?
  • See also references should send readers to appropriate related material. (Double-posting is preferable to See references that send the reader to an entry with very few page references.)

MECHANICS

Accuracy

  • There should be no misspellings or typos, no odd page ranges or references out of order.
  • Alphabetization of main entries, subentries, and cross-references should be correct.
  • Punctuation should be correct.
  • Forms of names and terms should be correct and appropriate to the field of specialization.
  • Cross-references should neither be circular nor point to missing or differently worded entries.
  • "Flipped" entries should have the same page references at both locations in the index.

Style

  • Is the style consistent throughout?
  • Does the style effectively resolve challenges presented by the text?
  • Look at such style points as sorting order, punctuation of cross-references, leading and separator punctuation of locators, abbreviation of inclusive ranges, positioning of cross-references, run-in. vs. indented subentries, capitalization of main entries, use of alternative typefaces.

(The descriptive categories included here are freely adapted from Carolyn McGovern's "How to Evaluate Indexes." KEY WORDS 1, no. 9 (Nov/Dec 1993) pp. 1,21.)

A short-form (one-page) checklist of the criteria for the ASI Excellence in Indexing Award is available here in PDF format.

Awards Judging Process

After the entrance deadline has passed, the judges will review all eligible submissions. Written feedback will be provided to each entrant. The judges will award a First-Place winner in both scholarly/technical and trade book categories. Final determination about which category a book belongs in rests with the judges. If the judges feel that an additional index is worthy of an Honorable Mention, they may choose to give that award as well, but no prize money will be granted. If an Honorable Mention award is made, it can be in either the scholarly/technical or trade book category.