Indexers are often booked up months in advance so one of Bourchier’s first tasks on receiving a new book for project management is to calculate the date of the final proof and commission an indexer.
Having briefed the indexer, the Bourchier project manager’s next task is to copy-edit the final draft. This involves, among many other things, checking that numbers have been correctly elided, that spellings match those used in the text, that subentries are meaningful and correctly indented, that cross-references and pagination are correct.
Indexing requirements differ from book to book and publisher to publisher. For this book, Bourchier were commissioned to compile two separate indexes, a subject and a name index. The indexer’s breadth of knowledge in the field of Health and Social Care and her methodical approach were vital to ensuring the index included the key terms of the book. Once the index reached Bourchier, our team of skilled project managers reviewed the index for consistency, comprehensiveness and accessibility.
In today’s age of big data, the ability to navigate, analyse and digest information is more important than ever: indexes matter. As one of our authors commented, indexers take on this task of analysis and providing navigation pointers ‘using skills the reader usually takes for granted’.
Whether you want a general index, a subject, name or specialist index, Bourchier can commission a bespoke index on your behalf. Alternatively, if you prefer to create your own, we can provide professional guidance and edit your index.