INNOVATIONS IN THE INDEXING OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO SERIES OF VOLUMES Available to Purchase

The indexing of volumes made up of contributions by different authors raises questions which do not arise in indexing a treatise, a textbook, or a narrative by a single author. Such a book is a coherent whole. Its chapters, sections, and paragraphs are balanced so as to create in the reader's mind the pattern of knowledge or ideas and the distribution of emphasis the author intends. The language and style are uniform. The same special terms are used with the same meanings and implications throughout. All this makes it possible for the indexer to distinguish the wood from the trees and decide which kinds of trees call for more notice than others by scanning right through the book before he starts considering the details.