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Heartland Events
The Heartland Chapter normally holds two annual meetings and also other impromptu gatherings.
Spring Meeting - usually in April, but date varies according to speaker and facility availability
Fall Meeting - usually in October, but date varies according to speaker and facility availability
Summer Picnic - occasionally the chapter holds summer picnics
Peer Review Sessions - local groups sometimes hold special peer review sessions
Heartland meetings are open to anyone; chapter or ASI membership is not required to attend meetings.
Heartland events will be announced on the Heartland email list. Some events will also be announced by printed mailings to members or posted on the website. The best way to keep abreast of Heartland happenings is to subscribe to the email list. Membership is not required for the email list subscription.
If you have any questions about Heartland events, chapter officers will be happy to assist you.
Recent Heartland Meetings
(see main page for current announcements)
Fall Meeting - Saturday, October 17, 2009
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Charlee Trantino - "Rekeying and Time Management"
Charlee Trantino has been a professional indexer for about twenty years. In 2006, she received the prestigious Wilson Award for her index to A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake: Unlocking James Joyce’s Masterpiece by Joseph Campbell and Henry Morton Robinson. Besides indexing, Charlee has written nine novels and three works of nonfiction. She also owns an antique shop. With so many full time endeavors, she’s learned how to manage her time and will share how she does it all… and still has a life. Charlee will also share with us the tricks of the trade during a hands-on workshop on rekeying an index for a new edition when the pages reflow and the content is modified. Master the secret method she learned at Warner Books, plus her own modifications for working with electronic files.
John Bealle - “Sky 7.0”
Heartlander John Bealle served as a software tester for the recent major update of Sky Index indexing software. This hour-long presentation will survey the major features introduced in Sky 7.0 and reflect on the design philosophy and testing process. Although it will be most pertinent to Sky users, the overarching theme will be how software helps indexers do their work.
Spring Meeting - Saturday, April 4, 2009
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Margie Towery: "Creating Award-Winning Indexes"
Using material from her two Wilson Award winning indexes, Cartography in the European Renaissance and The Letters of Matthew Arnold, Margie Towery will walk us through her indexing process. She’ll describe her routine from the time the pages hit the doorstep to the mouse-clicking delivery of the final index. The in-between stuff will be the heart of the workshop: selecting mains and subs; wording, rewording, and more rewording; editing all along and at the end; maintaining elegance and quality while considering diverse audiences; setting the mood in her office; and letting intuition work in a hard-copy environment. This will be a chance to see excellent two indexes from the inside-out and from start to finish in the process. There will be several handouts, so please RSVP so that we can prepare materials for everyone.
Margie Towery has worked in the publishing field for over 20 years. For the last 15 years, she has focused on indexing scholarly texts. She won the H.W. Wilson Award for Excellence in Indexing in both 2002 and 2008. She has edited two of ASI’s Indexing Specialties books: History and Scholarly Books (with Enid Zafran). The latter includes Towery's essay, “The Quality of a Scholarly Index.” Her recent article, “A Joycean Usability Experiment,” was published in both Key Words and The Indexer . Margie also wrote an essay for the forthcoming Indexing Specialties: Culinary and Cookbooks.
Fall Meeting - Saturday, October 4, 2008
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Kari Kells - "Dancing on Cobwebs: Weaving Patterns With Our Indexing Decisions"
In this workshop we will examine the variety of approaches that indexers use to implement indexing principles. We will focus primarily on the Metatopic and creating Multiple Access Points, yet other indexing principles are sure o make an appearance as they are intertwined in our decision-making.
Participants will be asked to index a 21-page paper and send the index to Kari in advance of the workshop. Once you have registered, you will be sent details about completing the indexing assignment. We encourage you to register early so that you have ample time to complete your index. The official registration flyer will be available in mid-August. The more indexes submitted in advance, the more interesting and lively our discussion will be. (Please note: submitted indexes will not be judged, graded, or marked. Anonymity will be maintained. All names will be removed from indexes before they are shared with other participants.)
Spring Meeting - Saturday, April 5, 2008
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Carol Roberts - "Marketing: Building a New Business and Enhancing an Existing One"
In the fall of 2007, Carol Roberts hired a business coach and has since expanded her business, trained a team of indexers, and learned new approaches to marketing. The results have been phenomenal, and she is eager to share with us everything she knows about target markets, print ads, trade shows, tracking results, costs of marketing, networking, and—believe it or not—cold calling!
Carol Roberts has been indexing for over 14 years and has more than 600 books under her belt. She has been helping her fellow indexers with their marketing for many years. You may have heard of her workshop "Marketing for the Shy" (among others), which she's given both at ASI conferences and to ASI chapters. She is also a past secretary and board member of ASI.
Fall Meeting - Saturday, October 20, 2007
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Linda Dunn - "The Unbearable “Aboutness” of Periodical Indexing"
Periodical and database indexing are, of course, similar in many ways to back-of-the- book indexing. But there are also significant differences in the indexing of periodicals and databases (not websites). Linda will briefly explain the similarities and then discuss the differences including the contextual nature of indexing periodical articles and the mysteries of the “aboutness” and the rule of four or more. She will also cover the use of outside authority files and index-specific subject priorities. In conclusion, we will do a short exercise to compare periodical and book indexing for an article from a popular film magazine.
Linda Dunn - "Everything Is Illuminated: the Mysteries of Controlled Vocabularies Explained"
Because of the ongoing or “open” nature of periodical and database indexing, and because the indexing is often done by more than one person, it is very important to make use of controlled vocabularies in order to provide consistency to the index. Linda will explain the differences between controlled vocabularies, thesauri and taxonomies and how they are constructed. She will show examples of each and talk about some vocabularies which are available in print and online.
Spring Meeting - Saturday, April 21, 2007
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Sharon Hilgenberg - "Audience Considerations in Indexing"
Sharon Hilgenberg has been indexing technical documentation and computer books for over 20 years. She also indexes other topics including cookbooks, gardening books, and college textbooks. When she began indexing, she had no information on ASI or guidelines of what made a good technical index, so she developed her own system of what was necessary to present the information to the reader. The audience became her prime focus. She'll share with us what she has learned about these topics: big indexes, why readers use an index, types of audiences, how to find out who your audience is, universals and universal examples, what's the question?, good indexing practices, and vocabulary.
Sandy Topping - "Indexing The Geology of Pennsylvania, and Other Topics"
In 1986, Sandy Topping left a fabulous career in the glitzy church secretary biz. Several weeks later, in her new calling as a temp worker, she encountered a real, live indexer. Ever the curious little mouse, she abandoned temping and embarked on the path of learning as an indexer's apprentice. (Something like a sorcerer's apprentice, but without the bucket and dancing mops.) In a mere three years, she was on her own as a part-time indexer. Starving, she took a second job at a university while she enhanced her skills and enlarged her client base. Four long, dismal years followed: 60- and 80-hour weeks, soul-crushing office politics, co-workers without the sense God gave a goat. One lovely morning, she woke up, marched into her boss's office and gave him.her resignation. Then she skipped merrily home and took up the mantle of a full-time indexer. She has never looked back. Unless something really big was following her. This morning, among other minutiae, Sandy will be discussing the project that led to her most triumphant moment - a standing ovation from an entire banquet hall full of clients. The food was really good, too.
Fall Meeting - Saturday, October 28, 2006
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Keynote address: Kate Mertes, "NASCAR Indexing: Creating and Maintaining Speed." Synopsis: Time is money, and indexers are business people. We all want to work quickly and efficiently without sacrificing quality. NASCAR drivers don’t win races because they drive carelessly and cut corners, or because they only drive in easy races. They win because they’re good, they’re fast, and they’re good at being fast. Indexers can do that too. This workshop is divided into three parts. Part 1: philosophical aspects of speed in indexing. Part 2: the baseline requirements an indexer needs for speed. Part 3: actual speed-producing skills and practices.
Spring Meeting - Saturday, April 29, 2006
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Keynote Address: Maria Coughlin, ASI President, update on the status of ASI business, including the Annual Meeting and Conference, to be held jointly with the Canadian indexing society in Toronto, in June 2006. Maria will also give an overview of the ASI Indexing Training Course and the certification issue, and she welcomes questions and comments from attendees, so please don't be shy and give her the benefit of all your thoughts and concerns
Fall Meeting - Saturday, November 5, 2005
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Speakers:
Jeffrey Jackson, "Financial Advice for Sole Proprietors"
Marilyn Augst, "Organizing Your Overhead"
Peer review session: Term selection exercise from The Purple Guide
"Indexes from Hell/Interesting Indexes"
- John Bealle, index of A History of the American Theatre From Its Origins To 1832
- Cathy Seckman, index of Terrorism, 1996-2001: A Chronology
Spring Meeting - Saturday, April 23, 2005
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Speakers:
Fred Leise - "Information Architecture for Indexers" and "Usability for Indexers"
Fall Meeting - Saturday, November 6,2004
MCL Cafeteria - Richmond, Indiana
Speakers:
Marilyn Augst and John Bealle - Marketing Your Indexing Business
Peer review session - comparison of participant indexes of a common text
Spring Meeting - Saturday, April 24, 2004
Marriott Courtyard - Indianapolis
Speakers:
Do Mi Stauber - "Facing the Text: Content Analysis and Entry Selection in Book Indexing
Fall Meeting - Saturday, September 27, 2003
Ramada Inn - Angola, Indiana
Speakers:
Margie Towery - Extreme Indexing: Aiming for Quality in Every Project
Larry D. Sweazy - Writing Your Own Paycheck
Spring Meeting - Saturday, April 26, 2003
Holiday Inn Express - Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Speakers:
Frances Lennie - Are We on the Same Page? Indexer-Editor Relations for Indexing;
Catherine Anderson - Marketing On the Web
Fall Meeting, 2001
Marten House, Indianapolis Indiana
Sessions:
IRS Taxpayer Education for Freelancers
Ask an Indexer: Experienced Indexers Share Helpful Hints
The Bigger Picture: Editor-Indexer Relations
Insurance and Annuities
Spring Meeting, April 28, 2001
Methodist Medical Plaza East, Indianapolis, Indiana
Sessions:
Ergonomics Presentation by Shane Woedl, Methodist Occupational Health Centers, Inc.
Peer Review
Fall Meeting, October 14, 2000
Web Indexing Conference
Marilyn Rowland of Marisol Productions, East Falmouth, MA, and David Ream, of Leverage Technologies, Brecksville, OH, presented at the fall conference on Web Indexing.
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