Events

2009 Events

Fall Workshops: Names and Biographies,
Managing an Indexing Business, Cookbook Indexing

November 6–7, 2009

Hilton Garden Inn O’Hare
2930 South River Road, Des Plaines, IL 60018

Friday, November 6—Two Programs

Morning session
Martin White will present a workshop on indexing names and biographies.

Afternoon session
A panel discussion on managing your indexing business, featuring a lawyer, an accountant, an insurance representative, and a marketing specialist.

Some of the many aspects of business management that will be addressed are:

• dealing with payment issues
• keeping accurate records and paying taxes
• having proper insurance
• advertising

The business climate is in a state of flux, and we all need to be prepared for change.

Saturday, November 7—Cookbooks and Term Selection
Fred Leise will be featured speaker for a full-day workshop on cookbook indexing with an emphasis on term selection.

Dinners are being arranged for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights (11/5-6-7) at local restaurants, and transportation will be provided.

Put these dates on your calendar now. More information, including registration information, will be forthcoming.

Recent/Past Events

Spring Practicum: Term Selection

May 16, 2009

Chicago Public Library, Austin-Irving Branch
6100 W. Irving Park Rd.
Chicago, IL 60634
312-744-6222

9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

$15 plus lunch

How do indexers decide what terms to use in an index?

Using a variety of provided sources, we will choose index entries and then discuss why specific terminology was chosen. The discussion will include the kinds of patterns and problems that indexers might encounter in various types of indexing (e.g., back of the book, journal, encyclopedia).

We will be indexing on the fly; all materials will be provided on the day of the meeting.

Getting to the Library

The library is on Irving Park Road just west of Austin Avenue (6000 west).

The parking lot is accessible off Irving Park Road on the east side of the building. There is also street parking.

 

 

Metra riders

Take the Union Pacific Northwest Line train and get off at the Irving Park Road station. At street level, board a westbound #80 CTA bus. The library is about 3 miles west of the train station. There is a bus stop across the street from the library. Bus service runs every 10–15 minutes on Saturdays.

EL riders

The #80 Irving Park bus connects with the Red, Blue and Brown lines along its route. The Blue Line is the closest elevated line to the library.

Drivers

The library is conveniently located near the Kennedy Expressway (I-90).

Coming from the north on eastbound Kennedy
Exit I-90 at Nagle (Exit #82A), travel south about 2.0 miles to Irving Park Road and then east about 0.5 mile to the library.

(Note: As you travel south on Nagle, the name of the road changes to Narragansett Avenue.)

Coming from the south on westbound Kennedy
Exit I-90 at Irving Park (Exit #44B) and travel west on Irving Park Road about 3 miles to the library.

Luncheon Indexers Chat

Saturday, March 7 , 2009

Evanston’s Rhythm Room
1715 N Maple, Evanston
(Century Evanston 18 Theatre, 2nd Floor)
847-492-9723

Starting at 12:00 nooon

You are invited to be a part of our informal discussion group, where, once again, we demonstrate that indexers are a pretty lively bunch.

Indexers of all experience levels are welcome.

Bring your own topic—perhaps indexing theory or index practice. Maybe you have questions about indexing minutiae or the big picture, getting hired, professional advancement, or self-employment.

Here is your opportunity to have questions answered or to answer them yourselves for others.

Directions are available here (PDF).

2008 Fall Workshops

October 24 & 25, 2008

Two Days Featuring Enid Zafran,
John Wean, Cathy Townsend, and Do Mi Stauber

Hilton Garden Inn O'Hare
2930 South River Road, Des Plaines, IL 60018

Complete details are available in our PDF brochure.

Friday, October 24

• Polishing Your Index (Enid Zafran)

Enid Zafran will draw from her vast experience to present the steps of editing and polishing the index.

• The Publishing Process (John Wean and Cathy Townsend)

What is the role of the indexer in the book production process? What causes schedules for indexing proofs to be delayed? Do you ever wonder why your marketing efforts seem to get no response, even a simple acknowledgment of receipt?

These questions and more will be answered by John Wean, Vice President of Educational Publishing Services, and Cathy Townsend, Director of Editorial Services, of the Black Dot Group in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

Saturday, October 25

• Taming the Wild Project List: Organizing Tools for the Complex Life (Do Mi Stauber)

This new workshop by Do Mi Stauber, author of Facing the Text: Content and Structure in Book Indexing, is designed to help the busy freelance professional.

Popular workshop presenter Do Mi Stauber, a connoisseur of time management systems for many years, has found a combination of organizing tools that enables her to excel in many areas of her multifaceted life. Her new participatory workshop provides participants with a toolkit for managing daily tasks, deadlines, multiple ongoing projects, and creative new ideas.

Registration Fees

ASI Members

   Registration received by October 1
      Friday only: $125
      Saturday only: $125
      Both days: $200

   Registration received by October 17
      Friday only: $150
      Saturday only: $150
      Both days: $275

Non-ASI Members

   Registration received by October 1
      Friday only: $150
      Saturday only: $150
      Both days: $275

   Registration received by October 17
      Friday only: $175
      Saturday only: $175
      Both days: $340

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Saturday, July 12, 2008
Summer Practicum: Term Analysis

Park Ridge Library
20 South Prospect Ave.
Park Ridge, IL 60068

9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Fee: $10, plus lunch

RSVP: carylwenzel@comcast.net

Join us for a lively group discussion and exercise in text analysis and term selection. We will summarize, in back-of-the-book-index format, short texts that can be read in a few minutes yet still give rise to substantive indexing problems and decisions.

Technically a continuation of the Saturday, March 15, 2008, meeting, all new materials will be discussed. Attendance at the March meeting is not required for understanding.

 

Library Location

The Park Ridge Library is in downtown Park Ridge at 20 S. Prospect Ave. and is near various public transportation routes (bus and commuter train). View transportation options to Park Ridge Library (PDF)

 

Important Parking Information

To park for the full period of our meeting (9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.), use the inexpensive, full-day metered parking on Summit Avenue, south of the Park Ridge Metra station. (The train station is on Summit Avenue, just north of Prospect). The Park Ridge Library (marked "A" in the map) is visible from the train station.

Map of Park Ridge Library Area

Chicago/Great Lakes Practicum
Saturday, March 15, 2008

Park Ridge Public Library
Park Ridge, Illinois 60068
9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Fee: $10, plus lunch

Join us for a group discussion and exercise in text analysis and term selection. We will consider how to summarize, in back-of-the-book-index format, short texts that can be read in a few minutes yet still give rise to substantive indexing problems and decisions.

New and experienced indexers alike are welcome; the discussion will benefit from having many perspectives. And the readings are stimulating, informative, and amusing to boot—so join us if you can!

 

Library Location

The Park Ridge Library is in downtown Park Ridge at 20 S. Prospect Ave. and is near various public transportation routes (bus and commuter train). View transportation options to Park Ridge Library (PDF)

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About Our March Practicum

One of our chapter members, Michael Jackson, wrote the following review of the March meeting, which appeared in the April 2008 issue of Key Words.

Saturday, March 15, saw the vibrant Chicago/Great Lakes Chapter busy writing indexes as a full-day collaborative exercise facilitated by Neil Ching (Champaign, Illinois) at the suburban Park Ridge, Illinois, public library. The librarians seemed surprised to hear considerable laughter emanating from the conference room on the third floor of the library.

A warm-up exercise, “Humpty, Dumpty” (familiar to graduates of the UC Berkeley Extension Indexing course) was indexed to such a degree that participants almost achieved what the “cavalry. See king’s horses and king’s men ” could not—putting “Humpty Dumpty, accident victim” back together again!

The remainder of the morning session was spent working on a technical, medical article. After lunch at a local restaurant, we worked on a current affairs article concerning the recent declaration of independence by Kosovo from Serbia, stretching our political tact and fully using our collective geographic knowledge.

In addition to adding to our indexing expertise, we found that indexing is not always a lonely occupation. As Lori Bell (Chicago, a first-time attendee) remarked, “It is so good to find other people who think like I do!”

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2007: Fall Workshops

An article on the Fall Workshops appeared in the January 2008 issue of Key Words.

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