Freelance Indexer Exchange

This is the third installment of Michelle's conversation with Enid Zafran. She talks about how she balanced her role at the Director of Indexing Services at the Bureau of National Affairs while growing her business, Indexing Partners. She also discusses her role, along with David Ream, in introducing Cindex to legal publishers.
The first two installments of Michelle's conversation with Enid:
Episode #18 Enid Zafran: Indexing in the 1970s and early 1980s

Episode #20 Enid Zafran: Indexing Services at the Bureau of National Affairs from 1990 to 2002
Enid Zafran will discuss her decision to leave the Bureau of National Affairs in the next installment.
Add-on dictionaries (NOT an affiliate link): Spellex

Do you have a suggestion or comment to share? Maybe you have a burning question about indexing or the business of freelancing. Drop your thoughts in the Exchange Box. We would love to hear from you!

In this episode, Michelle returns to the index edit to discuss the costs (literal and figurative) and benefits of having another index edit or proofread your index.
In the first episode in this series, #19 Index Edits - An Introduction, Michelle details her current and past experiences with index edits and the different types of index edits.
In the See Also segment, Michelle talks about how an old-school, nontech item on her desk helps keep her on schedule. (Note: This is NOT an affiliate link.)
Be sure to share the nontech items you use in your business with Michelle. She'd love to hear how you work!

Do you have a suggestion or comment to share? Maybe you have a burning question about indexing or the business of freelancing. Drop your thoughts in the Exchange Box. We would love to hear from you!

Today's episode continues the conversation between Michelle and Enid Zafran. The last episode (episode #18) left off with Enid joining BNA as the Director of Indexing Services. Now Enid will talk about what it was like to index in the 1990s during the transition from mainframe computers to indexing on personal computers with dedicated indexing software.
If you missed the first installment, be sure to listen to Enid talking about her career as an indexer from the mid-1970s through the 80s.
Learn about Enid Zafran and Indexing Partners.

Do you have a suggestion or comment to share? Maybe you have a burning question about indexing or the business of freelancing. Drop your thoughts in the Exchange Box. We would love to hear from you!

In today's episode, Michelle introduces the concept of index edits. She details the types of index edits as well as her experiences in indexer-editor partnerships.
Episodes referenced in this episode:
#3: Year-End Business Review Part 1
#4: Year-End Business Review Part 2
#5: Year-End Business Review Part 3
#9: Per Page, Per Entry, Per Word: Translated Into an Hourly Rate
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Index Peer Review Group on groups.io
Melanie Gee's article on peer review exercises (access available to subscribers of The Indexer)
Bill Johncock's article on editing checklists (access available to subscribers and nonsubscribers of The Indexer)

Do you have a suggestion or comment to share? Maybe you have a burning question about indexing or the business of freelancing. Drop your thoughts in the Exchange Box. We would love to hear from you!

In this episode, Michelle discusses the fate of bespoke indexing software programs in light of Scribendi.ai's announcement about CINDEX. As of April 1, Scribendi will no longer distribute or support CINDEX, but will make it available as an open-source program. Michelle attempts to address what indexers can do to ensure the continued development and distribution of the software programs.
Maria Sullivan, an indexer who has been providing support to CINDEX users both when it was owned by Indexing Research and Scribendi, sent an email to the CINDEX Users listserv about this upcoming change. Her email is shared below with Maria's permission.
But first, here are some links Michelle mentioned in the episode:
Macrex site
CINDEX Users group page. If you're interested in hearing more about the open-source efforts, be sure to join the subgroup.
Index Manager - software for embedded indexes. This software is billed yearly as a subscription plan.
And if you'd like to join the conversation about legacy planning (please do!), you can send Michelle a voice message at indexerpodcast.com.
Or you can drop her a note in the Exchange Box.
If you know anyone who uses CINDEX but has not heard the news about the upcoming change, feel free to send them a copy of Maria's email.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
From Maria Sullivan to Cindex Users listserv:
Please take a look: https://www.scribendi.ai/cindex/
Most of you have no doubt read the announcement from Scribendi regarding the future of CINDEX. First, let me reassure you that CINDEX is NOT GOING AWAY.

This change will mean that the CINDEX community will grow—this will make CINDEX stronger, more universal, more nimble, and more useful to indexers and publishers around the world.

For those of you who already own licensed copies of CINDEX, the program will continue to work as it has, and this will have no change in your personal copy.

One important change: after the transition to open source is complete, free software support will no longer be provided. Please rest assured that I am working on transitioning to another platform for support, and should have news coming about that soon.

There is a world of available information on open source software: please research and read up on open source and make yourself more familiar with how this model differs from a traditional proprietary licensing model. You will be surprised to hear how many of the tools that you use every day are based on open source code. I’d like to encourage any coders in the group to get ready for the release of the code. Let’s help other indexers by creating new open installers and augmenting the existing functionality.

Like always, and especially for the short-run, I encourage you to make sure that you have a current copy of the CINDEX installer and your serial number. Tuck these away in a safe place (not on your computer!) in case something happens to your equipment that would cause you to need to reinstall. In the future, we will not need these, but for now it’s best to be prepared so that you can keep indexing!

Thank you,

M—

Maria A. Sullivan

Email: [email protected]

Indexing

Do you have a suggestion or comment to share? Maybe you have a burning question about indexing or the business of freelancing. Drop your thoughts in the Exchange Box. We would love to hear from you!