Just-in-time IndexingIndexing often waits until a document is nearly finalized or “camera ready.” This is because indexers often need to have the final page numbers or the original document files before starting. But, starting the index so late means extending the publication process by several days or even weeks. And the time available to create a quality index — likely the most well-used part of any business or technical publication — can be severely squeezed.Industry, on the other hand, has moved towards manufacturing processes where the production and delivery of parts are carefully coordinated. Using software being developed by Allegro Technical Indexing, we can apply the “just-in-time” method to creating indexes. The goal is to have the completed index arrive within a day or two of the final camera ready book or manual. Under a just-in-time indexing system, indexing begins once a chapter or section has been fully copyedited. At this point, the “content” of the chapter or section is stable, and most of the work remaining has to do with layout and formatting. The availability of copyedited chapters or sections needs to be scheduled so that the indexer has a steady flow of material to work on. The indexer creates a separate text-based index using one of the capable dedicated indexing packages such as Macrex, Cindex or SKY Index Professional. Once the index has been written and edited, the final page numbers from the camera ready copy are automatically included in the index using Allegro software. This process can be done in one of two ways: (a) automatically converting temporary reference locators in the text-based index into page numbers, or, (b) automatically embedding the text-based index in the document files Either way, the end result is the same. A high quality index arrives within a day or two of the camera ready document. Fred Brown
November,
2001
|