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Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [indexing]

This tag should be used for questions that deal with the indexing of written works, such as when asking a question about the page numbers in a novel or the index in academic writing.

This tag should be used for questions that deal with the indexing of written works, such as when asking a question about the page numbers in a or the index in .

17 questions
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Should all books have page numbers?

I am interested in whether there are any compelling reasons why print books should always have page numbers. In particular, I am thinking of books comprising many elements that are each typically smaller than a page and each entry is itself…
Daniel Austin
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How do you build good per-book *and* global indexes?

For our SDK, we generate individual documents (PDFs) and one big HTML doc set (CHM file) from the same Docbook source. Each book has an index, and the HTML version has an integrated index that is the union of all the individual entries. We have…
Monica Cellio
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Is there a standard for what should be included in an index?

I have a non-fiction book that I want to create an index for. Is there any standard for what items should be included in an index? Some things are obvious like names and proper nouns. But, is there any set of guidelines I can or should refer to in…
Questioner
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singular or plural for index entries

I am in the final stages of writing a book and currently I am preparing the index. Are there any rules whether index entries should be listed in singular or plural? Currently I have Markov chains, 20, 30-40, 50 with discrete state space, 33 …
jochen
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1 answer

What do "p" and "pp" mean in the context of an index?

I am creating an index for a non-fiction book, and I am using LibreOffice writer. It has functions that help generate an index. When it does so, some of my entries look like this: stuff..... 9, 12pp., 20, 27, 134p. What I can't figure out is what…
Questioner
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Handling alternate spellings of a personal name

I'm dealing with a text that mentions several times the architectural historian Siegfried Giedion. A number of Giedion's books feature his first name as "Sigfried" and others as "Siegfried." What is the Chicago Manual of Style's guidance on how to…
Typothalamus
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Indexing: after or during the writing process

I use Latex for writing articles/papers/longer documents. Most of these documents are scientific in nature, and therefore it is often useful to add an index of the most important terms at the end of the document. However, I find it difficult to…
Klangen
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How to find clients for my indexing service

I am interested in making indexes for books. I believe I am very good at it, and others (authors, publishers) have told me so as well. Can you share with me if you have any suggestions how I can acquire leads for potential customers? Which people to…
yishairasowsky
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Create automatic index from text document

Is there some software which can automatically do a basic index from my Text document (MS Word) for me? I have written multiple speaker text's (each 2-3 MS Word pages in german language) for videos I created (25~ Videos). Now I want to automatically…
elhombre
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How can I add an hyphen to the chapter titles of my index without adding it to the titles of the actual chapters?

I'm going to give you an example, just for clarity (I'm using Word). Here is what I'd like my index titles to look like: Chapter 1 - The Great Return Chapter 2 - Lucy's Dinner etc... Whereas the titles at the beginning of each chapter should…
Fran
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What does an italicized ``n'' mean in an index entry of an old book?

The following snippet is from a the INDEX of book that was published in 1877: I would like to know what the n means in, for example, the index entry Acworth, George, 100, *n*. I don't ever recall having seen this before. Is this, perhaps, some…
DDS
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Where should index and glossary appear in a report?

I am writing my thesis and now wonder whether I should typeset index and glossary as an appendix or after them. There's no department-level accepted writing style, so my adviser's opinion might be different from that of my thesis committee. Hence, I…
Mohammad Hedayati
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Indexing a long title with multiple parts and "The" at the beginning

In indexing a lengthy, clumsy title like this: The Orphans, The First Day: The Blue Sedan I'm wondering where the ", The" should be placed: Orphans, The, The First Day: The Blue Sedan Orphans, The First Day: The Blue Sedan, The Neither of…
jdscomms
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1 answer

How do I index an author who published with and without middle initial?

How do I index an author who published articles with and without middle initial? For example, I cite an author who published as J. Bloggs, An important paper, Some Journal, 1993 and J. Z. Bloggs, Another important paper, Some Journal, 1995. When I…
user1362373
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How to list complex Spanish names in Last + First order in an index?

I am writing a book that covers Latin American history, but is written in English. There are many Spanish names. Here I've listed some examples, and marked their surnames in bold: Francisco “Pancho” Villa Francisco Vázquez de Coronado Diego de…
Village
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