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ABOUT INDEXES

A good index is to a reader what a good map is to a traveler. It extracts the information from a book to help the reader find it efficiently. It doesn't recount content, but rather collects essential elements of it under logical labels in alphabetical order, anticipating the needs of the reader. Additionally, a GOOD index:

ADDS VALUE to a book
IS NOTICED by purchasing librarians and real readers in bookstores
is written by a SKILLED PROFESSIONAL, who combines in it both the SPECIFICATIONS of the publisher and NEEDS of the reader
has a LOGICAL, coherent structure
is an extraction of the KEY CONCEPTS and terminology contained in the text
uses SYNONYMS effectively to assist the user to the information by using his own terminology
SAVES the editor TIME and aggravation and provides an additional free proofreading of the text

A GOOD index can't be "written" by a computer program. Such a program can find words in the book and list them, but it can't decide what sentences, paragraphs, or pages of written words are "about" and then find words to lead the reader to that "aboutness" and relate them to others meaningfully and usefully. I use Sky Index, a superb dedicated indexing program, as a tool for accomplishing selected mechanical tasks. My own knowledge, training, and sensitivity are the tools which extract information, find words to lead the reader to that information and also relate it to other information for the sake of the reader's needs and intentions.

The website of the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INDEXERS (ASI) (asindexing.org)
offers more valuable information about indexing, including an Indexing Evaluation Checklist, and pertinent data regarding the work of indexing and the training, concerns, interests and standard practices of professional indexers.

Other sources are its sister organizations,
the Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada (IASC) (indexers.ca),
the Australian & New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI) (aussi.org),
and the Society of Indexers (SI) (socind.demon.co.uk).