Documentation

Use the Digital Hub and regular expressions to review indexes.

References/Prerequisites

• Export sam from InDesign
• Sublime Text Checks
• Index Linking
• SAI Tools

Vet or QC the Index

Check that the index is fundamentally suited to the book. Requirements and expectations should be determined prior to creating and checking an index.

• If an index was created in-house, use the Index QC Checklist to review the index for compliance with all requirements.
• If an index was created by an author, review the file to determine if it contains issues that need to be addressed before proceeding. This could include a lack of expected entries or obvious formatting issues.

Follow the appropriate level of compliance checking or copyediting for the publication.

Procedure

Produce a Combined ScML File.

Export XML from the typeset. Use the export option to include page indicators (“Run all - Export XML”). Process to .sam in the Digital Hub.

Convert the Word .docx for the index to .sam in the Digital Hub.

Copy the index to the end of the .sam file and save it. (Do not copy the <sam> tags, just the index itself, and place it at the end of the main .sam file, before the closing </sam> tag.)

Convert the combined .sam file to ePub 3 in the Digital Hub. (Delete any other .sam files from the Digital Hub before running this conversion.)

Review the Warnings and Statistics in the Digital Hub.

Check the ScML File

Open the ScML file in Sublime.

Run Sublime Text Check 1: Text Patterns.

Run Sublime Text Check 2: Titles, Phrases, Alt Text, and Indexes.

Review the results. Note aspects to query or apply corrections as needed.

Scroll through the ePub to identify any formatting issues that may not have been discovered through text checks.

How to Interpret Index Text Check Results

A number will not link if:

• The formatting is incorrect or does not follow CMOS formatting guidelines. This could be due to extra/missing spaces or the use of incorrect punctuation. (Fix the error.)
• The page number does not appear in the book. (Determine the correct page number.)
• The number is not a page number, as in Fahrenheit 451. (No action needed.)

“See” refs will not link if:

• The reference is a general statement like “See also specific battles by name” that does not point to a specific entry. (No action needed.)
• The reference text does not match the text of a main entry. For example, this often happens when the main entry includes a parenthetical while the reference does not. (The <xref> tags will need to be added manually when producing the .scml before processing to ebook formats.)
• The reference (or its corresponding main entry) is misspelled. (Determine the error and resolve.)
• The reference indicates a main entry not found in the index. (Determine the error and resolve.)

Identifying Elements That Require Manual Linking

Coordinate with the ebook developer regarding linking aspects to be handled (or specifically disregarded) when preparing the final ScML file to produce an ePub.

The following elements do not require manual adjustments or linking:

• In most cases, a parenthetical portion of a cross-reference does not need to be linked.
  • Example:
    <i>See</i> <xref idref="in556">White Snake legend</xref> (<i>Baishe zhuan</i>)
• General or generic references (e.g., “See also individual names”)

The following elements require manual adjustments or linking:

• Periods for initials/acronyms should be included in the link (before the </xref> tag).
• If two cross-references have similar base index term roots and use parentheticals to distinguish the entries, the full parenthetical will need to be linked manually to the appropriate term.
  • Example:
    <xref idref="in528">Roots</xref></i> (ABC miniseries);
    <xref idref="in529">Roots</xref></i> (novel)
    The </xref> tag would need to be moved manually to follow the parentheticals in these instances.
• Cross-references to subentries (e.g., <i>See</i> immunity: age and) and any cross-references that follow subentry references (e.g., <i>See</i> immunity: age and; private-sector collaboration)
• Cross-references that follow entries encased in quotation marks will not link (e.g., “Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego.” <i>See</i> Freud, Sigmund)
• Cross-references that lead to entries with complex punctuation will not link (e.g., back-to-back parentheticals, nested parentheticals)
• Cross-references that follow entries encased in double quotation marks that include single quotation marks (e.g., “A Program for Feminist ‘Consciousness-Raising,’” 23–24, 107. <i>See also</i> women’s liberation movement).
• Cross-references to entries with ampersands.
• A mix of italic and roman text following “See” (e.g., See <i>Diamond Princess</i> cruise ship)
• Ellipses in any part of the entry may interrupt the parsing/linking for the rest of the line.

Index Compliance Checks and Copyediting

Identify the project- and publisher-specific requirements and determine the level of checks to be performed on the index.

• Compliance Check: Edit to ensure the index will be functional (required for all indexes).
  • Scribing
  • Basic Compliance (alphabetization/punctuation/cross-references)
  • Unlinked Elements
• Manuscript Edit: In addition to the compliance check, Scribe recommends these checks to review an index created by an author or freelance indexer.
  • Term Integrity (form of word, spelling, capitalization)
  • Alphabetization
  • Punctuation
  • Page Locators
  • Cross-References
• Complete Quality Edit: In addition to the compliance check and manuscript edit, Scribe recommends these checks as part of the index creation process.
  • Appropriate Inclusion of Terms
  • Page Locator Quality and Accuracy
  • Cross-Reference Usefulness

For information about how to embed index terms in a Word manuscript and use the corresponding Scribe Tools in InDesign to generate a print index, see the Embedded Indexing documention page.

Reference Files and Editorial Vet

Confirm the following:

• The reference PDF is current. Determine if any changes have been made since the index was created.
• The style guide to be used.
• Page range formatting: full or inclusive. (This should always match the rest of the book.)
• Alphabetization: letter-by-letter or word-by-word.
• Inclusion of heads (inh) or space breaks (inf on first entry for each letter) to set apart letter groups.
• The length of the index. (Example: In many designs, an 8-page index allotment will equal approximately 20–25 pages scribed in Word.)
• The length of entries. Commonly, 10 page locators is the upper limit before subentries are required, but this can vary.
• How tables, figures, or maps are indicated (italic numbers vs. f, t, or m after the page number).
• The requirements for punctuation after italic words (match the full book).

Scribing and Title/Headnote Inclusion

Follow the Word Scribing procedure

In addition to this standard procedure for formatting all manuscripts, apply index-specific requirements.

• If not present, add “Index” (scribed as ctbm) at the beginning of the file.
• If the index uses italics for pages with figures or tables, create an appropriate index headnote (inhn) indicating this. Scribe’s suggested wording:
  • Page numbers followed by f and t refer to figures and tables, respectively.
  • Page numbers in italics refer to figures.
  • Page numbers in italics refer to tables.
  • Note: Per CMOS, do not italicize f, t, or m, after a page number.
• If heads are included, scribe the first entry with inh followed by in. If heads are not included, scribe the first entry as inf.

When the scribing is complete, turn on track changes in Word before applying editorial changes.

Compliance Check

For each check, note or resolve global issues or problems as appropriate.

• Check the alphabetization
• Check the punctuation
• Check the page locators

Note: Due to variations in text patterns and formatting preferences, some instances that are correct may be flagged by the SAI for editing. For example, subentries that start with full names should be sorted by last name (unless otherwise specified).

Term Integrity

Check the terms for the following:

• Form of term: Main entries should be nouns, usually plural unless collective (e.g., public libraries).
  • For abbreviations and acronyms, term is best listed under the abbreviation if that is what most people know it by (e.g., FBI). If an organization isn’t well known, it should be indexed under the full name and have a cross-reference for the abbreviation.
  • Parenthetical glosses can be added for clarity or if not all readers are expected to be familiar with the term.
• Subentries: These should always describe or follow from the main entries. They may be run-in (separated by semicolons) or indented (scribed as in1). Usually, only one sublevel is permitted, but some very complex indexes may have a second sublevel (in2).
• Capitalization: Usually only proper nouns are capitalized. If all entries are capitalized, confirm the project- or publisher-specific preference.
• Spelling: Run spell check. Check for valid word errors and commonly misspelled names (e.g., Mother “Theresa”), compound word errors, and possible prefix errors. Check against the full book.

Term Inclusion

In a Complete Quality Edit, confirm the following:

• All necessary terms have been included.
• All unnecessary terms have been removed.

Alphabetization

Windows only: Run SAI alphabetization index checks. In the “Mark for Editing” tab, select either the “letter by letter” or “word by word” option, as needed.

• Invert titles beginning with The, A, or An (unless they are subentries in a run-in index).
  • Subtitles are usually omitted
  • If subtitles are included, invert like this: Chinese Ghost Story, A: The Tsui Hark Animation
• Introductory articles, prepositions, and conjunctions are ignored when alphabetizing.
• Address numbers as entries per the project- or publisher-specific requirements.
  • Numbers as entries are typically alphabetized as if the numbers were spelled out.
  • If there are many instances, they may be placed in numerical order in a section at the beginning of the index.
• Alphabetize personal names (including fictional names) in subentries by the last name, but do not invert them.
  • Note: Automated alphabetization tools may not catch number sorting errors (including numbers that appear after punctuation). Example of correct order that may be marked as incorrect:
    Catcher in the Rye, The (novel), 41–42
    Catch-22 (novel), 44
  • Note: The SAI alphabetization checks do not ignore introductory articles in subentries. Subentries may be flagged despite being correct. When reviewing subentries, disregard articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and first names.

Tip: When reviewing a run-in index, it can be helpful to copy the text into a new file and use a regular expression to put the subentries on their own lines. With regular expressions turned on, find ;[space] and replace with ;^n.

Punctuation

Run the SAI Cleanups “Unmatched paired punctuation” and “Unmatched styles in paired punctuation.” The results will appear as Word comments.

Check the following:

• Comma between page numbers
• Comma separating the main heading/entry and the first locator
• Run-in index: semicolons used to separate subentries
• Run-in index: colon used to separate a main entry that does not have any locators from multiple subentries
• Run-in index: comma used to separate a main entry without locators from a single subentry
• No double punctuation
• Comma before Jr. and similar (King, Martin Luther, Jr.)

Page Locators

Windows only: In the “Mark for Editing” tab, select “Mark page order issues within index entries.”

If the index uses inclusive number ranges, run “Potentially incorrect inclusive numbers.”

Check the following:

• If the number of page locators listed for an entry indicates a need to separate into subentries.
• Match the inclusive page numbering format (abbreviated vs. full range) to what is used in the book. If the index uses inclusive number ranges, run the SAI tool, “Potentially incorrect inclusive numbers.”
• Any errors potentially missed by the “Mark page order issues” check:
  • Ensure numbers are in ascending numerical order.
  • Check for invalid page ranges.
  • Check for page ranges followed by numbers within that range: “100–105, 103.” If the number following the range is not indicating a figure or table (and using the proper formatting to indicate this), remove it.
• Do not create or add to ranges without confirming it is correct to do so; locators like “101–4, 105” may be correct.

Note Locators

• The page numbers listed in an index should lead to the page on which the note appears, not the page with the note reference.
• Match the project or publisher specification for format. The most common format would be 100n1. Another format, like 100 n. 1, may be preferred or acceptable.
• References to a range of notes use nn: 100nn1–2 or 100 nn. 1–2
• If multiple notes on one page have the same number, they must be followed by the chapter number, e.g., 100n1 (chap. 1)

Figure/Table Locators

Confirm the page locators for figures, tables, maps, or other forms of illustration meet the project- or client-specific requirements.

• If the book has only figures or only tables, page numbers are usually italicized. Do not put f or t after the number.
• If the book has both figures and tables, page numbers are usually followed by f or t.

See also Scribing and Title/Headnote Inclusion.

Page Locator Quality and Accuracy

If performing a Complete Quality Edit, check the following:

• Check that the locators are accurate, leading to the correct pages (and figures/tables) for entries.
• Check that the figure/table and note locators in use are the best choice for the book.

Note: If a spot check is deemed sufficient, check locators for 10 entries on the first page. If these are correct, reduce to checking 5 entries per page.

Cross-References

Formatting indications and examples for “see” references also apply to “see also,” “see under,” and “see also under” variations.

• See, see also, and see also under should all be italicized (unless something italicized follows the see /see under / see also).
• Do not use both “see” and “see under” (or “see also” / “see also under”) in the same entry. Combine into a single list of “see” or “see also” entries.
• Put multiple cross-references in alphabetical order.
  • Exception: “individual [subjects]” cross-references should always be italicized and after all other subentries. If this immediately follows “see” / “see also,” the “see” / “see also” remains italic.
• If a main entry is followed by a “see” reference, include a period and capitalize “See”: <i>See</i> Czech family camp: women of
• If a subentry is followed by a “see” reference, include parentheses and keep “see” lowercase: Czech family camp: women of, 32, 332 (<i>see also</i> women);
• When “see” reference refers to a subheading of another entry, either “see under” or a colon may be used:
  women. <i>See under</i> Czech family camp
  women. <i>See</i> Czech family camp: women of
• Check that cross-references lead to entries and not to other “see” references (known as a “blind” cross-reference).
• Check parentheses for abbreviations and acronyms to determine if cross-references are needed.
• Check if all cross-references are necessary.
  • If a cross-reference is very close to the term it references, it may be unnecessary. For example, if FBI is a term, then a cross-reference from Federal Bureau of Investigation would only be necessary in a very long index in which those terms would not be alphabetized close together.
• Check if parentheticals at the end of entries should be omitted.
  • Parentheticals should be kept if the distinction is useful within the context of the index, e.g., Frankenstein (Shelley) may need the parenthetical retained if another entry indicates Frankenstein (film).

If performing a Complete Quality Edit, check the following:

• All necessary cross-references have been included.
• All unnecessary cross-references have been removed.

Index Checking and QC

Duplicate the file and accept all changes.

Follow the procedure for index checking and quality control.

Index QC Checklist

Consult the appropriate style guide (CMOS, APA) as well as individual publisher guidelines and project specifications. Take the appropriate actions for indexes at different stages: If checking an index created in-house, follow all standard editorial checks in addition to index-specific considerations. If reviewing an index created by an author or indexer for compliance-only, identify what aspects must be noted or addressed.

Scribing and Editing

Index Expectations

Index Cross-References

Text Checks