UC Berkeley's indexing: Theory and application
Heather Ebbs is an instructor with the University of California's extension course Indexing: Theory and Application, developed by well-known indexer Sylvia Coates. The outline below is based on the description on Sylvia's website and is used with permission.
The UC Berkeley extension course in indexing is an award-winning online course available year-round. Students have one of five instructors advising them as they work through the lectures, readings and assignments over six months. The course does not have a set start/stop date; there is always one instructor's section open to accept new students. You can register here.
Indexing: Theory and Application provides a solid theoretical and practical foundation for becoming a professional indexer. Students learn about term selection, constructing a thematically structured index reflecting the text themes and concepts, working for different types of publishers requiring specialized specifications, running a successful indexing business and handling specialized types of indexes. Material is included on embedded indexing as well as on taxonomy and thesaurus construction. Reflecting the increasing globalization of the publishing industry, there is instruction on Australian, Canadian and U.S. indexing conventions throughout the course. For further details on the curriculum, you can read the most recent syllabus here.
Students use the three most popular indexing software programs—Macrex, Cindex and Sky—for assignments. Course lectures and supplementary materials are accessed through the university's learning management system. In addition, during weekly live chats, students drop in to a virtual office to talk with the instructors and other students about the course, marketing or indexing in general.
Indexing: Theory and Application received the 2005 Distance Learning Community of Practice (DLCoPC) Award from the U.S. University Continuing Education Association. The award recognizes innovation and quality of instruction in continuing education programs.
Indexing: Theory and Application provides a solid theoretical and practical foundation for becoming a professional indexer. Students learn about term selection, constructing a thematically structured index reflecting the text themes and concepts, working for different types of publishers requiring specialized specifications, running a successful indexing business and handling specialized types of indexes. Material is included on embedded indexing as well as on taxonomy and thesaurus construction. Reflecting the increasing globalization of the publishing industry, there is instruction on Australian, Canadian and U.S. indexing conventions throughout the course. For further details on the curriculum, you can read the most recent syllabus here.
Students use the three most popular indexing software programs—Macrex, Cindex and Sky—for assignments. Course lectures and supplementary materials are accessed through the university's learning management system. In addition, during weekly live chats, students drop in to a virtual office to talk with the instructors and other students about the course, marketing or indexing in general.
Indexing: Theory and Application received the 2005 Distance Learning Community of Practice (DLCoPC) Award from the U.S. University Continuing Education Association. The award recognizes innovation and quality of instruction in continuing education programs.