IN 1878 I wrote for the Index Society, as its first publication, a pamphlet entitled “What is an Index?” The present little book is compiled on somewhat similar lines; but, as its title suggests, it is drawn up with a more practical object. The first four chapters are “Historical,” and the other four are “Practical”; but the historical portion is intended to lead up to the practical portion by showing what to imitate and what to avoid.

There has been of late years a considerable change in public opinion with respect to the difficulties attending the making of both indexes and catalogues. It was once a common opinion that anyone without preparatory knowledge or experience could make an index. That that opinion is not true is amply proved, I hope, in the chapter on the “Bad Indexer.”

I have attempted to describe the best way of setting to work on an index. To do this with any hope of success it is necessary to give details that may to some seem puerile, but I have ventured on particulars for which I hope I may not be condemned.

I must also ask the forbearance of my readers for the constant use of the personal pronoun. If I could have left it out, I would gladly have done so; but to a great extent this book relates to the experiences of an old indexer.

AS knowledge increases and books and magazines gather in number, the need for many indexes becomes daily more evident. We often are certain that something has been written on a subject in which we are interested, but in vain we seek for a clue to it. We want a key to all this ever-increasing literature.

As long ago as 1842 the late Thomas Watts, of the British Museum, one of the most learned and all-knowing of librarians, spoke to the late Dr. Greenhill of Hastings on the need for the formation of an Index Society. This date I give on the authority of Dr. Greenhill. Mr. Watts was a perfect index in himself, and few inquirers sought information from him which his fully stored mind was not able to supply; and he was not jealous of the printed index, as some authorities are. Twelve years after—in 1854—an announcement was made in Notes and Queries of the projected formation of a “Society for the Formation of a General Literary Index.”

IN dealing with the art of the indexer it is most important to consider the different classes of indexes. There are simple indexes, such as those of names and places, which only require care and proper alphabetical arrangement. The makers of these often plume themselves upon their work; but they must remember that the making of these indexes can only be ranked as belonging to the lowest rung of the index ladder.

The easiest books to index are those coming within the classes of History, Travel, Topography, and generally those that deal almost entirely with facts. The indexing of these is largely a mechanical operation, and only requires care and judgment. Verbal indexes and concordances are fairly easy when the plan is settled; but they are often works of great labour, and the compilers deserve great credit for their perseverance. John Marbeck stands at the head of this body of indefatigable workers who have placed the world under the greatest obligations.

RULES are needed for index making in order to obtain uniformity, but the mode of working must to a large extent be left to the indexer. Most of us have our own favourite ways of doing things, and it is therefore absurd to dictate to others how to set to work. If we employ any one to do a certain work, we are entitled to expect it to be well done; but we ought to allow the worker to adopt his own mode of work. Some men will insist not only on the work being well done, but also upon their way of doing it. This takes the spirit out of the worker, and is therefore most unwise.

ONE of the last things the genuine indexer thinks of is to make his work amusing; but some wits have been very successful in producing humorous indexes, and others have seen their way to make an author ridiculous by satirically perverting his meaning in the form of an ordinary index. We can find specimens of each of these classes.

Leigh Hunt has a charming little paper, “A Word upon Indexes,” in his Indicator. He writes: “Index-making has been held to be the driest as well as lowest species of writing. We shall not dispute the humbleness of it; but since we have had to make an index ourselves, we have discovered that the task need not be so very dry.

IT is generally agreed that that only is true knowledge which consists of information assimilated by our own minds. Mere disjointed facts kept in our memories have no right to be described as knowledge. It is this understanding that has made many writers jeer at so-called index-learning. Thus, in the seventeenth century, Joseph Glanville, writing in his Vanity of Dogmatizing, says: “Methinks 'tis a pitiful piece of knowledge that can be learnt from an index, and a poor ambition to be rich in the inventory of another's treasure.” Dr. Watts alluded to those whose “learning reaches no farther than the tables of contents”; but then he added a sentence which quite takes the sting from what he had said before, and shows how absolutely needful an index is. He says: “If a book has no index or table of contents, 'tis very useful to make one as you are reading it.”

BAD indexers are everywhere, and what is most singular is that each one makes the same sort of blunders—blunders which it would seem impossible that any one could make, until we find these same blunders over and over again in black and white. One of the commonest is to place the references under unimportant words, for which no one would think of looking, such as A and The. The worst indexes of this class are often added to journals and newspapers. A good instance of confusion will be found in the index to a volume of The Freemason which is before me; but this is by no means singular, and certainly not the worst of its class.

Under A we find the following entries:

“Afternoon Outing of the Skelmersdale Lodge.”

“An Oration delivered,” etc.

“Annual Outing of the Queen Victoria Lodge.”

“Another Masonic MS.”

Under B:

“ Bro. Bain's Masonic Library.”

Under F:

“First Ball of the Fellowship Lodge.

“First Ladies' Night.”

Under I:

“Interesting Extract from an “Old Masonian's’ Letter.”

THESE rules, originally drawn up by a committee of the Index Society, were primarily intended for the use of indexers making indexes of indexless books to be published by the society, which, being produced separately from the books themselves, needed some introductory note. In all cases, however, some explanation of the mode of compilation should be attached to the index. The compiler comes fresh from his difficulties and the expedients he has devised to overcome them, and it is therefore well for him to explain to the user of the index what those special difficulties are.

The object of the Index Society was to set up a standard of uniformity in the compilation of the indexes published by them. Although rigid uniformity is not needed in all indexes, it is well that these should be made in accordance with the best experience of past workers rather than on a system which varies with the mood of the compiler. It is hoped that the following rules may be of some practical use to future indexers.

In the eighth chapter of How to Catalogue a Library there are a series of rules for making a catalogue of a small library in which are codified the different points which had been discussed in the previous chapters.