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.