Thousands of non-fiction books are published every year; we can’t index them all! Help us out by joining the Society of Indexers. Our training course will prepare you for a stimulating career in book indexing. Find out more at buff.ly/KIf3uHP

A variation on a theme: author disappointed by the lack of an index #IndexSky

From the index for my book THE INTERNET WILL DIE, AND SO WILL YOU (out in Sept. 10). Here are some accidental poems: globalization Glück, Louise God G/O Media control of fragility of function of as human as magic as transporter Macbeth machine learning maggots

If you’re intrigued about indexing as a career, explore our online self-paced training course. You’ll index two book-length works before you finish, making you ready to take on professional projects and join the supportive community of this niche career #IndexDay

If you’re an author or publisher looking for an indexer for your book, we have a Professional Directory of accredited indexers. Search by subject and skill to find the right indexer for your project. But book early – there is high demand for our services #IndexDay buff.ly/QNq1llm

Indexers are often asked if they read every word. Yes, we do! And the indexer's eyes will often be the last to do so before the book comes out. We will raise any issues we spot. It's not a free proofread, but it is a quality check.

Couldn’t indexing be done by a computer, or AI? No, because the usual problems with AI accuracy apply. It’s more efficient for a human to index a book for another human to use. We don't recommend AI or automated tools that can't meet indexing standards #IndexDay

Indexers really do read every word of each book, analyse the concepts presented and think how the reader will search for them. We must be highly accurate and also flexible to the needs of different books and clients. We have excellent vocabularies and are expert readers #IndexDay buff.ly/glTobKP

Thank you!

So who are the indexers? We come from a wide variety of backgrounds and bring our professional experience and subject area knowledge to our indexing work. You can read about some of our members’ indexer origin stories in our blog post #IndexDay

Thank you! LIS people are very supportive of what we do.

@baindex.org has posted about her freelance career and how it has shifted towards indexing over the years. Happy Anniversary!

We’re all about high quality and standards in indexing. But how can you tell a good index from a bad one? Good indexes anticipate and serve the needs of the reader. They are appropriate to the length of the book, concise without being elliptical, inclusive without being over-complex.

There's also a lot of older free material on the @livunipress.bsky.social Indexer page. Lots of tips and interesting articles.

Very good to hear positive comments from a student indexer currently on our training course.

What is an index, and why is it important? An index is a map; it makes the information in books accessible to readers. It gives a sense of the coverage of the book, and whether it contains the information you need. And you can go back after reading to find what you want #IndexDay buff.ly/LMIHOqs

For #IndexDay, a new blog post by Ruth Martin explores what our members say when they talk about indexing. What's the best way to communicate what we do? www.indexers.org.uk/posts/what-w...

The Society of Indexers was founded in March 1957 to promote excellence in indexing. We train indexers, help clients find indexers, share information on indexing, and raise awareness of the importance of indexing. #IndexDay. You can read more about our history at buff.ly/IwKrPDK

From our lovely President @carosanderson.bsky.social so follow us for all things indexing on #IndexDay

Welcome to National Indexing Day! We're the UK's professional society for book and journal indexing, and we're celebrating our founding anniversary with lots of posts about indexing, indexes and indexers. Follow #IndexDay to join in.

Last day to book for @indexers.bsky.social National Indexing Day #IndexDay workshop for publishers, with speakers @carosanderson.bsky.social, Rachel Gee, @tanyaizzard.bsky.social and me. We’d love to discuss how to keep your readers happy with quality book indexes by human indexers!

Absolutely the last day to book for our #IndexDay workshop, 31 March in London @publishersassoc.bsky.social. Don't miss out on this opportunity for publishing professionals to understand more about how indexers work and how they can add value to non-fiction books. Book your place

Penultimate day for bookings for our #IndexDay workshop, 31 March in London @publishersassoc.bsky.social, a chance to learn more about indexing from professional indexers @baindex.org, Rachel Gee, and @tanyaizzard.bsky social

Publishing professionals, please join us for Society of Indexers’ National Indexing Day #IndexDay workshops on Tues 31 March, with speakers @carosanderson.bsky.social (Hon President @indexers.bsky.social), Rachel Gee, @tanyaizzard.bsky.social and me. We’d love to talk about book indexes with you!

Only a few more days for publishing professionals to book for our #IndexDay workshop, 31 March in London @publishersassoc.bsky.social. Sessions on the value of indexes, working with indexers, indexing software and AI. Book by 24 March

Publishing professionals! There’s still time to book your place for our #IndexDay workshop in London @PublishersAssoc on 31 March. This is your chance to learn more about indexing from experienced professional indexers. More information and booking details here

What’s it like to index a book? Experience this intellectual challenge for yourself with indexer @baindex.org, who’ll lead an indexing exercise for publishing professionals at our #IndexDay workshops on 31 March. Book your place at

What can indexing software do? How do indexers use it? What is embedded indexing, and what about AI and automation? Find our more from indexer @tanyaizzard.bsky.social at our 31 March workshops for publishing professionals. Book at

Just two weeks to go until our #IndexDay workshops in London @PublishersAssoc and a few places are still available. Don't miss this chance to learn more about how indexers work and how they can add value to non-fiction books. Book your place for 31 March at

Really very amusing (and slightly confusing) to see your book summarized as a list of terms in your index. Reform (think tank) Reform Bill (1832) Reform Club Reform UK (party)

How do indexes make knowledge more accessible? Indexer Rachel Gee will explain how indexers create indexes with readers in mind at our 31 March workshops for publishing professionals. Book your place at

What value do indexes add? How can you identify a good index? What skills and qualities do professional indexers bring to an indexing project? Indexer @baindex.org will explore all these points at our 31 March #IndexDay workshops for publishing professionals. Book your place now at buff.ly/f0W1mZC

A great day at @cilipmdg.bsky.social’s #MetaFutures conference. Enjoyed presenting on crossovers between @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social, plus all the talks, side chats, and pub quiz (even the ‘MARC Maths’ round). Thank you for having me and hope the rest goes well. #IndexSky

Join us for our #IndexDay workshops on 31 March in London at the Publishers Association. Learn about indexing in the publishing process, what makes a good index, what AI and technology can and can't do, and try indexing for yourself. Book your place now at

Trying indexing for the first time is always enlightening, and sometimes it leads you directly to a career in indexing.

Indexers & Librarians have common goals Both information and knowledge professionals dedicated to serving the needs of readers (customers, users) by identifying content of books (e.g. subject headings). Both are about helping people to find information. #MetaFutures

Paula trained in indexing while working as a freelance proofreader and copy-editor. The same publishing contacts gave out indexing work too. - She has a background in publishing, but many other indexers have a librarianship background #MetaFutures

Indexes save the reader time and hassle They provide access to information within book Computer search is not the same – a computer doesn’t read like a human, and so it can’t index like one AI problems: lead to ‘spicy autocomplete’ rather than deep, thoughtful reading #MetaFutures

Now to "Indexers and information professionals: crossovers and co-operation" with Paula Clarke Bain @baindex.org ​from Society of Indexers @indexers.bsky.social #MetaFutures

A twist on the disappointing lack of an index: teasing the reader with the prospect of an index, but not delivering #IndexSky

Indexer on the latest of many trains in March 2026. Off to Clifton in Bristol for the @cilipmdg.bsky.social #MetaFutures conference, where I’m presenting tomorrow on the links between the work of @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social. Nice to see the Malvern Hills again on the way. #IndexSky

Great to see some new index users getting started! Indexing books for children is a specific skill - see buff.ly/SgdRGrZ for more information on this fascinating area of work #IndexSky

Having a bit of a moment looking at the index of an archaeological report done by someone who has archaeological experience but has not been trained as indexer and it shows. No names, no pack drill, but this is why it is important to have someone trained and knowledgeable doing your indexes.

Market your book with its index...

Our #IndexDay workshops on 31 March in London at the Publishers Association are filling up. Book now to make sure of your place at these workshops and learn more about this key aspect of book publishing

Glad to be speaking at the CILIP MDG #MetaFutures conference in Bristol next week on ‘Indexers and information professionals: crossovers and co-operation’ and links between @cilipmdg.bsky.social @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social. Keen to tackle the evening pub quiz too. 🤓 #IndexSky

I had a super time talking about how much I enjoy indexing archaeological site reports, and keeping up with current research with @currentarchaeology.bsky.social (although a fair few of the articles are about books I have already worked on). And I got to talk about poo again! Fecal steroids!

Our March session featured indexer @nicolaking.bsky.social talking about indexing archaeology texts. These are published by a range of organizations – consultancies, societies, universities, museums as well as publishers.

Yup, even popular non-fiction needs an index. Readers notice and want better.

Another World Book Day treat. SI member @susanpennyindexing.bsky.social combines her indexing career with work as a bookseller, seeing the book trade from two very different perspectives: