Indexes and Indexers

[ via Michael Ward ] The Spectaor (UK) reviews an anthology on indexes and indexing:

The review pulls out several gems of humor and wit in indexing. It is part of the book’s metadata, often compiled by someone other than the author, so the book may come with its own reviewer:

What the anthology demonstrates abundantly and entertainingly is that the good indexer’s wit, in every sense, serves to sign-post not only the book but sometimes, it seems, human nature itself. In Desmond Ryan’s biography of James Stephen, The Fenian Chief, comes this entry:

O’Brien, An:

     never turns his back on an enemy, 32.

     would never retreat from fields in which ancestors were kings, 33.

     does, 34.

Emphasis in original.

Weblog entries such as this are what you get when you put a librarian, an eBook publisher, and a programmer together with beers, and they discuss eBay’s categorization schemes.

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