ISC / SCI Conference - 2009
Congrès de la SCI / ISC - 2009

Conference Program

Download a printable version of the Conference Program in PDF format (733 KB). This four-page guide includes the complete program, with descriptions of presentations and speakers' bios, as well as information on activities before, during, and after the conference.

Tuesday, June 2 (pre-conference)

Pre-Conference Activities
10 - 11 a.m. Kelly Library, 113 St. Joseph St. (4th floor)	Pre-Conference Presentation Two presentations have been arranged: (i) an exhibit of 40 incunabula from the collection of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, and (ii) a collection of facsimiles of medieval manuscripts. Presented by reference librarian Bill Edwards.
11 a.m. - 12 noon Kelly Library, 113 St. Joseph St.	Pre-Conference Presentation Highlights of the book and archival collection at the Kelly Library, along with materials from the university archives and books from the Rare Book Room. Presented by Gabrielle Earnshaw, Curator of Special Collections and Archivist of the Henri Nouwen Archive & Research Collection.
1 - 5 p.m. Brennan Hall, Boardroom 203	ISC/SCI Executive Meeting For the ISC/SCI executive; other interested members are welcome.
6 p.m. start	Pre-Conference Dinner (not included in conference cost) Our pre-conference dinner will be held at the Foxes Den Bar and Grill, 1075 Bay St. just south of St. Mary St. (directly across from the St. Michael's College campus).

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Wednesday, June 3

Today's activities will be held in Father Robert Madden Hall, the auditorium located in Carr Hall (100 St. Joseph Street at Queen's Park Crescent). After breakfast at Brennan Hall, we'll walk down historic Elmsley Place to St. Joseph Street and turn right to reach Carr Hall.

Conference — Day 1
Brennan Hall, Canada Room cafeteria	Breakfast Not included in conference cost. A swipe card for the cafeteria costs $7.18 (tax included).
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.	Registration
9:30 - 10:15 a.m. Keynote Address	Pennies, Pies, And Pointing: What They Have To Do With Indexing – Katherine Barber An entertaining and instructive look at the history of the English language with particular attention to the surprising stories behind some of the words that have been used about the practice of indexing over the centuries, and why there are so darn many synonyms in English, a blessing and a curse to indexers. About our keynote speaker Katherine Barber, Canada's "Word Lady,” is one of the foremost authorities on Canadian English. She has appeared frequently in all Canadian media to discuss matters of language in general and Canadian English in particular. As Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Dictionary Department at Oxford University Press, she supervised the publication of two editions of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary as well as many other smaller dictionaries.
10:15 - 10:30 a.m.	Morning Break
10:30 - 12 noon	Public Policy Indexing – Enid L. Zafran The area of public policy presents many challenges to the indexer. These books cover topics of economics, demographics, politics, and sociology, and frequently a single book consists of chapters by different authors, adding another level of difficulty. The material is full of tables, figures, boxes, and notes as well as appendixes. This presentation will help to unravel the complexities and make suggestions for clarity and useful index entries. About the presenter Enid L. Zafran is the owner of Indexing Partners, LLC, which specializes in indexing the subject of public policy as well as legal, art, history, psychology, and education subjects. She was the president of ASI (2004-05) and has given numerous presentations at ASI conferences both nationally and locally. She has edited Starting an Indexing Business, Indexing Specialties: Law, and Indexing Specialties: Scholarly Books, and writes a regular column on indexing style for the ASI newsletter Key Words.
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.	Buffet Lunch
1:30 - 3 p.m.	Networking: How Do I Get Business? – Elizabeth Macfie People select freelancer contractors or hire staff with whom they have a connection (directly or through a trusted referral) and whom they believe can do the work well. How do you make those connections? Elizabeth Macfie will share her various methods. To prepare for this session, think about what you want to improve in your networks and your networking abilities. Bring your business cards and your anecdotes about connecting with clients. About the presenter Elizabeth Macfie has been a freelance proofreader, editor and indexer for 12 years. She has clients in the National Capital Region, Sherbrooke (Quebec) and Edmonton – 80 percent accumulated through networking. Elizabeth teaches copy editing and proofreading and is a past chair of the Editors’ Association of Canada’s National Capital Region branch, past member of Editors’ Association of Canada’s national executive council, and past president of the Indexing Society of Canada.
3 - 3:15 p.m.	Afternoon Break
3:15 - 4:45 p.m.	Peer Review – Ruth Pincoe (facilitator) As its name indicates, the peer review session provides an opportunity for attendees to have their indexes reviewed by their fellow indexers in a friendly and collegial atmosphere. Here’s how it works: If you wish to submit an index for review, please send a copy to facilitator Ruth Pincoe at least a week before the conference (preferably in electronic format, although a photocopy is also acceptable). For a published index, a copy of the book would be nice to have handy if possible. You should be prepared to introduce the project or book, give a brief description, and talk about how you approached the job, the difficulties, decisions to make, etc. Photocopies of all indexes received will be included in your registration packet; please take a moment to review them prior to the session if you can. Attendees may break into smaller groups if there are many indexes to review. About the facilitator Ruth Pincoe has been working as a freelance indexer, editor, and researcher for more than 25 years. She is the winner of the Editors' Association of Canada Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence (1994) and has served as national president for the Editors' Association and ISC/SCI. She presently serves as International Liaison for ISC/SCI, and she is also the Co-ordinator for the Committee of International Representatives of Indexing Societies. Ruth specializes in scholarly books and now works mainly in music, history, art, and literature, but she also has an extensive background in both trade and educational publishing, and she enjoys cookbooks.
6 - 9 p.m.	Conference Dinner and Show-and-Sell Our conference dinner will be held at 5th Elementt (1033 Bay St. north of St. Joseph St., just across the street from St. Michael's College). This award-winning restaurant and lounge specializes in fusion food with an emphasis on Indian and Italian cuisine. Executive chef Johnee S. draws on his years of experience in New York City to create a unique menu, including the three main course dishes from which we'll be able to choose: Bengali Salmon, Hariyali Chicken, and Wild Mushroom and Leek Risotto. Show and Sell: Bring along any item you’d like to display (such as projects you’ve done) or sell (such as books you’ve published) – publication-related or otherwise. This event helps us get to know each other better. Set-up: you bring your things and stand beside them and talk about (and sell) them. Bring business cards and a little freestanding sign if you like. To reserve space, please contact Elizabeth Macfie.

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Thursday, June 4

Today's activities will be held in the Charbonnel Lounge of Elmsley Hall (81 St. Mary St.).

Conference — Day 2
Brennan Hall, Canada Room cafeteria	Breakfast Not included in conference cost. A swipe card for the cafeteria costs $7.18 (tax included).
8:30 - 9 a.m.	Registration
9 - 10:15 a.m.	Cross-References – Ruth Pincoe According to Hans Wellisch, "Cross references are so well known and so ubiquitous in reference works and indexes that most people, including indexers, think they need little if any explanation or discussion" (Indexing from A to Z, 2nd ed., p. 122). Needless to say, Wellisch insists there is a great deal to be said about cross references, which are often misunderstood. This session will examine a number of the more prickly aspects of cross references – the sort of thing indexers argue about at cocktail parties while the editors debate the serial comma. About the presenter Ruth Pincoe has been working as a freelance indexer, editor, and researcher for more than 25 years. She is the winner of the Editors' Association of Canada Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence (1994) and has served as national president for the Editors' Association and ISC/SCI. She presently serves as International Liaison for ISC/SCI, and she is also the Co-ordinator for the Committee of International Representatives of Indexing Societies. Ruth specializes in scholarly books and now works mainly in music, history, art, and literature, but she also has an extensive background in both trade and educational publishing, and she enjoys cookbooks.
10:15 - 10:30 a.m.	Morning Break
10:30 - 12 noon	Indexing Niches: Apples and Oranges – Sylvia Coates We will examine the commonalities of thematic term selection and index structure used in all indexing work. Then, a comparison of working for university presses, non-university scholarly presses, textbook, tradebook, and technical documentation publishers. We will also discuss the financial and career-development implications for each niche. The workshop objective is to facilitate the ability to interact and work with different client types and to expand your client base and increase your income. About the presenter Sylvia Coates has been a full-time freelance indexer since 1989, working for scholarly, textbook, and trade book presses. She has written numerous publications on indexing and has taught indexing since 1999. In 2004 she developed the UC Berkeley Extension online course Indexing: Theory and Application, and serves as one of the five instructors. The course was the recipient of the 2005 Distance Learning "Community of Practice" Award from the University of Continuing Education Association (UCEA).
12:15 - 1:30 p.m.	Buffet Lunch
1:30 - 3 p.m.	CINDEX Workshop – Frances Lennie Frances established her U.S. company, Indexing Research, 23 years ago to develop and market its best-known product, CINDEXTM indexing software. She presents what’s new in CINDEX for Windows (v2.0 released May 2008) and CINDEX for Mac (v2.0 released November 2008), with demonstrations of techniques to improve your efficiency when entering and editing data. About the presenter Frances Lennie is the owner of Indexing Research, a full-service indexing company, whose best-known product is CINDEX indexing software, available to indexers and publishers since 1986. Among many activities, Frances has been an adjunct professor at New York University, teaching a semester-long indexing course from 2000 to 2006, as well as presenting workshops and papers at indexing conferences worldwide. She has also served as treasurer and president of the American Society for Indexing.
3 - 3:15 p.m.	Afternoon Break
3:15 - 4:15 p.m.	Marketing Panel – Noeline Bridge, Carol Harrison, Clive Pyne, and Yvonne van Ruskenveld (Mary Newberry, moderator) In a cold-call query letter, should you mention the name of an editor you worked well with? Is it worth sending out all those notes to past teachers and classmates? Should you follow up with that publisher who didn’t call you back? We will talk frankly about successes and failures, with panel members who represent both the people in the industry who contract indexers and the indexers looking to be contracted. About the panellists • Noeline Bridge has been a freelance indexer since 1990, after a career in librarianship. Her indexing business was slow to grow because she hated marketing, preferring to take other work opportunities as they arose. However, through repeat work and referrals, her career finally began snowballing at the beginning of the millennium. She has made presentations at conferences and published articles and book chapters on the indexing of names. She served on the ISC executive for 12 years. • Carol Harrison is associate editor at Key Porter Books, and an alumnus of Ryerson University’s publishing program and Carleton University. Her categories include health, finance, tax, current affairs, and illustrated books. Her spring titles include The Johns: Sex for Sale and the Men Who Buy It by Victor Malarek, and The Beerbistro Cookbook by Stephen Beaumont and Brian Morin. • Clive Pyne has been a full-time indexer since 2005 after many years in business. He has a website and markets his indexing business primarily by Internet to clients from Abu Dhabi to Tokyo, Australia to the West Indies. He believes that variety is the spice of life and has indexed books on every imaginable subject from cookery to climatology, global governance to the law, medicine and ESP, history and biography, and most recently Barack Obama. • Yvonne Van Ruskenveld is director of publishing for Edvantage Press, a B.C.-based company specializing in print and online educational resources. Before helping to establish Edvantage Press, Yvonne was a freelance editor for 20 years. At Edvantage, Yvonne manages teams of freelancers working on various types of projects, including textbooks, teachers’ guides, websites and online test banks. About the moderator Mary Newberry is a freelance editor of fiction and non-fiction, and an indexer and teacher. She works with books and magazines in scholarly, literary, and trade publishing. For five years, she was the managing editor of Descant magazine, a literary journal with a forty-year history, and is now a member of the editorial board.
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.	ISC/SCI Annual General Meeting For all members and other interested people.
6 p.m. start Venue TBD	Post-Conference Get-Together

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