Indexing

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t the fine line between sanity and madness gotten finer?” George Price

Indexing requires painstaking attention to detail and the ability to memorize hundreds of entries at a time. It’s about organizing seeming-chaos and putting it into alphabetical order. In large part, it’s about intuiting the authors’ minds and understanding what is important to them to log in an index. In short, a sure road to madness.

Over the past two decades, Ann has developed the ability to mentally index as she reads, thereby halving the time it takes to create a draft written index.



Indexed volumes:

• Helenisms, by Katerina Zacharia (2008, Ashgate Variorum Publishers)
• The Inquiring Mind, by Jason Baehr (2011, Oxford University Press)

A recent indexing project involved a book on Greek history, long-past and recent. She almost lost her mind with the various Hellenistic headings, but managed to sustain sanity by a thread.


The Chair of the Department of Classics and Archaeology at Loyola Marymount University had this to say about Ann’s indexing on that project:

“Ann was instrumental in the creation of a glossary of foreign words and an extensive index. ... Ann worked tirelessly with me to complete a thorough index at the required scholarly level. I recommend Ann Aubrey Hanson unreservedly to anyone working with tight deadlines. Ann will work efficiently and will not rest until she has completed the task to her client’s satisfaction.”
Dr. Katerina Zacharia, Professor and Chair, Department of Classics and Archaeology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.