Indexing by Ed and Irene Rush

"I showed this index entry to the Mintons, ... I got an unexpectedly expert answer, as one does in life sometimes. It appeared that Claire Minton, in her time, had been a professional indexer. I had never heard of such a profession before... She said that indexing was a thing only the most amateurish author undertook to do for his own book. ... I'm always embarrassed when I see an index an author has made of his own work. It's a revealing thing ... a shameless exhibition...."—Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle chapter 55, "Never Index Your Own Book"

An editor asked an indexer, "My software does indexing. Why do we still need indexers?"

The indexer replied, "Your software also has spelling and grammar checking. Why do we still need editors?"

(Click any question above
for a pop-up answer.
Click an envelope below
to send an e-mail.)

Ed Rush began indexing commercially in 1998, after years of indexing his own technical documentation. His indexing résumé is available in these formats:

For a good discussion of why you need to hire a professional indexer, click the Why? question at left, or read this Alan Rinzer blog or this FAQ from the ASI.

Ed is a member of the American Society for Indexing (ASI). Many questions
about indexing are answered on the ASI FAQ page.