How to Make an Index

The above rules do not apply to subject indexes, and in certain cases may need modification in accordance with the special character of the work to be indexed. On the whole, it may be said that an alphabetical index is the best; but under special circumstances it may be well to have a classified index. Generally it may be said that there are special objections to classification, and therefore if a classified index is decided upon, it must needs be exceptional, and rules must be made for it by the maker of the index.

In the foregoing rules no mention is made of the difficulties attendant on the use of Oriental names. Under "Rules for a Small Library" in How to Catalogue a Library, I wrote:

"7. Oriental names to be registered in accordance with the system adopted by a recognised authority on the subject."

This, however, is only shifting the responsibility. In an ordinary English index this point is not likely to give much trouble, and the rule may be safely adopted of registration under the first name. But where there are many names to be dealt with, difficulties are sure to arise. In India the last name is usually adopted, and the forenames are frequently contracted into initials, so that it is obligatory to use this name. We must never forget the practical conclusion that a man's real name is that by which he is known. But the indexer's difficulty in a large number of cases is that he does not know what that name is. Sir George Birdwood has kindly drawn up for me the following memorandum on the subject, which is of great value, from the interesting historical account of the growth of surnames in India under British rule which he gives.

On the Indexing of the Names of Eastern People.

Confining myself to the people—Parsees, Hindoos, and Mussulmans (muslimin)—of India, I find it very difficult to state an unexceptionable rule for the indexing of their names; and I index them in the order in which they are signed by the people themselves. The first or forename of a Parsee or a Hindoo, but not of a Mussulman if he be a Pathan, is his own personal or, as we say, "Christian"—that is, baptismal or "water"—name; and their second their father's personal name, and not his family or, as we say, "blood" name, or true surname. The naming of individuals in the successive generations of a Parsee or Hindoo, and certain Mussulmanee families, runs thus: A. G., N. A., U. N., and so on, the grandfather's name disappearing in the third generation.

The Parsees only in comparatively recent times adopted family or true surnames derived from the personal or paternal names, or both, of the first distinguished member of the family, or from his occupation or place of residence, or from some notable friend or patron of his, or from some title conferred on him by the ruler whose subject he was. Thus the Patels of Bombay are descended from Rustom (the son of) Dorabjee, who, for the assistance he gave the English in 1692 against the Seedee of Junjeera, was created, by sanad (i.e. patent), patel (i.e. mayor) of the Coolees of Bombay.

The Parsee Ashburners derive their patronymic from an ancestor in the early part of the late century, the friend and associate of a well-known English gentleman then resident in Western India. The Bhownaggrees take their name from an ancestor, a wealthy jaghirdar, who in 1744 built a tank of solid stone for public use at Bhavnagar in Kattyawar, and also from their later official connection with this well-known "model Native State." The Jamsetjee Jejeebhoys and Comasjee Jehanghiers derive their double-barreled surnames from the first baronet and knight, respectively, of these two eminent Parsee families. Other well-known Parsee surnames are Albless, Bahadurjee, Banajee, Bengalee, Bhandoopwala, Bharda, Cama (or Kama), Dadysett, Damanwala, Gamadia, Gazdar, Ghandi, Kapadia, Karaka, Khabrajee, Kharagat, Kohiyar, Marzban, Modee, Petit (Sir Dinshaw Manockjee Petit, first baronet of this name), Panday, Parak, Sanjana, Sayar, Seth, Sethna, Shroff, Talyarkan, Wadia. Some of their surnames are very eccentric, such as Doctor, Ready-money, Solicitor, etc., and should be abolished. There is actually a Dr. Solicitor.

The interesting point about the Parsee surnames is that when first introduced, through the influence of their close contact with the English, they were not absolutely hereditary, but were changed after a generation or two. Thus the present Bhownaggrees used, at one time, the surname of Compadore, from the office so designated held by one of their ancestors under the Portuguese.

The Hindoos have always had surnames, and jealously guard their authenticity and continuity in the traditions of their families, although they do not, even yet in Western India, universally use them in public. Their personal and paternal names are derived, among the higher castes, from the names of the gods, the thousand and one names of Vishnoo and Seeva, of Ganesha, etc., and from the names of well-known mythological heroes, historical saints, etc., the name selected being one the initial of which indicates the lunar asterism (nakshatra) under which the child (i.e. a son) is born; but their surnames have a tribal, or, as in the case of the Parsees, a local, or official, or some other merely accidental, origin.

If, then, we had only to deal with the Hindoos and Parsees, they might be readily indexed under their surnames. But when we come to the Indian Mussulmans the problem is at once seen to be beset with perplexities which seem to me impossible to unravel. The Indian Mussulmans—indeed all muslimin—are classified as Sayeds, Sheikhs, Mo(n)gols, and Pathans. The Sayeds (literally, "nobles," "lords") are the descendants of the Prophet Mahomet, through his son-in-law Allee; those descended through Fatima being distinguished as Sayed Hussanee and Sayed Hooseinee, and those from his other wives as Sayed Allee. The first name given to a Mussulman of this class is the quasi-surname Sayed or Meer (also, literally, "nobleman," "lord"), followed by the personal name and the paternal name; but these quasi-surnames often fall into disuse after manhood has been reached.

The Sheikhs (literally, "chiefs"),—and all muslimin descended from Mahomet and Aboo Bukeer and Oomur are Sheikhs,—have one or other of the following surnames placed before or after their personal and paternal names: Abd, Allee, Bukhs, Goolam, Khoaja, Sheikh. But as Sayeds are also all Sheikhs, they sometimes, on attaining manhood, assume the surname of Sheikh, dropping that of Sayed, or Meer, given to them at birth.

The Mo(n)gols, whether of the Persian (Eranee) sect of Sheeahs, or the Turkish (Tooranee) sect of Soonnees, have placed before, or after, their personal and paternal names, one or other of the following surnames: Aga ("lord"), Beg ("lord"), Meerza, and Mo(n)gol. But in Persia both Sayeds and Sheikhs assume, instead of their proper patronymics, the surname of Aga, or Beg, or Mo(n)gol; while Mo(n)gols whose mothers are Sayeds are given the pre, or post, surname of Meerza.

The Pathans have the surname Khan ("lord") placed invariably after their personal and paternal names. But Sayeds and Sheikhs often have the word Khan placed after their class, personal, and paternal names—not, however, as a surname, but as a complimentary or substantial title, pure and simple.

Again, all classes of muslimin, and the Hindoos also, and even the Parsees, are in the habit of adding all sorts of complimentary and substantial titles both before and after their names. How, then, is it possible to apply any one rightly reasoned rule to the indexing of such names, or any but the arbitrary rule of thumb:—to index them in the order in which the bearer of them places them in his signature to letters, cheques, and other documents? This gets over all the embarrassing difficulties created by the paraphernalia of a man's official designations, complimentary—or substantial, titles, etc. Take, for example, this transcript of a hypothetical Hindoo official's visiting-card:

"Dewan Sahib" (official and courtesy titles).

"Rajashri" (special social title).

"A." (personal name).

"B." (paternal name).

"Z." (family or true surname).

No Englishman unfamiliar with the etiquettes of Indian personal nomenclature could possibly index such a card as this with intelligent correctness. But this Hindoo gentleman would simply sign himself in a private letter, "A. B. Z." (i.e. A., the son of B., of the clan of Z.), and so he should be indexed.

The personal names of muslimin also have for the most part an astronomical association, being generally selected from those beginning with the initial or finial letter of the name of the planet ruling the day on which the child (i.e. a son) is born.

I presume that what I have here said of the methods of naming the Indian Mussulmans also applies to the muslimin of Persia and Central Asia and Turkey and Arabia; but beyond these countries I have no information as to the methods of naming people in the other Oriental Indies, such as Ceylon, Burmah, China, and Japan.

As to the transliteration of Oriental personal names, I always accept that followed by the person bearing them.

I have put the matter as briefly as possible, and almost too briefly for absolute accuracy of expression; and it will be noted I say nothing of local exceptions to the general rule regulating Hindoo names of persons; and, again, nothing of female names, Hindoo, Mussulmanee, or Parsee.

    GEORGE BIRDWOOD.

January 9, 1902.

CHAPTER VII.

How to Set About the Index

"And thus by God's assistance we have finished our Table. Miraculous almost was the execution done by David on the Amalekites who saved neither man nor woman alive to bring tidings to Gath. I cannot promise such exactness in our Index, that no name hath escaped our enquiry: some few, perchance, hardly slipping by, may tell tales against us. This I profess, I have not, in the language of some modern quartermaster, wilfully burnt towns, and purposely omitted them; and hope that such as have escaped our discovering, will only upon examination appear either not generally agreed on, by authors, for proper names, or else by proportion falling without the bounds of Palestine, Soli Deo gloria."—Thomas Fuller.

RULES are needed for index making in order to obtain uniformity, but the mode of working must to a large extent be left to the indexer. Most of us have our own favourite ways of doing things, and it is therefore absurd to dictate to others how to set to work. If we employ any one to do a certain work, we are entitled to expect it to be well done; but we ought to allow the worker to adopt his own mode of work. Some men will insist not only on the work being well done, but also upon their way of doing it. This takes the spirit out of the worker, and is therefore most unwise.

Still, I have found that those who are unaccustomed to index work are anxious to be informed how to proceed. The following notes are therefore only intended as hints for the use of those who wish for them, and need not be acted upon if the reader has a plan that he finds better suited for his purpose. Two essentially different kinds of index must be considered first: (1) There is the index which is always growing; and (2) there is the index that is made at one time, and is printed immediately it is ready for the press. The same course of procedure will not be suitable for both these classes.

1. Indexes to commonplace books belong to this category. It has been usual here to leave a few pages blank for the index, and to arrange the entries in strict alphabetical order under the first letters and then under the first vowel following a consonant, or the second, when the initial is a vowel. This is highly inconvenient and confusing, especially when words without a second vowel, as Ash and Epps, are placed at the head of each letter, Ash coming before Adam and Abel, and Epps before Ebenezer. It is better to spare a few more pages for the index, and plan the alphabet out so that the entries may come in their correct alphabetical order. Unfortunately the blank index is usually set out according to this absurd vowel system. Commonplace books are now, however, very much out of fashion. A better system of note-keeping is to use paper of a uniform size, to write each distinct note on a separate sheet of paper, and to fasten the slips of paper together by means of clips. If this plan is adopted, the notes are much more easily consulted, and they can be rearranged as often as is necessary. Now the index can be made on cards, or a special alphabeticised[19 - Some may consider this a monstrous word; but it conveys a convenient description of blank books with the alphabet marked on the leaves of the book either cut in or with tablets projecting from the margin.] book can be set aside for the purpose. Cards of a uniform size, kept in trays or boxes, are very convenient for the purpose of making an ever-growing index. You can make a general index in one alphabet, and when you have any special subject on hand, you can choose out the particular cards connected with that subject, and arrange them in a distinct alphabet. When the distinct alphabet is no longer required, the cards can be rearranged in the general alphabet. Cards are unquestionably the most convenient for an index that is ever changing in volume and in form. Rearrangement can be made without the trouble of re-writing the entries.

2. For an index which is made straight off at one time, and sent to the printer when finished, foolscap paper is probably the most convenient to use. The pages as written upon can be numbered, and this will relieve the mind of the indexer of fear that any of these should be lost. The numbering will serve till the time comes for the index to be cut up and arranged.

Some indexers use separate slips of a uniform size, or cards, with a single entry on each slip. Although this plan has the advantage that you can keep your index in alphabetical order as you go along, which is sometimes convenient for reference, it is, on the whole, a cumbersome one for an index, although it is almost essential for a catalogue.

In the present day when paper is so cheap, it is well to use fresh sheets all of the same size—either quarto post or foolscap. Some persons are so absurdly economical as to use the blank sides of used paper, such as envelopes, etc., so that their manuscript is of all sizes and will never range. It is necessary to warn such persons that they lose more time by the inconvenient form of their paper than they gain by not buying new material.

In general practice the most convenient plan is to make your index straight on, using the paper you have chosen. Another plan is to use a portfolio of parchment with an alphabet cut on the leaves, and with guards to receive several leaves of foolscap under each letter. Thus every entry can be written at once in first letters. Where there are many large headings this is very convenient, and time is saved by entering the various references on the same folio without the constant repetition of the same heading. Possibly the most convenient method is to unite the two plans. Those references which we know to belong to large headings can be entered on the folios in the alphabetical guard-book, and the rest can be written straight through on the separate leaves.

Before commencing his work, the indexer must think out the plan and the kind of index he is to produce; he will then consider how he is to draw out the references.

Whatever system is adopted, it is well to bear in mind that the indexer should obtain some knowledge of the book he is about to index before he sets to work. The following remarks by Lord Thring may be applied to other subjects than law:

"A complete knowledge of the whole law is required before he begins to make the index, for until he can look down on the entire field of law before him, he cannot possibly judge of the proper arrangement of the headings or of the relative importance of the various provisions."

During his work the indexer must constantly ask himself what it is for which the consulter is likely to seek. The author frequently uses periphrases to escape from the repetition of the same fact in the same form, but these periphrases will give little information when inserted as headings in an index; and it is in this point of selecting the best catchword that the good indexer will show his superiority over the commonplace worker.

This paramount characteristic of the good indexer is by no means an easy one to acquire. When the indexer is absorbed in the work upon which he is working, he takes for granted much with which the consulter coming fresh to the subject is not familiar. The want of this characteristic is most marked in the case of the bad indexer.

In printing references to the entries in an index it is important to make a distinction between the volume and the page; this is done best by printing the number of the volumes in Roman letters and the page in Arabic numerals. When, however, the volumes are numerous, the Roman letters become cumbersome, and mistakes are apt to occur, so that one is forced to use Arabic numerals; and in order to distinguish between volume and page, the numbers of the volumes must be printed in solid black type.

When a book is often reprinted in different forms it would be well to refer to chapters and paragraphs, so that the same index would do for all editions. The paragraphs in Dr. Jessopp's edition of North's Lives of the Norths are numbered, but they are not numbered throughout. The references are very confusing and require a key. Thus, P stands for Preface; F for Life of the Lord Keeper; D, Life of Dudley; J, Life of Dr. John; R, Autobiography of Roger, and also Notes; R L, Letters from Lady North; R I, Letters from Roger North; and S, Supplementary. In the Letters the references are to pages and not to paragraphs. With such a complicated system, one is tempted to leave the index severely alone. This is the more annoying in that the index is not a long one, and the pages might have been inserted without any great trouble.

Much confusion has been caused by reprinting an index for one edition in a later one without alteration. An instance may be given by citing the reprint of Whitelock's Memorials, published at the University Press, Oxford, in 1853. The original edition is in one volume folio (1682, reprinted 1732), and the new edition is in four volumes octavo. But to save expense the old index was printed to the new book. The difficulty was in part got over by giving the pages of the 1732 edition in the margin; but as may be imagined, it is a most troublesome business to find anything by this means. Moreover, the old index is not a good one, but thoroughly bad, with all the old misprints retained in the new edition. As a specimen of the extreme inaccuracy of the compilation, it may be mentioned that under one heading of thirty-four entries Mr. Edward Peacock detected seven blunders. Although Mr. Peacock had no statistics of the other entries, his experience led him to believe that if any heading were taken at random, about one in four of the entries would be found to be misprinted.

In the case of a large index it is necessary to take into consideration the greatly increased work connected with arrangement. The amount of this may be said to increase in geometrical rather than in arithmetical progression. When the indexer comes to the last page of a great book he rejoices to have finished his work; but he will find by experience, when he calculates the arrangement of his materials, that he has scarcely done more than half of what is before him.

If cards or separate slips are used, these will only need to be arranged for the press; but if sheets of paper have been, written upon, these will have to be cut up. There is little to be said about this, but it is worth giving the hint that much time is saved if shears or large scissors are used, so that the whole width of paper may be severed in two cuts.

In the case of a small index there is little difficulty with material, for it can be arranged at once into first letters, and when the table is cleared of the slips these can be placed in the pages of an ordinary book to keep them distinct, and can then be sorted in perfect alphabet and pasted down. In the case of a large index it will be necessary to place the slips in a safer place. Large envelopes are useful receptacles for first letters; and when the slips are placed in them, the indexer will feel at ease and sure that none will be lost.

It is well to go through the whole of the envelopes of first letters and sort the slips into second and third letters before the pasting is commenced, so that you may know that the order is correct, or make such alterations as are necessary before it is too late. The final perfect alphabetical arrangement can be made when the slips are placed on the table ready to be pasted.

The sorting of slips into alphabetical order seems a simple matter which scarcely needs any particular directions; still such have been made.