Evening star., 1933-01-25

Our apologies are due to the many
persons who have called up on the
telephone to ask the dates Of the two
recent articles in this column on the
books Of Jane Austen.
The correct dates are y. January Z
and 9. Our error in bookkeeping was
due to the difficulty OF making a flaw
less index. an almost impossible task,
as any one knows who has ever tried it.
Indexing Is not business which
comes natural to every one, either.
1t Is, in fact, such a difficult task
that one seldom runs onto even an ap-
Proclamation of perfect indicator OF
the position Of information on any
given subject in book.
An index Is such a common thing
today that reader seldom stops to
realize that what he accepts without
question was once not part of books.
Today Index" means alphabetical
list, as given above, but it may mean,
as it sometimes does, q chronological
list, or classified list.
The many good points Of the plain
alphabetical list led to its adoption
around the world. until today there are
books written about the SCIENCE and art
Of indeXing.
Many a good book has a poor index
Indeed, upon occasion one is tempted
to feel that book invariably is better
than its index.
This comes about, the amateur may
feel. solely because the man who was
making the index-often a separate
iob-was either too familiar with his
material or not close enough to 1t.
He failed to put himself into the
shoes of the average reader Of the
work, that reader who would come to
it as complete stranger, and who
might want to look up something or
other.
There are, of course, certain natural
ways of indexing, but, in addition, there
should be enough cross-indexing to
make certain that even the most un-
skilled reader will be able to find what
he wants without waste of time.
Otherwise, an index might as well be
left out. While a certain amount OF
intelligence must be granted the ordi-
nary reader, he does not in any sense
set himself up as an expert on the sub
ject of given book.
Because he seeks knowledge, indeed,
Is the precise reason, in most instances,
why he reads certain volume.
If writer and publisher wish to make
the use of it as pleasant as they may
to this. their unknown reader, 1t Is their
duty to provide some sort of index OF
the contents.
What we call the table of contents"
was all the index provided in the books
of centuries ago. The great Marcus
Tullius Cicero called his tables OF con-
tents indexes"
During the Middle Ages the Index
Librorium Prohibitorium became IA
nous. In this usage the word means
a list of books.
Where the average book index falls
down. for the average reader. is in the
common failure to list desired subject
under more than one heading.
Another failure, often met, Is incom-
plete indexing. In such case the gen.
tleman who did the work was not ia
miliar enough with the book before him.
Under the first heading. the indexer
is to be excused for not seeing all the
unintentional ignorance Of the reader.
He is to be excused, undoubtedly
but he should make an attempt to un-
derstand it. after all, because the
reader is the one for whom the book Is
printed and published and indexed.
It seems to us that this plain fact Is
too often forgotten.
The reader is cit" in the last an
alysis and everything that is done Is
done for his approval.