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WHAT IS INDEXING?

WHY SHOULD EYB INDEX MY BOOKS VS  WHY SHOULDN'T I INDEX MY BOOKS?

B

I'm a member, and I've just jumped back into indexing a Cook's Country magazine special edition.  Indexing is a challenge.  There is a lot of initial learning to do, lots of details to remember, though it's all spelled out in the Member Indexers Administration Manual.  If you're the type of person who likes detail work you'll probably enjoy indexing.  To look at the manual, go to the bottom of any page, under "Learn" click on Support Page, page down to the bottom, and on the right, under Member Indexing, click on the Manual.  
I think, as members, the challenge is mostly with time; it's definitely a comittment.   I decided to try a Cook's Country magazine (my second index) because this particular issue was all baking.  I didn't want to jump back and forth between baking and cooking right away.  

If you page down to "Learn" and click on the FAQ, you'll see an explanation for what it means when a book is indexed.

 

Brendac1 - we opened up our indexing tools to EYB members in 2011 as many members wanted books they owned indexed, but they were not owned by enough members to feature on our indexing chart. Our indexing chart lists books by the number of Bookshelves they are on plus the number of index requests they have received from members. We have been blown away by how many members have taken it up. 30% of the cookbooks indexed are now done by members. We do proofread all the indexes, as the quality of the data is very important to us. Though we have some member indexers who have indexed so many of their books (over 100 in some cases) that their indexing is as good as our professional indexers so no longer requires any proofreading.

As CreativeJuices explained, indexing isn't for everyone as it does require attention to detail. But you do get to know the cookbook very well when you index it. And you have the final benefit of the recipes now being included in your searches. We suggest for new member indexers that they start with a short, simple cookbook so they can see if this is something they enjoy. Our Data Manager, Deborah, does hand-holding at the start, reviewing the first 10 or so recipes indexed to check there aren't fundamental misunderatandings of the indexing rules - or whether the indexing manual has not been read at all, as we suspect has sometimes been the case. When the index is finished, Sydney proofreads it, corrects any mistakes and gives feedback to the member, so when they index another cookbook (as we hope they will) mistakes aren't repeated.

I have indexed eight books in EYB. The greatest benefits to indexing your own books are: 1) they are indexed, so findable in EYB searches. This is especially important for books that are not owned by very many members, because they are less likely to be high on EYB's priority list. I feel like I am making a contribution for everyone's benefit. 2) I have become better at using EYB, because I understand how the indexing system works.

However, indexing a book does require a significant time commitment. And it helps to be a detail-oriented person.

Barb_N, yes, those do appear to be notes this member has added as public notes, which should have been entered instead as Personal Notes on the recipes in question. Some of them sound like indexing critiques but the member may not be familiar with EYB's indexing guidelines and ingredient formats. I'll check the indexing for those recipes -- I have access to the book -- and see if I can resolve the member's issues.

Brendac1 - an EYB member has asked me to make clear to you that the indexing priority for EYB is new cookbooks. There are huge numbers of new books published each year and we try to keep up with the most important of those from the main countries that our members come from - USA, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Because those books are newly published they will not be on a high number of Bookshelves yet but we feel they are the cookbooks that will be of interest to our members.

A benefit or member indexing is having your books added and included in searches. You get to revisit books on your shelf as you index which can help with clearing out old/no longer used/ no longer loved books.. or you can rediscover recipes that inspired you years ago and join the retro movement. I've member indexed around 50% of my bookshelf (there are a few that don't yet feature in EYBs book database as they are either so old or author published), but when I've completed all on my shelf that are in the EYB book list but unindexed, I'll be moving to those weird ones not in EYBs data base - that's another advantage of member-indexing!. It takes me around an hour to do 25 recipes..which I do each evening as a wind down from work.. (it started as an alternative to sitting on my backside having a glass of vino & watching &*!@ TV......) those "big" books take a lot of commitment .. my largest has been 900 recipes = 36 hours.... this is another reason why some books seem to "stall" in indexing .. 36 hours at an hour a day is 5 weeks minimum. Boring books/ or restaurant chef/turned author books are the most painful to process and sometimes you wonder why you bought that book ... I've Member indexed some and then ditched the book!! If you're not a detail obsessed or OCD personality type indexing will NOT be for you!!! A downside is that no one can do your shopping for you - as those short cut codes become ingrained they suddenly start appearing on the shopping list!

Originally Posted by: Barb_N

Speaking of Indexing, I'm seeing several notes by mjes about Scraps, Wilts and Weeds all referring to additional ingredients, subrecipes or components. Is this in reference to an indexing issue or just personal notes about 'store cupboard ingredients'?

My apologies. I am a very new member and did not understand the conventions for personal vs. public notes. In addition, there are cases where the EYB coding conventions do not meet my needs. For example, when I am looking for recipes to use up an ingredient, I don't care whether the ingredient is optional or required. Another example, when working with a grandchild, I don't want to explain why the amount of salt is adjusted when switching between kosher and standard salt.

Originally Posted by: debkellie

 A downside is that no one can do your shopping for you - as those short cut codes become ingrained they suddenly start appearing on the shopping list!

For some reason, even though I updated Chrome, the shortcuts don't seem to work for me.  Luckily, I'm an adequate typist, so I can get the ingredients typed and entered quickly, but I sure hope they suddenly start working.  Also, I look forward to feeling comfortable with all the different catagories recipes have to be tagged with.  Those are stressful!  Hee-hee.

Creative.Juices - that is strange about the shortcuts. You type the letters then click Enter? Regarding the category tags, the more indexing you do, the more these will become second nature and you won't have to keep checking the manual.

Originally Posted by: Jane

Creative.Juices -  You type the letters then click Enter? 

Well, don't I feel silly!  No, Jane, I didn't go so far as to click "enter".  I would type in the shortcut and wait for the corresponding item to appear in the menu.  When that wouldn't happen, I'd just type it all out.  Okey-doke.  Now I know how to do it correctly.  *groan of embarrassment*