Main headings are carefully chosen terms that create the structure of an index. They reflect the vocabulary of the author and anticipate the vocabulary of the reader. The combination of the main heading and its subentries is an entry array. See also Subentries 101.

A gloss can be used to annotate the main heading. Glosses are often used to indicate the creator of a work, as in “All Along the Watchtower (Dylan),” the location of publication, as in “The Guardian (UK),” and the type of work, “Paris, Texas (film).”

Main headings, best practices for

Main headings should be accurate and concise. Cross-references are used to link related main headings with subentries. Avoid cross-references to main headings without subentries and double-post the term instead. If the main heading has five or more locators, use subentries to aid the reader.

When editing an index, it is sometimes necessary to combine two main headings in order to consolidate closely related concepts into compound main headings. Examples: “intellectuals and intellectualism” and “oil and oil refineries.”

Subentries are used to augment and define information related to the main heading. The combination of the main heading and its subentries is an entry array.  In this blog post, I address subentries, which are sometimes referred to as “subheadings.” There are two types of subentries: specific and generic. See also Main Headings 101.

Specific subentries

A specific subentry connects additional information to the main heading, and can often be flipped to create a second main heading pointing to the same information.

horses, Arabian, 6

Arabian horses, 6

courts, restorative justice and, 10

restorative justice, courts and, 10

Generic subentries

A generic subentry does not add new information to the main heading. Instead, it breaks it down into more basic components.

table saws, types of

calculators, features of

The subentries “types of” and “features of” are not specific to their main headings, and are therefore generic.

Using the same generic subentries consistently throughout an index provides the reader with a familiar framework with which to find information.  This is especially useful in indexes for textbooks and other highly formatted texts.

Subentries, best practices for

Subentries that begin with a keyword are followed by an introductory word (and, of, for, etc.). Gerunds can also be used as subentries.

See also

Students of library and information science may recall S.R. Ranganathan’s Colon Classification, in which he divides all things into five fundamental categories: Personality, Matter, Energy, Space and Time (PMEST).

As I acquired experience as an indexer, I began noticing a pattern to subentries. I started a list of the “generic” terms and kept it for reference.

Building on Ranganathan’s five facets, I then developed a list of main heading types (people, places, things, abstract ideas, and organizations), which I mapped to my collection of generic subentries to keep as a general indexing reference. This document is available here (PDF).

What is a metatopic?

A metatopic is the broadest subject heading used to describe a book. It is often used in the title, especially in the case of textbooks. It is important that the indexer has a good understanding of the metatopic in order to create an index reflective of the content of the book at hand.

Should the metatopic be included in the index?

As a general rule, do not include a main heading for the metatopic because its locators would span the entirety of the book. In its indexing guidelines, Cambridge University Press warns that the metatopic “[entry] would have to be so long and complicated that it would become unwieldy. It would be more practical to have entries on the topics [which] are discussed in the book.”

Exceptions to the Rule

As with all indexing, occasions may arise when it might be useful to the reader to break this rule. If that is the case, treat the main heading carefully. Keep it concise and include cross-references to related entries. The America Society for Indexing suggests that metatopic entries “be used to gather both information of a general nature and information that is inappropriate as its own main heading.”

References

American Society for Indexing, “Best Practices for Indexing,” 2015.

Cambridge University Press, “Author Hub Academic Publishing Guidelines: Indexing.”