Public Services and Procurement Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Institutional Links

 

Important notice

Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.

For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!

Search Canada.ca
To begin your search, go to the alphabetical index below and click on the first letter of the word you are searching for.

indexes: scope and complexity

An index may be general or specific. A general one lists subjects, authors, persons or corporate bodies, geographical names and other items. A specific index is limited to a particular category of entry, such as one of the items in the above list, abbreviations and acronyms, or citations.

A work may contain a general index and one or more specific indexes. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, for example, has three: an index of identifications (occupational sectors of the persons listed), a geographical index and an index of names. Multiple listings are designed to help readers research a particular aspect of the subject concerned.

The complexity of indexing has led to the development of a number of computerized indexing methods. But human intervention is still required for hierarchical arrangement, alphabetization, choice of terms, word order, capitalization and cross-referencing.