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What Makes a Good Index?

• A good quality index is recognized by readers as having "real value". Readers find
  information quickly and efficiently with an index. It is no surprise that successful authors
  know that readers prefer to buy books with well written and organized indexes.
  
  
• A good index is a mark of a serious book: written to generally accepted indexing
  standards: it performs flawlessly. Readers find what they are looking for and
  don't give the index a second thought. If on the other hand, the index is poorly
  written, readers become frustrated and will very likely move on the the next book.
  
  
• A good index anticipates how readers will search for information; The index provides
  immediate access to the important terms, concepts and names scattered throughout
  the book, quickly and efficiently;
  
  
• The index has headings and subheadings that are concise, accurate and unambiguous,
  reflecting the contents and terminology used in the text;
  
  
• The index has enough cross-references to connect related terms; appropriate
  alphabetization and page references format to assist with reading the index; and
  is the right length;
  
  
• The index reveals the interrelationships of topics, concepts and names so that
  readers need not read the whole index to find what they are looking for;
  
  
• The index also provides terminology that may not be used in the text, but which the
  reader will use for searching through the index;
  
  
• Indexes are written for people. Indexes requires human intelligence for their creation.
  A "concordance", produced by automatic indexing software, is of limited usefulness
  and is a far cry from an index written by a professional indexer.