The Institute of Certified Indexers has completed its third annual competition for new indexers, The Purple Pen Award. The winner for 2016 is Sam Arnold-Boyd.
She writes about her indexing career to date:
I dreamed of opening an indexing business since taking an indexing course as part of my work for an MLS from Emporia State University. I first needed to finish a varied career as a teacher and school librarian, which I did in 2015. I then completed the University of California Berkeley Indexing: Theory and Application course with Fred Leise as my instructor and Kari Kells’ tutorials. In addition to the MLS, I have a BA in Linguistics and a MS in Interdisciplinary Studies: Teaching, both from the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Sam, whose indexing business is named Cascade Indexing, is active in the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the American Society for Indexers.
She won the 2016 Purple Pen Competition with her index for A Thousand Cuts: The Bizarre Underground World of Collectors and Dealers Who Saved the Movies by Dennis Bartok and Jeff Joseph, published by the University Press of Mississippi.
ICI reports strong interest in this new indexer competition which is open internationally to indexers who have completed a training course in the past five years and submit an index done for payment (in other words, not a practice index or pro bono job). Each entrant received a detailed feedback report compiled from the feedback of three ICI-member judges. Once again contestants have commented their impetus to enter is to get the comments and guidance the panel of experienced and well respected judges share. The contest gives entrants the unique opportunity to learn on a project they have done personally and see specific ways how to improve the index.
The standards for the anonymous judging come from the Best Practices on the ICI website: www.certifiedindexers.com.
Congratulations Sam!