Web Indexing Awards
Web Indexing Awards
To encourage high quality web site indexes and to promote the web indexing work of professional indexers, the Web Indexing Special Interest Group of the American Society for Indexing awards a deserving indexer the annual Web Indexing SIG Award for excellence in web site indexing. The award is announced at the Honors & Awards session of the American Society for Indexing Annual conference each spring. You do not have to attend the conference to win.
Eligibility Requirements
- The index should be a browsable hyperlinked A to Z index, i.e., similar to a back of the book index.
- Created by humans, either an individual or a team.
- Publicly accessible on the Web at the time of submission, but could have been created at any time in the past.
- There is no minimum size requirement. However, a web site index that is too small cannot adequately demonstrate its quality. A larger web site index is likely to be more highly rated than a small one all other factors being equal.
- Entries are open to members of the Web Indexing SIG and its partner organization, the Information Architecture Institute (IAI). Members of other indexing societies are eligible to enter by joining the Web Indexing SIG (ASI, ISC, SI, ANZSI, DNI, NIN, ASAIB, and China Society of Indexers).
- Up to two web site indexes per indexer is allowed.
Evaluation Criteria for the Award
The selection criteria for the Web Indexing SIG Award is based on the SIG's best practices for Web site indexes including the following criteria:
- Usability/ease of use in navigating within the index and finding information
- Sufficient coverage of web site content, i.e. indexing depth and completeness
- Wording of entries and subentries
- Correct use of cross-references
- Sufficient and appropriate use of double posting
- No broken or incorrect links
- Special features used, e.g., the use of a special method to indicate a page that is particularly important
- Attractive design
Prize
The winning indexer receives US$75 and a certificate from the ASI Web Indexing Special Interest Group.
Judging of the Award
The Award Coordinator submits the entries anonymously to the judges. Entries are judged by three judges who are experts in web indexing, using the criteria listed above.
2009: Mary Russell, Australia, Index to the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI) web site: Further Information and Comments.
2008: Rebecca Linford, Index to the English Department at the University of Dundee, Scotland (1st place); Michael Unwalla, Index to TechScribe (2nd place): Further Information and Comments.
Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers Web Indexing Award
The Australian Society of Indexers (AusSI), later the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI), was the first society to award a web indexing prize or award to the best web site index submitted. In 2006 ANZSI decided not to continue with the ANZSI Web Indexing Award as a standalone item.
ANZSI Web Indexing Award past recipients