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 & Electronic Indexing Special Interest Group of the American Society for Indexing awards a deserving indexer the annual Web & Electronic 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.
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Award Criteria & 2013 Entry Information
Award Winners
Submission Form
Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers Web Indexing Award
Award Criteria & 2013 Entry Information
Eligibility Requirements
- The index should be a browsable hyperlinked A to Z index, i.e., similar to a back of the book index, for a Web or electronic publication including content management systems, wikis, blogs, ezines, ebooks, XML and PDFs.
- 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.
- Minimum size is 20 links. However, a website or electronic 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 & Electronic Indexing SIG and its partner organization, the Information Architecture Institute (IAI). Members of other indexing societies are eligible to enter by joining the Web & Electronic Indexing SIG (ASI, ISC/CSI, SI, ANZSI, DNI, NIN, ASAIB, and China Society of Indexers).
- Up to two web site indexes per indexer is allowed.
Entries to the 2013 awards are now being accepted. The deadline for submissions is Monday 31 December 2013.
Evaluation Criteria for the Award
The selection criteria for the Web & Electronic 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
Submission Guidelines
- Please submit completed form information via email to the Web & Electronic Indexing SIG Manager at info@web-indexing.org.
- Submissions are free for Web & Electronic Indexing SIG members and members of the Information Architecture Institute (IAI).
- Members of ASI and affiliated indexing societies who are not yet Web & Electronic Indexing SIG members should apply for free membership of the SIG. Please see New Member Registration.
All submitters to the Award will be acknowledged.
Prize
The winning indexer receives US$75 and a certificate from the ASI Web & Electronic Indexing Special Interest Group.
The winner will be announced at the American Society for Indexing Annual Conference in April 2014.
Judging of the Award
The Web & Electronic Indexing SIG Manager submits the entries anonymously to the judges. Entries are judged by three judges who are experts in web indexing, using the criteria listed above.
The judges of the 2013 Award are:
Dwight Walker
Dwight started the Web Indexing Award in 1998 when Webmaster of Australian Society of Indexers. He has written several articles on Web indexing including a chapter in 'Beyond Book Indexing', The Indexer, LASIE and Online Currents. He is a software engineer and librarian pioneering merger of the two disciplines to produce new areas for indexers to explore in indexing digital media such as metadata. Since 2011, he is now Webmaster of Web and Electronic Indexing SIG including cleaning links and setting up membership areas. He has run his own Web business WWWalker Web Development Pty Ltd since 1997 including Web development, portals, networking, publishing and music tuition, online and classroom computer tutoring, holding a Web indexing class online with US, UK and Australian students in 1998. Before he started on his own, he worked for Defence, CSC and State Rail of NSW as a software engineer and systems programmer, a librarian at Canterbury, Sydney, a researcher at Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia and a TAFE NSW teacher.Heather Hedden
Heather is an instructor and presenter on web site indexing, providing conference presentations and online workshops through Simmons College and her own business, Hedden Information Management. She is the author of the book Indexing Specialties: Web Sites and is a past manager of the Web and Electronic Indexing SIG.Christine Graham
Christine Graham is an experienced Web indexer from UK and now manager of the Web and Electronic Indexing SIG.
No web site indexed by the judges or the Web & Electronic Indexing SIG Manager (as the Award Coordinator) will be eligible for entry.
Submission Form
Award Winners
| Year | Place | Winner | Country | Index | Feedback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | There was no award issued due to a lack of quality submissions. | ||||
| 2011 | There was no award issued due to a lack of quality submissions. | ||||
| 2010 | There was no award issued due to a lack of quality submissions. | ||||
| 2009 | 1st place | Mary Russell | Australia | Index to the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI) web site | further information and comments. |
| 2008 | 1st place | Rebecca Linford | UK | Index to the English Department at the University of Dundee, Scotland | further information and comments |
| 2008 | 2nd place | Michael Unwalla | UK | Index to TechScribe | |
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 in 1996 to award a web indexing prize or award to the best web site index submitted. The Web Indexing Prize was started by Dwight Walker, the AusSI Webmaster in 1996-98. In 2006 ANZSI decided not to continue with the ANZSI Web Indexing Award as a standalone item.