The AI Committee of the American Society for Indexing has released a white paper investigating the quality of LLM-generated book indexes, “LLM-Generated Book Indexes: Can They Replace Professionally Created Indexes?”

Here is the abstract:

“Book indexes allow readers to quickly access the information they seek. Necessary criteria for a book index include completeness (an index must guide the reader to all indexable information in the book), navigability (an index must guide the reader to subtopics and related topics), and accuracy (an index should not contain false or inaccurate information and should reflect the author’s terminology). We investigated whether artificial intelligence (AI) based on large language models (LLMs) is capable of providing indexes that meet these criteria and found those indexes fall far short. At this time, AI cannot replace professional book indexers and we are doubtful that it will be able to do so soon, or even at all.”

The full paper can be found here: ASI White Paper on LLM-Generated Book Indexes

I’m pleased to announce that my winter sale will run from January 8 through January 15 this year. During that time period, a 20% discount will apply to all editiorial and publishing services packages. Packages must be paid for in full during the sale period. For more information or an estimate, please contact me here.

In conjunction with this sale, I’m highlighting a service that I’ve been offering over the past several years: book shepherding for self-publishing authors. If you are planning to self-publish your book, ask me about my book-shepherding packages, which can be tailored to suit your needs and assist you with every step of your self-publishing journey, whether you are publishing a memoir, a family history, a textbook, or a novel. And of course, the sale applies to book-shepherding packages as well. For more information about book shepherding, get it touch with me here.

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2025!

Happy Fall! From October 15-31, 2024, save 20% on editorial services booked in advance. Advance payment required for discount to apply. Request a quote here.

I am very excited to announce that I have joined the team at Legacy Tree Genealogists as a part-time Editor in Research. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to combine my interests and invest more time in the genealogy field. I will continue to accept indexing and editing work on a freelance basis.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions! I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy New Year! I hope that the new year brings many exciting developments and opportunities to my clients. I’m offering a new service this year: book production (print and ebook) for self-publishing authors. If you are interested in receiving an estimate for this or any other service, please reach out to me on my contact page.

I’m now booking projects for February and beyond. If you are thinking about booking projects for spring, I suggest scheduling now, as my schedule fills up faster during the spring (and summer). To request an estimate, schedule a project, or ask a question, contact me here.