At home with the children — ‘Invisible indexing’

Liz Cook

When I was a librarian, classification and indexing were always my special interests. When I married, and continued for some time as a librarian, the idea developed that, if I had a young family, indexing at home might provide stimulating and convenient work.

My first two indexes, for books of which a friend was co-author, were completed just before the birth of my first son. Working on these I had few distractions from my home-office routine. With a small baby who slept a lot, this routine could be maintained; but when Daniel grew into a mobile toddler, quickly followed by his brother, problems arose. Boxes of cards and rustling page proofs have a fatal fascination, and the typewriter is much more exciting than a stack of beakers or truck of bricks. I can be ironing, gardening or even sit idle while the boys play happily on their own; but if I produce ‘Mummy’s work’, they invariably stop whatever they are doing and clamour to help.

For the present I have settled for a combination of what I call ‘visible and invisible indexing’. Visible indexing, with proofs and tools set out on the table, is relegated to evenings, when I try to switch over from a bedtime story-reading mum at six, to a professional indexer from seven to 11. This amount of time, together with week-end mornings, when dad takes the boys off to the park or the beach, is enough to finish most jobs.

Invisible indexing — which is not included in my calculation of hours worked — consists of mulling over choice of sub-headings, cross-references, or any other thorny problems while sitting on a park bench or supervising the paddling pool. Preliminary reading and secretarial tasks such as parcelling up proofs and writing short letters, can sometimes be surreptitiously included in this category.

Working at home in the evenings and looking after a family, means that I am susceptible to family crises. For instance, I would not wish upon myself again the situation during Jubilee week, when I was rushing to meet a deadline and both boys had chicken pox. Dad gets roped in to help with domestic chores, and does more than his fair share of putting the children to bed when an index is in progress. ‘Why can’t men do indexing, then Mum could put me to bed?’ he was asked the other day. Another inconvenience is that I find I have to do during the day the things I would normally do in the evenings, such as hobbies, visits to the library, and the secretarial work I do for charity.

The nature of freelance indexing seems to suit me. I like working in short bursts, and look forward to receiving an index to do. While doing it I look forward to completing it, when I’ll have some time to call my own again. One month on, one month off would suit me best, although it never works like this in practice. I think I should find full-time evening work far too exhausting. My elder boy is at nursery school now, and I can begin to look ahead to the time when both boys are at school and I can expand my indexing activities into the daytime.

The Indexer, Vol. 11 No. 4, October 1979 pages 214–15