Indexes Praised and Indexes Censured are extracted from Indexes Reviewed, a regular feature in The Indexer.

These extracts from reviews do not pretend to represent a complete survey of all reviews in journals and newspapers. We offer only a selection from quotations that members have sent in. Our reproduction of comments is not a stamp of approval from the Society of Indexers upon the reviewer’s assessment of an index.

Bantam: Kublai Khan, by John Man (2006, 384 pp, £20). Rev. by John Ure, Times Literary Supplement, 30 June 2006.

Imaginative illustrations, good maps and a helpful index all conspire to keep the reader focused on a remarkable story.

British Geological Survey: The Palaeogene volcanic districts of Scotland, by C.H. Emeleus and B. R. Bell (4th edn, 2005, 212 pp, £18).  Rev. by David Nowell, Geoscientist, June 2006.

The final chapter, on economic geology, provides some interesting asides, and there is an extensive reference list and index.

Cambridge University Press: Ancient Greek ideas on speech, language and civilization, by Deborah Levine Gera (2003, 272 pp, $125). Rev. by Andrew L. Ford, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 12 February 2006.

Most of the passages Gera’s topic brings to mind will be found to be discussed somewhere among her five topical chapters, and an excellent Index Locorum will help locate them, typically accompanied by a good selection of parallel texts and recent bibliography.

Cambridge University Press: The written gospel, ed. by Markus Bockmuehl and Donald A. Hagner (2005, 386 pp, £45 hbk, £19.99 pbk). Rev. by Anthony Harvey, Church Times, 31 March 2006.

The book is fully indexed, has 36 pages of bibliography, and 12 that list abbreviations, all of which confirms its usefulness as a work of reference on the present state of Gospel criticism.

F. A. Davis: Medical terminology systems: a body systems approach, by Barbara A. Gylys and Mary Ellen Wedding (5th edn, 2005, 559 pp, with audio CD). Rev. by Jonathan Jahns, Respiratory Care, 51(2), 2006.

This book has a thorough index that supports each of the chapters in the text. In addition, there are separate indexes for terms related to genetic disorders, diagnostic imaging procedures, pharmacology, and oncology. There is also a very thorough and complete glossary of medical word elements.

Elsevier Academic Press: Essentials of medical geology: impacts of the natural environment on public health, ed. by O. Selinus et al (2005, 812 pp, £59.99). Rev. by Ian Lancaster, Geoscientist, September 2005.

Although overlap is inevitable between chapters, and can frustrate efforts to build up a complete picture of an element that appears in several contexts, the index is very comprehensive and most relevant points are likely to be picked up eventually.

Elsevier/Churchill Livingston: Practical pulmonary pathology: a diagnostic approach, by Kevin O. Leslie and Mark R. Wick (2005, 813 pp, $275). Rev. by Joan Gil, Respiratory Care, May 2006.

The book is well printed, with pleasant and clear fonts, and the index – a crucial element of a consultation book – is good and lived up to my expectations almost every time I tried it.

Facet: The information society: a study of continuity and change, by John Feather (4th edn, 2004, 240 pp, £22.95). Rev. by Helen Dunford, Australian Library Journal, 54(4), November 2005.

It is well indexed and would be of value to students and teachers of information studies, librarianship and communication studies, as it presents examples and statistics from a number of different countries….

Facet: The internet and information skills: a guide for teachers and school librarians, by James E. Herring (2004, 171 pp, £24.95). Rev. by Richard Turner, New Library World, 106(11/12).

A decent bibliography and index complete this useful piece of work.

Facet: The library and information professional’s internet companion, by Alan Poulter et al (2005, 200 pp, £34.95). Rev. by Elizabeth Melrose, Library and Information Update, 5(6), June 2006.

It is a very useful guide for students and library professionals, easy to read, with a multitude of references that can be followed up and an informative index.

Facet: The new Walford: guide to references sources. Vol 1: science, technology and medicine (2005, xix + 827 pp, £149.95). Rev. by John Sherwell, Library and Information Update, 5(1–2), January/February 2006.

A work on this scale cannot be checked in detail, so I decided to look at one subject area related to my current employment — ornithology. The topic index (there is also an author/title index) immediately took me to the correct section; there is also a cross-reference under ‘Birds’.

Facet: Science, technology and medicine, ed. by Ray Lester (9th edn, vol. 1, 2006, 827 pp, $395). Rev. by Melanie J. Norton, Journal of the Medical Library Association, July 2006.

Two indexes contain 8,000 entries, 3,000 organizations, 1,000 topics, and 250 reference tools for information professionals. The topic index is a single alphabetical listing of subject headings with cross-references. The author/title index will prove helpful for users. The table of contents, the indexes, and the systematic arrangement of topics will help anyone find what they are looking for in this volume.

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press: Reading Barbara Pym, by Deborah Donato (2005, 124 pp, $35). Rev. by Norma Munson, Green Leaves, 12(1), May 2006.

A browse through the excellent index before reading the book will set the tone for its scope as well as provide pointers for future reference.

Geological Society of London: The geology of Spain, ed. by W. Gibbons and J. Morreno (2002, 349 pp. hbk £85.50, pbk £27.50). Rev. by A. W Baird, Mineralogical Magazine, October 2004.

The sizeable index of 40 pages makes it easy to locate descriptions of the geology of specific areas, sedimentary basins, fossil localities, geological structures, mineral deposits, etc.

Geological Society of London: Understanding the micro to macro behaviour of rock-fluid systems, ed. by R. P. Shaw (2005, 176 pp, £60.99). Rev. by Rick Brassington, Geoscientist, June 2006.

The book is presented to the usual high standard of the Society’s Publishing House with clear illustrations and a worthwhile index.

Harper Collins: Reindeer people: Living with animals and spirits in Siberia, by Piers Vitebsky (2006, 464 pp, £20). Rev. by Caroline Humphrey, Times Literary Supplement, 28 April 2006.

If you want to know about changing family relations, gender, the effect of the “transition” on the reindeer economy, attitudes to the state or a host of other topics, it is all in here (you just have to use the excellent index to find it).

Haworth Information Press: A guide to Slavic collections in the United States and Canada, ed. by Allan Urbanic and Beth Feinberg (2004, 198 pp, $19.95). Rev. by Mike Freeman, New Library World, 106(11/12).

A good Geographical Index enhances the usefulness of this reference work.

Idea Group Reference: The encyclopedia of human computer interaction, ed. by Claude Ghaoui (2006, 738 pp). Rev. by Jennifer Papin-Ramcharan, Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, 46, Spring 2006.

Because of the excellent 10-page ‘Index of Key Terms’ supplied at the end of the book, the key terms and definitions are just as easy to find as if there was one listed glossary.

Information Today Inc.: The accidental library manager, by Rachel Singer Gordon (2005, 362 pp, $29.50). Rev. by Richard Turner, New Library World, 106(11/12).

There is a thorough index…

Kevin Mayhew: One church, one faith, one Lord (revision of Hymns old and new, details not available). Rev. by David Ogden, Church Music Quarterly, March 2006.

There are thorough indexes…

Lutterworth Press: From the dairyman’s daughter to Worrals of the WAAF: The Religious Tract Society, Lutterworth Press and children’s literature, ed. by Dennis Butts and Pat Garrett (2006, 256 pp, £30). Rev. by Bridget Carrington, IBBYLink (published by the British branch of IBBY, International Board on Books for Young People), 17, Autumn 2006.

The numerous black and white illustrations support the text admirably, while the extensive bibliographical notes and references, together with the thorough indexing, indicate the breadth and depth of scholarship which the essays reflect.

MIT Press: The access principle: the case for open access to research and scholarship, by John Willinsky (2005, 290 pp, £22.95). Rev. by Charles Oppenheim, Learned Publishing­, 19(2), April 2006.

The book is accompanied by six appendices providing detail (and in some cases facts and figures), and a bibliography and impressive index.

Neal-Schumann: Copyright for teachers and librarians, by Rebecca P. Butler (2004, 200 pp, US$59.95). Rev. by D. A. Cronau, Australian Library Journal, 54(4), November 2005.

A detailed index in which flowcharts are bolded adds to the ready-reference nature of the book.

Oxford University Press: The lives of the most eminent English poets, with critical observations on their works, by Samuel Johnson, ed. by Roger Lonsdale (4 vols, 2006, 2200 pp, £320 the set). Rev. by H. J. Jackson, Times Literary Supplement, 28 April 2006.

The index of proper names (people and places) has a particularly useful set of topic subheadings under Johnson’s name.

Oxford University Press: Oxford handbook of palliative care, by Max Watson et al (2005, 819 pp, $42.50). Rev. by Darrel A. Owens, Respiratory Care, April 2006.

Each chapter contains an abundance of valuable information; however, the reader may find it more useful to reference the detailed index for specific clinical information.

Penguin: The lore of the land: a guide to England’s legends, from Spring-heeled Jack to the witches of Warboys, by Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson (2005, 928 pp, £30). Rev. by A. S. Byatt, The Guardian, 21 January 2006.

The cross-referencing and the excellent index mean that the book can be read county by county, theme by theme, or wildly at random, following up references that catch the imagination.

Rev. by Philip Crispin, The Tablet, 11 March 2006.

The book’s clear cross-referencing and its excellent index make it easy to peruse the book thematically, and to home in on, say, giants, or ‘wells and bells’.

W. B. Saunders: End-of-life care: clinical practice guidelines for the advanced practice nurse, by Kim Kuebler, Patricia Berry and Debra Heidrich (2002, 350 pp, $49.95). Rev. by Deanna Hutchings, International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 11(12), 2005.

… there are additional beneficial features: a compendium of electronic resources; a thorough index and an appendix that provides medical prognostic guidelines for non-cancer diagnoses such as end-stage renal disease or dementia.

Springer-Verlag: Amazing numbers in biology, by Rainer Flindt (2006, 309 pp, £19.95). Rev. by Adrian Barnett, BBC Wildlife Magazine, July 2006.

Amazing Numbers is better than googling, because it has a sensible index and you don’t have to wade through a whole load of irrelevance to get to what you want. [But as Richard Northedge pointed out on SIdeline, 9 July 2006, ‘It doesn’t make much sense to me to compare a back-of-the-book index to the Google search engine, because they are attempting to do radically different things. …But rather than meaning “googling”, perhaps the reviewer instead intended to compare the experience of accessing content on the web to accessing content in the book - people often seem to confuse the search engine with the web itself. In which case, there are advantages and disadvantages to both … When the sought information is in a single, defined problem domain and a well-indexed book on that subject is at hand, of course the book is more useful. Why is this remarkable? The web has its own, different strengths.’]

University of Hawai’i Press: Broken trust: greed, mismanagement and political manipulation at America’s largest charitable trust, by Samuel S. King and Randall W. Roth (2006, 324 pp, $26/$16). Rev. by Eve Lichtgarn, www.associatedcontent.com.

Kudos for the superior index, which is a necessary tool for keeping tabs on the hefty cast of characters here. [Index by ASI member Jan Williams.]

UVK Verlagsgesellschaft: Verlagswirtschaft: Ökonomische, rechtliche und organisatorische Grundlagen, by Wulf-Dietrich von Lucius (2005, 368 pp, £19.90). Rev. by Klaus G. Saur, LOGOS, 17(2), July 2006.

The index is extensive, and the book can be used as a desk reference.

Yale University Press: London: a musical gazetteer, by Lewis Foreman and Susan Foreman (2005, 371 pp, £15.99). Rev. by Diana Dixon, Library & Information Update, 5(6), June 2006.

The index is commendably helpful.