Indexes
An index allows the reader to find material in your Portfolio on a specific topic by looking for the topic in an alphabetical list. There is a mediocre index in this Guidebook.
This is not a mandatory part of the Portfolio in all programs (although rumor has it that the Latin American Center expects one? ask them).
The way you make an index is to scan every page, looking for topics and words of interest, that is, those which a reader might be searching for. Every time you find one, you add the page number to a list of numbers associated with that word or topic. So you might end up with something that looks like:
lizards snow U. S. Armed Forces
(antarctic) 23 14
45 79 72
76 163 162
122 63
(equatorial) 33
23-25
34
120
135
Then you simply sort the topics into alphabetical order, and sort the pages numerically:
...
lizards,
antarctic 45, 76, 122
equatorial 23-25, 34, 120, 135
snow 23, 79, 163
Armed Forces, U. S. 14, 33, 63, 72, 162
...
It's a little tedious, but there's really not much to it. For scanning the pages, use some of the techniques from NOTE-TAKING/SELECTIVE READING (section G.6) to practice.
Workshop Discussion Sparks
Inspired and Creative
Rigorous Training
- Practice on random pages or book chapters.
AAAAAGGGHHHH!
- An index may not have to be long. If you track only a dozen topics or so, a reader will still have a useful tool for finding stuff in your portfolio.
See Also
Contribute to the Portfolio Resource Guide!!!
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