The American Society for Indexing held its 2025 Virtual Conference, “Spring into Action,” on Friday, April 25, 2025, and Saturday, April 26, 2025. Sessions were held virtually on Zoom each day.
In the last session on Friday, How to Spring into Action and Not Get Cross with Cross-references (and Double Posting), Pilar Wyman shared strategies for complete coverage with regard to cross-references and double posting. She first defined cross-references and double posts, distinguishing between the two. Then she focused on generic and specific cross-references. She discussed when to use cross-references, for preferred terms, full terms, or related terms. She gave examples of how to style cross-references.
She next discussed when to double post. She said that if a cross-reference leads users to an entry with a single (or just a few) locators, double post. She added that if a double post takes up as much space as a cross-reference, it’s not a question of preferred language, then double post. She followed with examples of double posts.
She gave best practices for cross-references and double posts:
- Always use cross-references and double posts judiciously.
- Always provide multiple access points.
- Always verify cross-references. Validate that targets match.
- And remember: too may cross-references can make for cross readers!
She then concluded with best practices for author/editor questions.
In the next blog posting, I will discuss the first Saturday session from the ASI 2025 Virtual Conference. For more information about the services provided by the author of this blog, see the Stellar Searches LLC website, https://www.stellarsearches.com.