Background

Janet Perlman has worked in the publishing field since the 1960’s as a book production editor, an editorial supervisor, and as an indexer.

Education

• M.A. in Management and Organizational Behavior, University of Phoenix

• B.S. in Chemistry, Queens College of the City of New York

Professional Experience

• 7 years as editorial supervisor for John Wiley & Sons, Interscience Division, responsible for editorial production and indexing of multi-volume technical series such as Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology and Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, as well as trade books in chemistry and chemical engineering.

• 25 years as an indexer.

• 15 years as proprietor of Southwest Indexing, providing indexing services to publishers, packagers, and authors

Professional Affiliations

American Society of Indexers
• Secretary and member of Executive Committee (1996-1998)
• Committee memberships and committee chair positions (1994-present)
• Co-founder, officer, and member of Arizona Chapter of ASI (1994-2002)
• Panel member and judge, Wilson Award for Excellence in Indexing (1996,1997, 2003-2005)
• Chair, Wilson Award Committee (2004)
• Member, Nominating Committee (2004)

Society for Technical Communicators, Senior Member

Arizona Book Publishers Association

American Association for University Women

Speaking Engagements and Indexing Workshops

American Society of Indexers
• Quality Indexes: Recognizing and Creating Them (presented to Pacific Northwest Chapter, 2004; Chicago Chapter, 2004)

• Judging Excellence in Indexes: Demystifying the Process, co-presenter (at National Conference, 2003; Colorado Chapter Conference, 2003)

• Defining Quality: What Makes an Index a Good Index, panel leader (National Conference, 2002)

• Work Methods: A Philosophical and Practical Inquiry (National Conference, 2002; Colorado Chapter, 2003; Pacific Northwest Chapter, 2004; Chicago Chapter, 2004)

• The Business of Indexing (presented to Southern California Chapter, 2002; North Carolina Chapter, 1999; Arizona Chapter, 2000; New Mexico Chapter, 1997)

• Benchmarks of a Quality Index (National Conference, 2001)

• Bidding and Winning: Writing Successful Proposals, co-presenter (National Conferences, 2001 and 1998)

• So You Want to Be An Indexer (Arizona Chapter, Part I/1998; Part II/1999)

• Finding Work: Marketing Your Indexing Services (National Conferences, 1997 and 1998)

• Getting Started in Indexing (National Conferences, 1997 and 1998)

• Internet and WWWeb Resources for Indexers (Southern California Chapter, 1996)

• Indexers in Cyberspace (Colorado Chapter, 1995)

Other Organizations

• The Peculiarities of Indexing Technical Documents, Society for Technical Communicators (presented at National Conference, 2000)

• Benchmarks of a Quality Index, Society for Technical Communicators (at National Conference, 2001)

• Peer reviewer of technical indexes, Society for Technical Communicators (National Conferences, 2001 and 2003)

• Why Your Book Needs an Index, Arizona Book Publishing Association (Phoenix, 1997)