The Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI) is now inviting nominations for the John Simkin Medal – an award recognising an outstanding index to a book or periodical compiled in Australia or New Zealand.

Publishers, booksellers, editors, librarians, indexers and interested persons are invited to provide nominations. Indexers are encouraged to submit their own work.

About the Medal

Previously known as the ANZSI Medal, this award was renamed in honour of John Simkin, one of the founding members of the Society. John promoted the ideals of indexes and indexing throughout his 40-year association with the Society, so it is with pleasure we acknowledge his enormous contribution to indexing in this way.

To attain the award, indexes must be of the highest calibre. The index should be substantial in size, the subject matter complex, and the language, form and structure should demonstrate the indexer’s expertise in serving the primary needs of the text and the reader. There are no restrictions on the subject matter of the book. The book may be in either paper or electronic format. To be eligible for the award, the book must be commercially available and have an imprint date of 2015 or later. The index must have been compiled in Australia or New Zealand, although the text to which it refers may have been published elsewhere.

How to nominate

A completed nomination form together with a hard copy of the book or a link to the electronic file of both book and index is required. Hard copy books will be returned after judging. Nomination forms are available at https://www.anzsi.org/about-us/awards/the-john-simkin-medal/

Applications must be received no later than 5pm AEST, Friday 29 June 2018 at PO Box 2069, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia or (in the case of digital books) by email to the Receiving Officer at councilmember1@anzsi.org