An index is the map that lets readers navigate a book and ultimately use it in their own work. A scholarly book in any field benefits enormously from having a great index. But for interdisciplinary books in particular, a great index isn’t just “nice to have”—it’s imperative.
As they are designed to speak to diverse audiences and have real-world impacts beyond the academy, interdisciplinary books need strong indexes to achieve those goals.
Over on the Ideas on Fire website is my explanation of why your interdisciplinary book needs an interdisciplinary index and how interdisciplinary indexes are inherently political.
