From Card Index to Book Index: Julius Otto Kaiser's Application of Systematic Indexing to Book Indexing

Abstract

Julius Otto Kaiser (1868-1927) is best known today as the developer of a distinctive methodology for the creation of subject indexes known as Systematic Indexing (SI). This indexing system, which included such features as the partition of index terms into distinct semantic categories and the combination of terms into compound subject strings according to a strictly defined syntax, is considered to be a forerunner of faceted subject indexing and it is as such that it features in the historiography of knowledge organization. This canonical profile of SI is based on rules that Kaiser established for the creation of card indexes. Yet Kaiser also developed a version of SI for book indexing, which differs, in many respects, from the form of this system enshrined in the canonical profile. The purpose of this study is to examine Kaiser's application of SI to book indexing, considering both points of commonality with, and points of divergence from, his method of card indexing. It begins with an account of Kaiser's theoretical framing of the distinction between book and card indexes, as well as his arguments for the essential unity underlying these two kinds of index. Then comes an examination of his stipulations for the structuring of entries in the book index, which are compared to his rules for the creation of index items in the card index and evaluated in light of current literature on book indexing. This is followed by a discussion of Kaiser's rules for the arrangement of terms in the book index, which again is brought into comparison with the organization of card indexes according to the tenets of SI. The study concludes with a brief reflection on how the book index version of SI stands in continuity with, and yet represents a significant departure from, the canonical card index version of the system.