Paula Clarke Bain

@baindex

Book indexer, editor, boss at baindex.org | Society of Indexers Chair and Fellow | CIEP APM | Cryptic crossword novice setter Pixie | Stockport, UK 🧚🏻 www.mycrossword.co.uk/Pixie See also @indexers.bsky.social www.indexers.org.uk #IndexSky

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Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· 15d

Indexer on a train, July 2026. Heading to London to represent @indexers.bsky.social in a publishing vodcast / video podcast. Will share more details when it’s out. #IndexSky

View from a train window of blue sky, green trees and yellow grass. On the train seat table are a black travel mug, blue pen, teal notebook and a paperback copy of the book They by Kay Dick.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· 17d

This wood pigeon landed on my head earlier. Is that lucky? 🐦

Photo of a wood pigeon standing on the edge of a round metallic garden table and looking at the camera by a fence covered in green Virginia creeper.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· 24d

Manchester Recorder Orchestra return to Buxton Festival Fringe for their silver anniversary (25th) #BuxtonFringe concert tonight. I’ll be tootling my tenor again. @buxtonfringe.bsky.social

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· 25d

A full night of comedy delights at Buxton Working Men’s Club (or underneath it) from Barrel of Laughs and then local/global legend Kate Butch. I love Buxton Fringe. 😻 @buxtonfringe.bsky.social @undergroundvenues.bsky.social @thekatebutch.bsky.social

Drag queen Kate Butch on the Underground stage at Buxton Working Men’s Club in a black wig, glittery heels and a dress covered in cats.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· 26d

An enjoyable Coffee Morning Zoom today with @indexers.bsky.social (with thanks to host Ruth Martin). Marian Aird, Pauline Hubner and I presented on indexing books on music and dance. Here’s a few of my trickier indexes on Stephen Dodgson, Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham. #IndexSky

Front cover of the book Born by the Thames: Stephen Dodgson – A Centenary Celebration (eds Oliver Chandler and Thomas Hyde). It features a black and white photo of the composer.

An index page from the book Born by the Thames, showing the end of the alphabetical works index, and the start of the works index by instrument/type.

Front cover of the book Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham: Dances in Literature and Culture by Hannah Durkin. The cover features a black and white photo of each dancer.

An index page from the book Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham, showing the lengthy entry for Baker, Josephine and its surrounding entries.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jul 9

I’ve been sent this several times already for some reason. From today’s Guardian cryptic crossword 30,054 set by Brendan. www.theguardian.com/crosswords/c...

Screenshot of Guardian cryptic crossword grid no. 30,054.
Set by: Brendan
Thu 9 Jul 2026 00.00 BST
The highlighted clue is:
9 Across Last part of book, perhaps, some find exciting (5)

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 12

Final two #ASI2026 sessions: – @pilarw2000.bsky.social on adapting to an airspace shutdown. Loving your work always helps and we can index anywhere! – Gina Guilinger and Amron Lehte on marketing with LinkedIn (and nice to be one example). Thanks all at @asindexing.bsky.social for a fine conference.

Screenshot from a PowerPoint slide by Pilar Wyman with orange and black text:

Lessons Learned

🔸 I am prepared
🔸 I can always index

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 12

Next two sessions at @asindexing.bsky.social #ASI2026: – Vickie Jacobs on US government contracting – Maria Sullivan on tips for Cindex and other indexing software (I use SKY Index and Index-Manager) – plus fun breakout chats, inc. a cheery waving of @djbduncan.bsky.social’s INDEX UK/US book covers.

The UK and US front covers of Dennis Duncan’s book ‘INDEX, A History of the’. The UK cover features a colour illustration of a medieval preacher on a background image of a tree with letters of alphabet at the end of the branches. The US cover has colourful Google-style lettering on a bright yellow background.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 11

Great start by Michele Combs and Elizabeth Bartmess on ‘Indexing in the Era of AI’ at @asindexing.bsky.social #ASI2026. LLMs and generative AI chatbots produce poor book indexes, with limitations in coverage (both under- and over-indexing), navigability and accuracy. Further links below. #IndexSky

Screenshot of a slide title in white text on a light blue background:
Why are LLMs so bad at indexing?*

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 11

Fab night at the Phoenix Arts Club in London’s Soho watching The League of Improv with guest comedian George Fouracres from #SNLUK (and his little earring too). What a treat to see in hilarious freewheeling action, live and up close. 🤩 (📷 @martinbain.bsky.social)

A team of seven performers from The League of Improv and guest comedian George Fouracres posing for an after-show photo on stage at the Phoenix Arts Club in London.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 10

The @asindexing.bsky.social 2026 virtual conference ‘Indexing in Interesting Times’ starts today. @tanyaizzard.bsky.social and others from @indexers.bsky.social will be there for day 1, and I’m attending all of day 2 live tomorrow. Wishing a good one to our international indexing friends! #IndexSky

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 5

We @indexers.bsky.social had good Zoom chats on index introductory notes. Here’s two odd ones of mine: – INDEX, A History of @djbduncan.bsky.social – The Frankfurt Kabuff Critical Edition @bethdriscoll.bsky.social & @clairesquires.bsky.social, with a running footer key on each spread. #IndexSky

Photo of the first page of the human indexer's index to Dennis Duncan’s book ‘INDEX, A History of’, set in two columns. The index introductory note reads:

Note to the gentle Reader: Page numbers in italic indicate figures. Page numbers in the form 273n1 indicate endnotes. Entries are sorted in letter-by-letter order, except where noted. This index was created by Paula Clarke Bain, who is a professional indexer and a human being. [PCB]

Photo of the first page of the index to The Frankfurt Kabuff Critical Edition (eds Beth Driscoll and Claire Squires), set in two columns. There is a chapter-style header of:

Index
Paula Clarke Bain

There is also a key note in a box at the foot of this page and every other right-hand page in the index. The key reads as follows, in different fonts where appropriate:

Key to index styles: bold pp. no. = Kabuff novella and fictions • italic pp. no. = images • notes format = 35n3 • CHARACTERS • Screenplay

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 3

Yes, this. 👆

A print image of a black and white printer’s fist or printed manicule pointing upwards with spark-like lines coming out of the tip of the pointed index finger.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 2

Excellent day out with @indexers.bsky.social to the Thin Ice Press at York Centre for Print. We all had a try at metal movable type setting and the printing press, and got a souvenir of our letterpress handiwork – the quote on indexes from Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida. #IndexSky

A group of seven people from the Society of Indexers standing by the wall outside the Thin Ice Press in York. One indexer is pointing her index finger at a poster with a printer’s fist or manicule finger image pointing towards the venue entrance.

A woman in a green apron standing by a wooden case containing compartments of metal type of individual letters and spacers and working on compositing a line of text.

A woman in a pink apron operating a metal letterpress machine, feeding a sheet of paper through its rollers with one hand, and turning the press handle with the other hand to press the paper onto an inked set of type.

A printed copy souvenir in black ink from the letterpress printing process. The sheet has a printer’s fist or manicule finger image pointing to the text:

And in such indexes, although small pricks
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass
Of things to come at large.
Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

Printed for Indexers, the Society of,
at Thin Ice Press,
on 1 June 2026

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jun 1

Indexer on a train, June 2026. 🚂 Off to York for an @indexers.bsky.social Supergroup meeting and a tour of Thin Ice Press at the York Centre for Print. Mary Shelley and one last man are keeping me company on the way. #IndexSky

View from a train window of a row of arched windows and Victorian brickwork inside Manchester Piccadilly railway station. On the train table are a coffee cup and a paperback copy of The Last Man by Mary Shelley.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· May 28

A few more photos from a hot Hay Festival, where the Society of Indexers @indexers.bsky.social sponsored @susiedentwords.bsky.social’s talk with Alex Jones on Susie Dent’s book Words For Life (with its own fine index, not done by me). @hayfestival.bsky.social #HayFestival2026 #IndexSky

Alex Jones and Susie Dent talking on the Global Stage at Hay Festival in front of a backdrop of coloured squares and Hay Festival logos.

The title page of Words For Life: To Boost Every Day of the Year signed by Susie Dent:

Paula, and the Society of Indexers,
So lovely to meet you. Thank you for all your hard work.
Susie
x

Paula Clarke Bain and Susie Dent standing at the Hay Festival signing table for Words For Life with a copy of the book.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· May 24

Baking in Hay while the sun shines. 🌞 At @hayfestival.bsky.social for @susiedentwords.bsky.social on ‘Words For Life’ – a session sponsored by @indexers.bsky.social, and we also do the index for the official programme. But next stop: Shepherds Ice Cream. #HayFestival2026

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· May 7

Great day out with North West group of @indexers.bsky.social to the amazing John Rylands Library in Manchester, including a look at their Gutenberg Bible (facsimile handling copy of their stored 1454/55 original) and its unfortunate rubrication incident. #IndexSky @thejohnrylands.bsky.social

The Reading Room in John Rylands Library in Manchester, showing a cathedral-like interior with neo-gothic architecture, large stained glass window, Victorian electric lights and horizontal glass display cases.

Facsimile handling copy of the original Gutenberg Bible held at John Rylands Library in Manchester, open at a page showing where a rubricator’s red ink has been spilled over the printed text with attempts to wipe this away.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Mar 31

National Indexing Day 2026 at the @publishersassoc.bsky.social with @indexers.bsky.social team @tanyaizzard.bsky.social, Rachel Gee, @carosanderson.bsky.social and me. How #IndexDay started and how it ended.

The National Indexing Day 2026 presenting team at the Publishers Association next to a Society of Indexers roller banner: Tanya Izzard, Rachel Gee, Caroline Sanderson and Paula Clarke Bain.

Paula, Rachel and Tanya raising glasses for a post-event drink in The George Inn, Southwark.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Mar 30

Indexer on penultimate train of March 2026. Off to London for National Indexing Day workshop tomorrow. Look forward to presenting with rest of @indexers.bsky.social team – @carosanderson.bsky.social, @tanyaizzard.bsky.social and Rachel Gee – and to fruitful chats with publishers on #IndexDay.

Photo from a train window of trees and green fields with sheep and lambs by a farm and a canal with canal boat, plus a coffee cup on the train table in the foreground.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Mar 12

A great day at @cilipmdg.bsky.social’s #MetaFutures conference. Enjoyed presenting on crossovers between @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social, plus all the talks, side chats, and pub quiz (even the ‘MARC Maths’ round). Thank you for having me and hope the rest goes well. #IndexSky

Selfie of a windswept-looking woman in a grey woolly hat and black and brown checked coat in front of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge across the Avon Gorge in Bristol, UK.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Mar 11

Registered and ready for @cilipmdg.bsky.social’s #MetaFutures conference day 1. Book frock as standard for such events. Presenting from that lectern later on the crossovers between the work of @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social members. #IndexSky

Hotel mirror selfie of a smiling brunette woman in a purple and green bookshelf print dress.

A conference room lectern and screen showing a title slide:
CILIP: the library and information association
CILIP MDG Conference 2026:
#Metafutures
11–13th March
Engineers' House, Bristol

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Mar 10

Indexer on the latest of many trains in March 2026. Off to Clifton in Bristol for the @cilipmdg.bsky.social #MetaFutures conference, where I’m presenting tomorrow on the links between the work of @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social. Nice to see the Malvern Hills again on the way. #IndexSky

View from a train window of white clouds and green fields and trees with the ridge of the Malvern Hills in the distance.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Mar 6

Glad to be speaking at the CILIP MDG #MetaFutures conference in Bristol next week on ‘Indexers and information professionals: crossovers and co-operation’ and links between @cilipmdg.bsky.social @cilip.bsky.social and @indexers.bsky.social. Keen to tackle the evening pub quiz too. 🤓 #IndexSky

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Mar 1

Just did one of my favourite train journeys again, beside and through the Malvern Hills from Hereford to Great Malvern. Anne Brontë kept me good company.

View from a train window of green waterlogged fields and the southern end of the Malvern Hills including the British Camp hill fort on Herefordshire Beacon. A copy of Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is on the train table.

Great Malvern railway station platform with working Victorian gas lamp in the foreground and colourful decorative cast iron pillars in the background.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Feb 28

Manchester Recorder Orchestra concert tonight (Sat 28 Feb, 7.30pm) at Marple United Reformed Church, Stockport: Bach, Borodin, Prokofiev, Verdi, modern works including Shannon’s ‘Craft Brew’, me on my rosewood tenor, and much more. Come see us if you fancy something completely different. 🎶

Screenshot of event page with photo of about 30 members of Manchester Recorder Orchestra sitting with their instruments and music stands, and one of their conductors standing, all dressed in black concert wear.
Manchester Recorder Orchestra created an event.
Today at 19:30
MRO in Marple 28 Feb
Marple United Reformed Church

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Feb 18

Switched the indexing office this morning to Covent Garden Cafe in Stockport, aka Pickles Diner from Mackenzie Crook’s magical Small Prophets on BBC2. #SmallProphets

Exterior of Covent Garden Cafe in Stockport looking downhill to a brewery and a church

Screenshot of BBC’s Small Prophets programme showing exterior of Pickles Diner

Interior of Covent Garden Cafe with an orange juice and a latte on the nearest table (breakfast barm already gone)

Screenshot of BBC’s Small Prophets programme showing actor Pearce Quigley sitting inside Pickles Diner

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jan 31

Our garden snowdrops are back for their eighth year. Such a welcome sight every January. I can highly recommend planting a clump or two. 💚

A clump of about 40 snowdrops with green stems and white bell-shaped flowers in a garden border.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jan 28

A beautiful day with @indexers.bsky.social North West local group, having a fine lunch in The Old Wellington pub and then a guided wander around Manchester Cathedral @mancathedral.bsky.social.

The Stoller Organ above the medieval oak carved screen and quire in Manchester Cathedral.

Photo of The Old Wellington pub in Manchester, showing its black and white half-timbered exterior.

Exterior of Manchester Cathedral against a blue sky on a sunny winter day.

Paula Clarke Bain@baindex· Jan 28

Indexer on a train, January 2026. 🚂 Lovely day to meet the North West local group of @indexers.bsky.social for a lunch and cathedral tour in Manchester.