The amazing achievements of our indexers

October 23, 2016 by
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How to Bake EverythingAs I’m sure you will all agree, EYB is an amazing resource. One important reason it is remains so valuable to our Members is the stellar work of our expert indexers, located in Australia, New Zealand, England, Canada, and the United States. Their speed is impressive: one of our indexers (jumali on EYB) recently accomplished a marathon indexing of Mark Bittman’s How to Bake Everything: Simple Recipes for the Best Baking. She completed this book, which contains a whopping 2,116 recipes, in a week! The dedication of our indexers allows us to have many cookbooks indexed as soon as they are published.

Many cookbooks require our indexers to add new ingredients. One recent example is Central by Virgilio Martinez, which required the addition of 127 new ingredients – from only 63 recipes! This is despite the fact that we already have over 34,000 ingredients in our database. (Modernist Cuisine however holds the record for the most new ingredients from one cookbook at 144). For Central, many of the new ingredients were for exotic Andean vegetables, fruits, flowers, and even tree bark. Central cookbookA few that stand out are llama milk, alpaca milk, papas valadoras (aka “flying potatoes” because they grow suspended in the air like a piece of fruit), and 7 new types of corn.

While our professional indexers are marvelous, we would be remiss if we didn’t recognize the exemplary contributions of our Member indexers. They account for about 30% of the books indexed on EYB. Member indexers also hail from all over the world, including Austria, the Netherlands, South Africa, Portugal, and France, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and the US.

Some Members have been indexing from the early days of Member indexing in mid-2011. At least one Member has indexed over 100 books, and several more are just a few shy of 100. Many have completed between 30 and 50 books. Bright Young ThingsSometimes Members begin indexing with the intention that their entire Bookshelf will be indexed – and at least one hardy soul has accomplished this feat.

Member indexing allows us to include books outside of the mainstream. Interesting books that have recently been indexed include Ital Food: Eating Rastafarian Style, Taste Lithuania, and Bright Young Things: A Modern Guide to the Roaring Twenties. If you haven’t indexed a book because the task seems daunting, keep in mind that nearly half of our Member indexers have come back to index a second book.

Cheers and thank you to all of our indexers!

Category: Antipasto, What's New on EYB

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9 Comments

  • Jenny  on  October 23, 2016

    Great job!

  • ellabee  on  October 23, 2016

    It's really cheering to learn that half the members who index a book or magazine do a second one! I think that proportion is up substantially from the first couple of years of member indexing.

  • trudys_person  on  October 23, 2016

    Thank you to all indexers! Your work is much appreciated!

  • tasteslike  on  October 24, 2016

    Thank you all indexers! As you say, EYB is an incredible resource and one I use nearly every day. Your collective work helps me put dinner on the table. Today it was a search for lamb and cabbage. Ended up making a lovely lamb-based minestrone from Nancy Harmon Jenkins' Cucina del Sol – a recipe that was unlikely to be on my radar in the absence of EYB. So thanks again from me, my husband, my friends, and my church family – they all unknowingly benefit from your work. But most of all, thanks from me; EYB is an essential tool that has grown very close to my heart. You are all the best!!!

  • Therese  on  October 24, 2016

    Thanks indexers! I'm feeling a little guilty…

  • TrishaCP  on  October 26, 2016

    Amazing that some members have indexed almost 100 books!

  • anightowl  on  October 26, 2016

    Wow, I feel like such a slacker! Those are impressive numbers. It's always fun to see the books that member indexers love enough to index – I have bought quite a few of those lesser known books after I see the goodness within.

  • apattin  on  November 4, 2016

    Yes! You indexers are loved

  • ellabee  on  November 4, 2016

    An excellent point by anightowl: member indexers bring to notice books that would be completely overlooked otherwise. Adding a 'Member Indexed' choice to the book search filters under 'Only Show' would help all EYB users explore these quirky riches. It's a feature that would involve much less re-coding than most, and would have the additional benefit of tracking the scale of member indexing.

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