The Power of Indexes: Insights from the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library

By: Holly Zanville , Founder and Lead of the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library ; Research Professor, George Washington Institute of Public Policy, 美国乔治·华盛顿大学

A former boss of mine—a school superintendent—used to say in staff meetings, "A good teacher can teach from the Yellow Pages." For those of you who’ve never seen the Yellow Pages (or think it’s a retro band name), they were massive phone books listing every business and organization in a local area. They were print-based “information aggregators” before websites and search engines took over. Fast forward to today, and we’ve traded those clunky books for sleek, dynamic indexes that organize knowledge on just about any topic you can imagine.

The next time you stumble across an index, don’t dismiss it as a glorified table of contents. Recognize its potential power. A well-crafted index can be a treasure map, a learning tool, and a strategic resource— all rolled into one.

The Learn & Work Ecosystem Library analyzed its indexes of nearly 1,400 ?artifacts using four guiding questions: What are indexes generally, and what are the Library’s indexes? What are value-adds for indexes? Are Indexes learning tools? What are five insights about the Library indexes?

Indexes

Indexes are meant to function as a structured map of information. They offer users a way to locate and connect with specific content. Often overlooked as simple tools for navigation, indexes are valuable as gateways to understanding complex systems.

For websites, indexes are typically implemented in one of the following forms:

• Sitemap—A hierarchical list of the pages on a website that both users and search engines often use. They help search engines crawl and index websites efficiently while providing users with a clear overview of all the site's sections and their hierarchy.
• Topic-Based Index List or directory of topics on the website, with each entry hyperlinked to relevant pages. Useful for resource-rich sites like libraries, educational portals, and blogs, they allow users to quickly locate specific topics or terms.
• Tag Index or Category Archive—A tag cloud or categorized archive of blog posts or content organized by themes to enable users to navigate content grouped by themes or interests.
• AI-Powered Navigation—Interactive features like chatbots or recommendation engines (often presented as “you might also like...") assist users in finding relevant content. They deliver personalized results by predicting user needs based on behavior or preferences.

The Learn & Work Ecosystem Library offers three dynamic topic-based indexes:

• Index of Topics, Initiatives, Organizations, and Glossary Terms (1,398 on 2/17/2025)—formatted in side-by-side columns
• A –Z? Index of? Glossary, Initiative, Key Components, Organization, Topic (alphabetical format)
• Index for Other Pages— Pages, Newsroom, Articles, Archive.

Value-Adds

The Library’s indexes add value by:

1. Offering a comprehensive overview of the ecosystem, highlighting key components such as career navigation, credentials and providers, data standards, and workforce development.
2. Demonstrating interconnectedness by categorizing content to reveal how different elements of the ecosystem interact and support one another.
3. Enabling accessibility to information, allowing users to easily filter and search for specific and relevant content.
4. Contributing to a shared vocabulary—the Glossary Terms educate users on the vocabulary essential to understanding the many components of the ecosystem.
5. Gap identification—users can identify missing topics or underrepresented areas by analyzing indexes, providing opportunities for further development.

Indexes as Learning Tools

The Library’s indexes are not just lists. By organizing information into meaningful categories, indexes can help users build mental models, identify patterns, and make informed decisions. Indexes are both a starting point for exploration and a roadmap for deeper engagement—useful for navigating and understanding the complex learn-and-work ecosystem.

Five Insights

Let me share five insights after studying the Library’s indexes:

1. The learn-and-work ecosystem is multi-layered and complex: This underscores the information challenges many stakeholders face—how to access trusted information to stay current on the improvements underway and key organizations conducting this work.
2. Language matters: The Glossary demonstrates the varied vocabularies of the ecosystem and the need for shared vocabularies to facilitate communication and understanding.
3. Collaboration is key: The inclusion of Initiatives and Organizations (individual organizations and alliances of organizations) highlights the collaborative nature of efforts to improve education and workforce outcomes.
4. Data and standards are foundational: The prominence of data- and standards-related topics reflects the importance of interoperability, transparency, and interest in outcomes connected with many efforts within the ecosystem.
5. There is room for growth: The indexes are dynamic documents open to updates and expansion to reflect the ecosystem’s evolution.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a practitioner, researcher, or policymaker,?indexes like the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library’s indexes can offer insights to inform your work and inspire new ideas—by offering structured, accessible, and dynamic resources for exploring the learn-and-work ecosystem. We’ll continue to improve these often overlooked tools to better understand and advance the critical components of the learn-and-work ecosystem.