Indexing hundreds of separate WORD documents into one master index using MS Word (or another application)?

[Krellworkshop]

I have hundreds of hard-copy journal entries (spanning many years and a few thousand pages) composed in MS Word 2010 (and possibly an older iteration). Each entry has it's own file in Word. I would like to create a master index--not a Table of Contents--in one document so a reader could locate a word or phrase by the date of the entry in which it appeared.


Requirement/Example 1: A journal entry in which I wished the word "picnic" to be indexed would direct the reader to a specific entry date. (eg. March 23rd, 2003)

Requirement/Example 2: A subsequent entry in which the word "picnic" also appeared (and I wished it to be indexed) would provide the reader with a See also option. (e.g. See also: October 11th, 2013)


Notes:1) In all instances I would "manually" select from each journal the word(s) I wished indexed.That is to say, I would not be scanning all the entries for instances, where a given word or phrase appeared.

2) I do not wish, and would be concerned about the stability of, compiling all of the entries into one massive document to try and simplify the process.


Is Word capable of doing this? If not I would be grateful for suggestions of freeware or inexpensive applications that could handle this task. (It would need to be able to run on Windows 7.)


With sincere thanks in advance,


PSH

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