Practice Settings
Many indexers/abstractors work as freelancers, so a typical work setting is one’s own home. Organizational work settings include those associated with abstracting and indexing (A&I) services and Web search directories.

Primary Responsibilities
Generate back-of-the-book index; index Web sites for Web search directory; index journal articles for A&I service; abstract journal articles for A&I service.

Recommended Information Studies Electives
Students should consult with their advisors to select electives that best support individual intellectual interests and career goals. The electives listed here are not meant to represent the complete listing of all relevant courses that a student may take within Information Studies, at other units on campus, or as part of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. In addition, the Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) Consortium may offer College-approved courses that are relevant. The URL is http://www.wiseeducation.org/home_p-home.aspx, user name: md-student, password: test.

Course Number        Course Title
707                  Field Study in Library Service
709                  Independent Study
770                  Bibliographic Control
750                  Information Access in Electronic Environments
772                  Seminar in the Organization of Knowledge
773                  Classification Theory
775                  Construction and Maintenance of Index Languages and Thesauri
792                  Introduction to Expert Systems
793                  Database Design
794                  Principles of Software Evaluation
796                  Information Retrieval Systems

Professional Associations
American Society for Indexers
National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services (NFAIS)

Key Geographic Areas for Employment
Washington, DC and other large urban areas
Near publishers, Web search engine developers

Specialized Placement Services
InfoCurrent