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Back to Fall 2005 Conference program page
Fall 2005 Conference Presentation
ASI Certification Course
Presented by ASI vice-president, Seth Maislin
Seth Maislin presented an overview of the the new ASI indexing training and certification program currently under development. It is hoped that the certification process will provide more legitimacy and respect for the profession while also offering a source of income for ASI.
The course components have been licensed from British Society of Indexers’s course, but it has been modified for the U.S. audience. It is divided into three parts, each followed by an exam. One must pass the exam of one part before requesting to take the exam of the next part. Taking any of the parts of the course, however, is not required to take the corresponding certification exam. Thus, experienced indexers will be welcome to take the exams without having to take the course. The course itself will be offered remotely, either by mail or online.
Seth presented a brief overview of course program as developed by himself, Frances Lennie, and Kay Schlembach. It should be noted that all prices are preliminary and subject to change.
- Unit A, "Indexers, Users, and Documents," is an introduction to the function and characteristics of indexes and how indexers work. (Part A Course: $100. Exam: $50)
- basic indexing terminology
- the functions and characteristics of indexes
- what users want from indexes
- the indexing process
- the role of authors and other document originators
- document production and categorization
- creating bibliographic references
- Unit B, "Choice and Form of Entries," provides more detailed guidance on the intellectual processes involved in indexing. (Part B Course: $125. Exam: $75)
- selecting concepts for indexing
- choosing appropriate index terms
- forming headings and subheadings
- indexing proper names
- presenting locators (page numbers)
- devising cross-references
- United C, "Arrangement and Presentation of Indexes and Thesauri," covers the principles of index arrangement and the requirements of specialized types of index and thesaurus construction. (Part C Course: $125. Exam: $75)
- rules for arranging index entries (filing order)
- compiling multiple sequences of indexes
- team and cumulative indexing; book and journal production
- index layout and presentation
- thesaurus use and construction
Seth Maislin is the vice president and president-elect of the American Society for Indexing and a former board member of what-was-then-called the Massachusetts chapter. He is a freelancer indexer and indexing consultant through his business Focus Information Services, an indexing instructor at Middlesex Community College, an information architecture instructor at Bentley College in Waltham, and a private mentor. He has consulted for such organizations as Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, and the United Nations Library. Within ASI, Seth is wearing several hats at the moment: Training Committee, Credentialing Committee, International Liaison, national conference planner, administrator of several ASI mailing lists.
E-mail: seth@maislin.com