New Frontiers in Indexing
Your Professional Development Is Your Responsibility

As Alvin Toffler once said, 

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

Are you on a first name basis with your fellow professionals? If you need help with a project, do you know who to call? Have you been investing in your own professional development? Are your skills current? Or are you hoping that you can just continue doing things the way you’ve always done them? 

Do you have expertise that you want to share with other professional indexers, editors, writers, and publishers? Do you want to learn how to market your services more effectively? Would you like to know how to apply your skills in new ways? Are you interested in becoming more active in your professional organization? 

New Frontiers in Indexing. You have an opportunity this year to take your own professional development into your own hands by attending the 30th ASI Annual Conference, which ASI is celebrating with the Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada/Societe canadienne pour l'analyse de documents (IASC/SCAD) at Cavanaugh’s Inn in Seattle, May 13-16, 1998. It will include a day and a half of General Session Presentations (May 15 & 16), two days of pre-conference workshops (May 13 & 14), and a half-day of post-conference workshops (May 16). 

Strategic Planning Input. As you may know, ASI is in the beginning stages of strategic planning, and we want you to be a part of it. Throughout the conference, you will have opportunities to talk with ASI Board members about your concerns, your views, and your vision of where ASI should be as we head into the 21st century. 

Global Perspectives. This year’s conference will have an international flavor. At the same time, it will be something of a "Who’s Who" of professional indexing organizations. Noeline Bridge (President of IASC), Allan Walker (President of the Australian Society of Indexers - AusSI), Jill Halliday (President of the Society of Indexers in the U.K.), and our own Alexandra Nickerson will give us updates on their organizations’ activities. 

Keynote Speaker. John Hedtke, our keynote speaker, is an award-winning author of many articles and computer books (which he indexes himself). His tips on Freelance Success are both enlightening and entertaining. Also, insightful speakers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia will introduce you to hot topics that help you stay current and competitive ¾ keys to your success and to building your business for tomorrow. 
 

Highlights of the General Session (9 AM - 4 PM on May 15 and 9 AM - Noon on May 16) will include: 

• Annapolis Middle School Project - Session Manager: Janet Perlman / Presenters: Maria Coughlin and Nadalina Dineva on their innovative program.
• Certification Issues - a panel discussion. Learn what the issues are, question the panelists, and form your own educated opinion about certification issues. Moderator: Betty Moys, S.I. / Presenters: Elinor Lindheimer (ASI), Bob Richardson (ASI), Enid Zafran (ASI) and Max McMaster (AusSI). 
• The Effect of a Book Index on Re-publication as a CD-ROM - Session Manager: Peg Mauer / Presenter: Betty Moys, S.I.
• Indexing as a Career: Development Issues - Session Manager: Carolyn Weaver / Presenter: Jill Halliday, President of the Society of Indexers.
• Indexing in Multilingual & Multicultural Environments - Session Manager: Lori Lathrop / Presenter: Michele Huron, IASC.
• Indexing Single Source Documents and Productivity Tips & Tricks - Session Manager: Jan Wright / Presenter: Fred Brown, IASC.
• Internet Searches: Cyber Indexes and Cyber Reality - presentation by David Billick, Microsoft Corporation.
• Scandals Missing Persons, & Murders: An Indexer’s Dream - presentation on newspaper indexing by Margean Gladysz (Kalamazoo Public Library).

Workshops on May 13 and 14 are designed to meet the needs of both new indexers and more seasoned professionals; they include: 

• Basic Indexing Techniques - Presenters: Joanne Clendenen and Kay Kutscha Schlemback (a mentor/mentee team that often collaborates on projects) - South Central Chapter
• Bidding & Winning: Writing Successful Proposals - Presenters: Janet Perlman - ASI Arizona Chapter, and Noeline Bridge - IASC.
• Editing Indexes - Presenters: Allan Walker, AusSI, and Pilar Wyman, ASI - DC Metro Chapter
• Facing the Text: Content Analysis and Entry Selection in Social Services and Humanities Indexing - Do Mi Stauber
• Hiring and Training Legal Indexers - Presenters: Mary An Chulick (Westgroup, Cleveland, OH) and Kim Hunter (BNA, Washington, DC)
• Medical Indexing: Coming to Terms with Tradition and Technology - Presenters: Cynthia Bertelsen - ASI DC Metro Chapter, Carolyn Weaver - ASI Puget Sound Chapter, and Pilar Wyman - ASI DC Metro Chapter
• Pageless Indexing or Indexing Electronic Media - Presenter: Seth Maislin, ASI - Massachusetts Chapter
• Understanding Indexing with PageMaker - Presenter: Jan Wright, ASI - Puget Sound Chapter

The following post-conference workshops are designed for indexers with a desire to apply their skills in new ways: 

• Creating Keywords for Online Help - Presenter: Jan Wright
• Indexing Images: New Contexts, New Frontiers - Presenters: Christine Jacobs - IASC, and James Turner - IASC
• Pageless Indexing or Indexing Electronic Media - a repeat performance by Seth Maislin
• What’s in a Name?: Beyond Webster’s Biographical Dictionary - Presenter: Jean A. Thompson

Cavanaugh’s Inn is in the heart of downtown Seattle. Room rates for the conference are $135 per night. 

Check out the ASI Seattle Links Page  for information on Cavanaugh’s and sightseeing opportunities in Seattle and the Puget Sound area. 

To help you budget for the 30th ASI Annual Conference, which ASI is celebrating with IASC, here is a quick breakdown on registration fees for the General Session, roundtable discussions, and pre-conference & post-conference workshops: 
 

General Session Presentations, 5/15 and 5/16
	before 4/1/98	after 4/1/98
ASI and IASC members	$120	$150
non-ASI and non-IASC members	$145	$175
Roundtable discussions, 5/14, 5/15, and 5/16
	before 4/1/98	after 4/1/98
ASI and IASC members	$20	$25
non-ASI and non-IASC members	$25	$30
Full-day pre-conference workshops, 5/13 and 5/14
	before 4/1/98	after 4/1/98
ASI and IASC members	$85	$105
non-ASI and non-IASC members	$105	$125
Half-day pre-conference & post-conference workshops, 5/13, 5/14, and 5/16
	before 4/1/98	after 4/1/98
ASI and IASC members	$50	$60
non-ASI and non-IASC members	$60	$70

 
A complete Conference Brochure and Registration Form will be available after the holidays. 

Working Behind the Scenes 

 Fortunately, I have a lot of help in planning this conference, and I wish to thank the following people: Carolyn Weaver and everyone in the ASI Puget Sound Chapter; members of the ASI Colorado Chapter who helped evaluate proposals; my planning committee: Sharon Hilgenberg, Peg Mauer, Margie Towery, and Gerry van Ravenswaay; our Key Words editor, Cynthia Bertelsen; Kari Bero, of the ASI Web Committee, our Webmasters: Seth Maislin and Marilyn Rowland; and the ASI Board members.