Have you ever considered being a freelance "information entrepreneur"? More and more librarians are taking their skills out of the library and becoming freelancers - working for themselves from home, working for someone else from home (telecommuting), or working on a contract basis for various organizations.
Many librarians are attracted to the flexibility and variety that telecommuting, freelancing, and contracting can provide. Freelance opportunities for librarians are plentiful in today's information economy, ranging anywhere from "traditional" library-related functions like indexing and cataloguing to more non-traditional avenues like information brokering and consulting.
Here are just a few of the areas in which librarians are finding successful freelance careers.
Indexing
Many librarians enjoy great careers as freelance indexers. The advanced indexing coursework usually taken in the MLS/MLIS program, as well as the various indexing tasks performed by most librarians every day, make the transition from librarian to freelance indexer a natural one. Indexing can take many forms - there is back-of-the-book indexing, Web site indexing, periodical/newspaper indexing, abstracting, and database indexing. Depending on the type of indexing you'd like to do and your level of indexing training in library school, you may need nothing further than your MLS/MLIS degree to get started in this field. But it's also a good idea to take the USDA Indexing courses which have become somewhat of a standard in the Indexing field, and which can be taken via distance learning. Great places to get more information on Indexing are the American Society of Indexers website and the INDEX-L mailing list. And be sure to check out Dawn Spencer's excellent Indexing site here at Suite101.
Writing/Editing
As with indexing, many librarians find it quite natural to pursue a career in the writing or editing field. In fact, many librarians who establish a freelance indexing business combine it with various writing, copyediting, proofreading, and other editorial services. If you're interested in doing contract work rather than starting your own business, try perusing the job listings at The Write Jobs and Inkspot's Writers' Classifieds.
Cataloguing
As many libraries are outsourcing their cataloguing, a librarian can find lots of opportunities to perform cataloguing from home on a freelance or contract basis. Librarians have generally taken advanced coursework in subject and descriptive cataloguing at library school, and often perform cataloguing functions on a daily basis as librarians, so again, the transition from librarian to freelance cataloguer tends to be a natural one. Of course knowledge of AACR2, MARC records, and OCLC procedures are very helpful. Have a look at the cataloguing and other job listings at a firm like Library Associates to get a feel for the kinds of contract/freelance opportunities that are out there (most Library Associates jobs are located in California).
Many librarians are attracted to the flexibility and variety that telecommuting, freelancing, and contracting can provide. Freelance opportunities for librarians are plentiful in today's information economy, ranging anywhere from "traditional" library-related functions like indexing and cataloguing to more non-traditional avenues like information brokering and consulting.
Here are just a few of the areas in which librarians are finding successful freelance careers.
Indexing
Many librarians enjoy great careers as freelance indexers. The advanced indexing coursework usually taken in the MLS/MLIS program, as well as the various indexing tasks performed by most librarians every day, make the transition from librarian to freelance indexer a natural one. Indexing can take many forms - there is back-of-the-book indexing, Web site indexing, periodical/newspaper indexing, abstracting, and database indexing. Depending on the type of indexing you'd like to do and your level of indexing training in library school, you may need nothing further than your MLS/MLIS degree to get started in this field. But it's also a good idea to take the USDA Indexing courses which have become somewhat of a standard in the Indexing field, and which can be taken via distance learning. Great places to get more information on Indexing are the American Society of Indexers website and the INDEX-L mailing list. And be sure to check out Dawn Spencer's excellent Indexing site here at Suite101.
Writing/Editing
As with indexing, many librarians find it quite natural to pursue a career in the writing or editing field. In fact, many librarians who establish a freelance indexing business combine it with various writing, copyediting, proofreading, and other editorial services. If you're interested in doing contract work rather than starting your own business, try perusing the job listings at The Write Jobs and Inkspot's Writers' Classifieds.
Cataloguing
As many libraries are outsourcing their cataloguing, a librarian can find lots of opportunities to perform cataloguing from home on a freelance or contract basis. Librarians have generally taken advanced coursework in subject and descriptive cataloguing at library school, and often perform cataloguing functions on a daily basis as librarians, so again, the transition from librarian to freelance cataloguer tends to be a natural one. Of course knowledge of AACR2, MARC records, and OCLC procedures are very helpful. Have a look at the cataloguing and other job listings at a firm like Library Associates to get a feel for the kinds of contract/freelance opportunities that are out there (most Library Associates jobs are located in California).
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