Information Services

Information Services

Professionals in this sector provide information to the public or to specific companies, industries or groups of people. As well as providing the information, be it hard copy or electronic, information professionals also organise and store information. Traditionally this would be in a library but now that technology has hugely increased the ways that information can be stored, retrieved and organised, job roles have changed too. 

This sector can be split up into:

Archiving and records management
Archives are collections of information that have value and need to be kept for the future. Records management is a similar field of work, but tends to refer to the information of a particular organisation, and deals with the disposal as well as the maintenance of records. 

Indexing
An index is a list, usually in alphabetical order, used to makes finding themes or subjects in a book easier. Although indexes are now often produced by computers, there is still a demand for them to be compiled by qualified professionals. Read about the advantages of a human-produced index.  

Information management and information science
We generate huge amounts of information in many different forms and for many reasons. As technology allows us to find out more, access more and be able to access information in many locations and formats, professionals work behind the scenes to collect, analyse, organise and retrieve information. 

Libraries 
Libraries are collections of resources, traditionally books. Many public libraries were built in the 19th century in the UK, but libraries themselves have been in existence for thousands of years. Libraries also exist in smaller forms in a variety of sectors, and increasingly online, allowing wider and easier access to resources.

Information Services