Society of Indexers

What Society of Indexers does

The Society of Indexers (SI), founded on 30 March 1957 by G Norman Knight, is the professional body for indexers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee (Reg No 6303822) with its registered office at Woodbourn Business Centre, 10 Jessell Street, Sheffield S9 3HY, and operates with a small staff of 23. The Society serves three primary user groups: publishers commissioning indexes for non-fiction books, authors and editors seeking professional indexing services, and aspiring indexers pursuing training and accreditation. Its value proposition centers on quality standards, accredited training, a directory of qualified indexers, and a professional development continuum that culminates in Fellowship.

The Society's product ecosystem is anchored by three core assets: the Training in Indexing Course (5th Edition, relaunched July 2020), a distance-learning programme with CILIP Seal of Recognition that leads to Accredited Indexer status; the SI Directory of Professional Indexers, a searchable online directory filtering indexers by subject, publication type, and skills; and The Indexer, the international journal of indexing published on behalf of indexing societies worldwide. Supporting offerings include online workshops (Active Indexing for eBooks, Indexing Basics, Indexing for Editors, MS Word Embedded Indexing), annual conferences (2024 'Human Indexing in a Digital World', 2025 'The Heart and Mind of Indexing', 2026 'On the Same Page'), National Indexing Day (held each 31 March, now in its tenth year), the SI Bookshop, the SIdelights newsletter, a mentoring scheme, and an awards programme (Bernard Levin Award, Moys-Crane Prize, Carey Award, Wheatley Medal).

The business model is a non-profit membership and services model. Revenue is generated from membership fees across tiered grades (Professional Member, Advanced Professional Member, Fellow), training course fees, conference fees (e.g., £50 for SI/ICRIS/CIEP members, £60 for non-members at the 2024 conference), bookshop and publication sales, and journal subscriptions. The Society is governed by an Executive Board with directors covering Marketing, Professional Development, Training, and CPD/Fellowship, and has an Honorary President (currently Caroline Sanderson, appointed 2024). Its principal external relationships are with CILIP (Standard Supplier Partner), the Publishers Association (venue partner for National Indexing Day), and ICRIS (the international forum for indexing societies).

Name

Society of Indexers

Legal name

The Society of Indexers

Website

https://indexers.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1957

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Society of Indexers is the UK and Ireland professional body for book indexers, founded in 1957 and headquartered in Sheffield. It provides accredited training, a searchable directory of professional indexers, and the international journal The Indexer, serving publishers, authors, editors, and aspiring indexers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Indexing Services

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Periodical Publishers (51312), Information (51)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Accreditation Standards, Benchmarking & Framework Organizations (EDADACAJ), Assessment & Item Writing / Test Content Development (EDAGAKAE), Web Directories & Link Indexes (BPAMAAAK)

Keywords

• Professional indexing services
• Book indexing training
• Indexer accreditation
• Publishing support services
• Professional indexing body

Headquarters

HQ city

Sheffield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Society of Indexers is the professional body for indexers in the UK and Ireland, providing indexer accreditation through its Training in Indexing Course, publishing The Indexer international journal, and running a searchable directory that connects publishers and authors with professional indexers. It also delivers tiered membership grades, continuing professional development workshops, an annual conference, and a Mentoring Scheme to support professional indexers throughout their careers.

Product overview

The Society of Indexers is the professional body for indexers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, offering a comprehensive ecosystem of products and services for professional indexers and those seeking indexing services. The core offerings include the Training in Indexing Course (5th Edition) for qualification, the SI Directory of Professional Indexers for connecting clients with indexers, and The Indexer international journal. These are supported by the SI Bookshop for publications, Online Workshops for continuing professional development, annual SI Conferences, National Indexing Day awareness events, tiered Professional Membership & Accreditation grades, the SIdelights newsletter, Mentoring Scheme, and SI Awards Programme. The organization operates as a unified professional membership organization rather than a software product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Training in Indexing Course (5th Edition) A distance-learning professional training course that qualifies indexers through SI, leading to Accredited Indexer status. Covers indexing theory, practical skills, and digital publishing through modules, tutorials, workshops, and a pre-qualification indexing assignment (PIA).
• SI Directory of Professional Indexers A searchable online directory listing all professional members of the Society of Indexers, filterable by subject area, publication type, and indexing skills, enabling publishers and authors to find appropriate indexers for their projects.
• The Indexer (international journal) The international journal of indexing, published by the Society of Indexers on behalf of indexing societies worldwide. Addresses practitioners and scholars with articles on indexing in the digital age, usability, specialist indexing projects, professional development, and software for indexers.
• SI Bookshop & Publications An online shop selling Society of Indexers publications including OP1 (Indexing Biographies), OP4 (Indexing Newspapers), OP5 (Indexing Children's Books), and Wheatley's books, as well as non-SI publications.
• Online Workshops Paid virtual training sessions covering various indexing topics including Active Indexing (eBooks), Indexing Basics, Indexing for Editors, Indexing the Past, Writing Index Entries, MS Word Embedded Indexing, and How to Edit an Index.
• SI Annual Conference Annual conference events featuring plenary sessions, breakout discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities for indexers at all career stages. Recent conferences include 'The Heart and Mind of Indexing' (2025) and 'Human Indexing in a Digital World' (2024).
• Professional Membership & Accreditation Tiered membership grades including Professional Member, Advanced Professional Member, and Fellow, with a professional development continuum supporting career progression for indexers, plus a revised Fellowship pathway (launched 2022) requiring CPD Points and a Self-Evaluation Exercise.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Publishers AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Publishers Association serves as venue partner for National Indexing Day workshops. The Society collaborates with the Publishers Association to deliver educational workshops for publishing professionals on indexing processes and commissioning indexes.
• CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSI training course has achieved CILIP Seal of Recognition. Ann Kingdom uses her library background to liaise with CILIP. SI is a Standard Supplier Partner with CILIP.
• ICRIS (International Committee of Representatives of Indexing Societies)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational forum for indexing societies around the world. SI publishes The Indexer on behalf of indexing societies globally. Ann Kingdom serves in the international forum for indexing societies.
• Institute of Certified IndexersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCross-recognition of indexing excellence; ICI awards the Purple Pen Award for New Indexers which SI members are eligible for.
• CIEP (Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerFormerly SfEP (Society of Editors and Proofreaders). Conference rates offered to CIEP members. Joint promotion of indexing importance to publishing professionals.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• American Society for Indexing: Direct counterpart professional body for indexers in the United States; offers its own training, accreditation, publications, and conferences that compete for English-language indexing standards and membership attention alongside SI.
• Institute of Certified Indexers (ICI): International indexing body that runs its own certification and the Purple Pen Award for new indexers, which SI members are eligible for; directly overlaps with SI's accreditation function in the English-language indexing market.
• Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP): UK-based professional body serving editors and proofreaders, an adjacent publishing-services profession; offers training, accreditation, and conferences and is co-marketed with SI as a complementary (and partially competing) qualification for publishing professionals.

Broad incumbents

• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP): UK-wide chartered body for library and information professionals; grants the Seal of Recognition that SI's training course carries and serves as an umbrella professional association that overlaps in accreditation, training, and CPD offerings relevant to information professionals.
• Publishers Association: UK trade association representing book and journal publishers; venue partner for SI's National Indexing Day workshops and the broader publishing-industry umbrella that SI engages with to promote professional indexing services to publishers.

Regional players

• Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers (ANZSI): Regional peer serving indexers in Australia and New Zealand; comparable professional society structure with training, accreditation, and conferences that competes for English-language indexing talent in its geography.

Others

• National Federation of Advanced Information Services (NFAIS) / NISO: Information-standards and indexing-adjacent industry bodies (NISO and successors like NFAIS) developing standards for indexing, metadata, and information retrieval; thematically related to SI's mission of setting professional standards for indexing in publishing.
• Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP): Professional organisation for scholarly publishing, with training, conferences, and resources that overlap with SI's education-and-events offerings for indexers working in academic and scholarly book publishing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/society-of-indexers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Society of Indexers