Library Services for Career Planning, Job Searching, and Employment Opportunities

Book excerpt: Taking a broad approach from career counselling theory to recommendations of major sources of career and job information, this book, first published in 1992, covers subjects such as cooperative programs between librarians, career planning professionals, and job search counsellors and the evaluation of career-related materials. It emphasizes the constant demand for career and job information regardless of economic conditions. Librarians can act as intermediaries to help patrons locate career and employment sources dispersed throughout the collection, demonstrate their proper use, and guide them to additional useful sources. Specific chapters explain how to expand career and job services by networking with other community resources and developing a strong core collection of the best resources available. Other ground breaking topics analysed include employment and labour market trends for the 1990s, unemployment services in libraries, evaluation criteria for career resources, essential career planning and employment materials, specialized collections for relocation literature, and employment of persons with disabilities.