Reference and user services librarians need to be in charge of their own careers. And when it comes to their own professional development, that means being proactive.

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.

This publication for career counselors is an easy-to-use, practical guide to identifying useful websites, incorporating them into career planning services, and gaining awareness of ethical concerns. "Overview: Websites in Support of Career Planning" (JoAnn Harris-Bowlsby) describes four categories of career planning websites: assessment, database searches, information gathering, and communication. For each type, website capabilities and counselor/career development facilitator involvement are detailed. "Sample Websites" (Margaret Riley Dikel) identifies and describes specific websites, organized by the four categories. "Potential Problems and Ethical Concerns" (James P. Sampson, Jr.) discusses the following: the quality of resources and services offered on the Internet, individual readiness for Internet use, availability of user support when needed, credentials of resource and service providers, lack of counselor awareness of local conditions and events, confidentiality and user privacy, and equality of access to Internet-based career resources and services. "Models of Use of the Internet in Career Planning Services" (JoAnn Harris-Bowlsbey) addresses use of websites in conjunction with one-to-one counseling, group approaches, and computer-based career information and guidance systems. Appendixes include guidelines for Internet use for career information and planning services, standards for the ethical practice of counseling on the Web, and an index. (YLB)

This book is focused on work, occupation and career development: themes that are fundamental to a wide range of human activities and relevant across all cultures. Yet theorizing and model building about this most ubiquitous of human activities from international perspectives have not been vigorous. An examination of the literature pertaining to career development, counseling and guidance that has developed over the last fifty years reveals theorizing and model building have been largely dominated by Western epistemologies, some of the largest workforces in the world are in the developing world. Career guidance is rapidly emerging as a strongly felt need in these contexts. If more relevant models are to be developed, frameworks from other cultures and economies must be recognized as providing constructs that would offer a deeper understanding of career development. This does not mean that existing ideas are to be discarded. Instead, an integrative approach that blends universal principles with particular needs could offer a framework for theorizing, research and practice that has wider relevance. The central objective of this handbook is to draw the wisdom and experiences of different cultures together to consider both universal and specific principles for career guidance and counseling that are socially and economically relevant to contemporary challenges and issues. This book is focused on extending existing concepts to broader contexts as well as introducing new concepts relevant to the discipline of career guidance and counseling.