The Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance is a respected resource and has been in print in its paper incarnation for twenty‐five years. This is the second CD‐ROM edition.
The information contained in the CD‐ROM is the same as that in the paper copy of the Encyclopedia, arranged in hypertext format and with searching capabilities. The database contains detailed information on more than five hundred careers, including individual job descriptions, education requirements, licensing and certification requirements, salary ranges, history and development of the job in its industry, primary and secondary job duties, advancement opportunities, and suggestions on how to gain experience in the field before committing to a particular career. Also found here are some of the best ways of landing a particular job, outlooks for the future based on Bureau of Labor Statistics information for various occupations, the work environment, and sources of further information. The inclusion of articles on military careers is new to this edition and a tank icon links job articles to related military career information.
Another new addition to this CD‐ROM is a government classification section containing information taken from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (4th edition), Guide for Occupational Exploration, and the National Occupational Classification System of Canada. The careers listed in these resources are linked to the appropriate articles in the database. This makes it easy to navigate the encyclopedia regardless of which system of occupational classification you normally use.
The CD‐ROM also includes illustrations. For instance, the article on “librarians” contains the obligatory photograph (with appropriate caption) of a librarian checking out books to a library user. While this is, of course, an important part of library work, it would be nice to see a more professional aspect of the career illustrated, particularly since the text of the article takes pains to indicate that the actual process of circulating materials is usually handled by non‐professional staff. Checking the industry under “information services,” there are two other illustrations, one of a person checking computer printouts and another filing microfiche. But again, the text conveys a better idea of what the industry is about than the photographs.
Speaking of industries, over sixty articles on important industries are found on the CD‐ROM. These contain information on historical development of the industry and statistics on current employment. Descriptions of the general structure of an industry are given with a listing of career titles and career paths in the industry. An estimation of the industry’s future is also included with statistics from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Industrial Outlook, and also from some specialized associations and agencies. Each article is cross‐referenced with hot links to related articles and careers. Finally, each industry article ends with a listing of further resources on scholarships, education, training, and job placement. Alphabetization of industries needs to be improved in future editions, since in the table of contents, the environment is listed under “T” for “The Environment.”
Clicking on one of the resources at the end of the article enables the user to produce a form letter directed to the resource. Very generic form letters are included with the database; but these can be customized by saving to a file and editing later with a word processor. I like this feature since it is easy to use and a real time‐saver for the user.
There are two other sections of information in the table of contents of the database. One is Career Resources and Associations for Individuals with Disabilities and the other is Internships, Apprenticeships, and Training Programs. In both cases, the CD‐ROM allows the user to produce a form letter to request further information. Again, the form letters provided are very generic; but they can be customized by saving them to a file and editing them later in a word processor.
A nice feature of the database enables the user to search for careers based on school subjects, hobbies or personal interests, salary range, education level, and work environment. Choices are made from pull‐down categories; and the database returns a list of job titles that match the chosen criteria. A more advanced full‐text search is also available. This is helpful when trying to locate very specific information or keywords. After searching for a particular keyword or words, the words are highlighted using a dark purple color throughout the article retrieved. I found this somewhat distracting when there were many instances of retrieved keywords. Black lettering on a dark purple background is difficult to read, at least on my monitor. Adjusting the brightness and contrast did not seem to alleviate the problem.
After the desired article has been retrieved, it can be printed. On my wish list for this database is a way to mark and print only the desired portions of an article since many are quite long and contain detailed information. Predetermined sections of articles can be printed, but only those chosen by the database producer. There is also no way to export any of the information to a file for printing or viewing at a later time. Although the help screen indicates that this is an option, it has been disabled according to the technical support person I spoke with.
Prior to my call to technical support, I was somewhat confused and frustrated in my attempt to export data since this feature was described in the help screens. However, a call to customer service clarified that this aspect of the software was truly not available. The help screens need to be edited to reflect the actual workings of the product. Better yet, the exporting option should be made available so that users can choose exactly what to save or print rather than being stuck with the printing options chosen by the publisher.
Technical service for the product is contracted out to a third party vendor, so the service representative was not immediately familiar with the product and asked to return my call at a later time when he had a chance to figure it out. When two hours had passed and no call came, I called back. The rep was courteous and able to answer my question at that time but two hours is a long time to wait for a simple printing/exporting question. And it would have been longer had I simply waited for the promised return call. On the other hand, I was able to get through immediately to technical service on both occasions without being put on hold. That is a rare and wonderful thing these days.
The software installed easily and ran smoothly throughout the review period, though a warning is given in the documentation that anti‐virus software sometimes may interfere with installation. Running McAfee ViruScan and Vshield did not seem to interfere with installation or use of the database during this review.
The minimum software requirements are a 386SX PC with 8 MB of RAM and 10 MB of free hard disk space, though a 486 with 16 MB of RAM are recommended. Also required is a VGA monitor with 640x480 resolution, though a SVGA monitor supporting 256 colors is recommended. Windows 3.1 is required and the software is compatible with Windows 95. The CD‐ROM is also Macintosh‐compatible and requires MacOS 7.0 or higher with 8 MB of RAM and 10 MB of free hard disk space. A color display with 640x480 resolution is also required on the Macintosh. For both the PC and Mac, a CD‐ROM drive supporting ISO 9660 format is necessary.
Despite a few shortcomings, I recommend the purchase of this database for libraries, particularly high school, academic, and vocational school libraries. However, if your library only allows downloading from databases, be aware that this product only allows printing.
