Information Empowers People to Build Careers

A majority of Americans surveyed indicated a need for occupational information and career planning assistance. Career counseling is a process of examining individual needs, goals, values, workplace issues, and personal constraints, as well as information about occupations, career ladders, options and specific employment opportunities, and relating all this information to make decisions about work and other career issues. Developmental theories of career counseling can be used as a framework for examining theories of career development. Other ways to examine career development are through occupational choices, work adjustment, a combination of choice and adjustment process theories, and decision-making. The role of the librarian is one of facilitating access to the abundance of career information available, and empowering patrons to use this information to make intelligent decisions about not only their careers, but also other areas of their lives as well.