Libraries get top billing in these guides to using the best free resource available to help find a job or launch a business. Shhh! I'm Finding a Job is aimed at high school and college graduates preparing to enter the workforce, and interviews librarians from West Virginia State College, Marshall University, and the Kanawha County Public Library System, who offer tips and techniques for getting the most out of library services. Focusing on networking, writing good resumes and cover letters, and being prepared for the job interview, the major drawback is the format which is tiresomely MTV self-referential. Intelligent viewers will recognize the "hip" skits for what they are: lazy filler; but kids will feel right at home with the done-to-death skewed camera-angle style, and ultimately that's what counts. More actual hands-on guidance around a library would have been better, but at least this program directs people to the reference librarian and gives them an idea of what to ask."Your Best Business Partner": The Public Library is more for the budding entrepreneur than the job seeker, and offers a sound foundation for finding relevant business information, from pertinent associations and trade magazines to guides to exporters and ways to find mailing lists of potential customers. Not that the library has actual mailing lists or trade magazines, host Graham Clayton reminds viewers, but understanding how to use the library's directories will point them in the right direction. Viewers will learn about a number of key directories, such as the Directory of Directories and the Encyclopedia of Associations, and how to use them. Clayton also outlines a six-level information pyramid starting with associations, and running through trade shows, department stores, and mail-order houses, all the way down to the consumer, and shows how the library can provide key information for each of these levels. While the opening five minutes are repetitive and endlessly praiseworthy of libraries, and the remainder occasionally sports such pep talk gems as "by learning which directories are helpful to you...you'll be well on your way to making millions," the overall program is quite good. In other words there's much more than mere library happy talk here; viewers will be directed to essential reference resources by name and subject. Too, the program includes reference listings for both the U.S. and Canada.Shhh! I'm Finding a Job is recommended for larger career guidance collections. "Your Best Business Partner": The Public Library is highly recommended for general business collections. (R. Pitman)
Shhh! I'm Finding a Job; Your Best Business Partner: the Public Library
(1993) 30 min. $79.95. Cambridge Educational. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 9, Issue 1
Shhh! I'm Finding a Job; Your Best Business Partner: the Public Library
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