Review of Dictionary of occupational titles

Abstract

Reviews the book entitled "Dictionary of occupational titles, second edition" by the Division of Occupational Analysis, United States Employment Service. Users of the DOT should welcome the Second Edition because it provides them with more occupational information in more usable form than did the early edition. Volume I contains the job definitions including those from the old Part I, the various supplements, and additional new definitions. The appendices from the original edition (Glossary; Index of Commodities to assist in classifying Sales Personnel; Occupational Titles Arranged by Industry) have been moved to Volume II of the Second Edition. Other readily apparent changes are the introduction of a double alphabetic scheme of presenting definitions and a considerable simplification of the reference techniques. Changes not immediately apparent have also been effected. Coverage has been expanded within the professional occupations as well as within several industrial categories. Codes now accompany all job definitions previously referred to classification titles. Glimpses of other possible improvements are found by comparing the Second Edition with the former publications for such classifications as CHEMICAL ENGINEER, ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, and CHECKER (clerical) III. A serious complaint against the original edition was the amount of training time required to achieve proficiency in its use. Here, again, the Second Edition is an improvement--experience having already shown that training time is about one third less. This reviewer strongly feels that the kinds of improvements found in the Second Edition should have been extended throughout many additional occupational areas. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)