[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 160 (Tuesday, August 19, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44147-44149]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21913]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Notice of Release of Transitional O*NET Products

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training 
Administration (DOL/ETA) announces the release of preliminary O*NET 
(Occupational Information Network) products in progressive stages. By 
doing so, DOL/ETA plans to accelerate the development of O*NET through 
new phases of applied research, as well as respond to the broad public 
anticipation of O*NET availability.
    There are four O*NET product packages that DOL/ETA will release 
during progressive stages of O*NET development. The incremental 
availability of O*NET products will offer varying degrees of 
opportunities to become familiar with the structure, content and 
potential usefulness of O*NET. It will also give DOL/ETA the lead time 
needed to coordinate the

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technical support for helping first-time users fully explore the 
preliminary O*NET products.
    The purpose of this notice is to announce what O*NET products are 
being readied for public access, when the products are scheduled for 
release, and how they may be obtained. It will also serve to clarify 
that these products and preliminary ones representing on-going 
research. By inviting users to preview their potential applications, 
DOL/ETA proposes to expand the applied research stage into ``proving 
ground'' demonstration areas and feed-back.

DATES: O*NET Products to be Released. (1) September 1997--O*NET 98 
Beta.
    During September 1997, O*NET 98 Beta will be made available to 
interested software developers. O*NET 98 Beta will be a core database 
accessed by a prototype ``viewer'' developed as a first example 
application. The core database will contain analyst-derived data on 
specific parts of the O*NET Content Model, the theoretical framework 
for describing the 1,100+O*NET occupations developed from the 
Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) classification system. 
Software developers interested in developing other examples that will 
enhance O*NET usability, and who need to have O*NET in a timely fashion 
to meet their already established production schedules, can work with 
O*NET 98 Beta. In addition, users with technical interests will be able 
to obtain a second product--the core database and the Data Dictionary 
(Beta Version) that gives the definition, description and location of 
each elements, or variable, within the O*NET database. For those 
developers needing multiple copies of that Data Dictionary, the 
Dictionary will be made available separately.
    (2) December 1997--O*NET 98 (Version 1.0). As part of JETT*CON 97, 
the ETA conference scheduled for December 1997, O*NET 98 will be 
introduced and made available to the general public. This product will 
be a core database accessed by a refined version of the ``viewer'' that 
includes two enhancements over the earlier Beta version. One of the 
O*NET 98 enhancements will be the functioning of Occupational Profiles 
that offer ``snapshots'' of O*NET occupations. Another enhancement in 
O*NET 98 will include assessment tools developed to link aspects of a 
person's self-directed career exploration to O*NET occupational data.
    As with O*NET 98 Beta, this version will also offer a second 
product. Users with technical interests will be able to obtain the 
O*NET 98 Database (Version 1.0) with the analyst-derived data on 
specific parts of the O*NET Content Model (the theoretical framework 
for describing the 1,100+ O*NET occupations developed from the 
Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) classification system). This 
Database (Version 1.0) will be accompanied by the Data Dictionary 
(Version 1.0) that gives the definition, description and location of 
each element, or variable, within the O*NET database. For those users 
needing multiple copies of the Data Dictionary, the Dictionary will be 
made available separately.
    (3) Winter 1997-1998--O*NET Products found on the Internet by 
accessing America's Job Bank (AJB). The O*NET framework of descriptors 
is already being used by America's Job Bank as the structure by which 
companies define their job positions to be posted. In the near future, 
anyone using the Internet will be able to access selected products of 
O*NET through AJB. The AJB links to O*NET will include Occupational 
Profiles, ``snapshots'' of O*NET occupations that give a quick look at 
their most important aspects and requirements. Coinciding with the 
introduction of O*NET 98 at JETT*CON 97, some O*NET self-assessment 
tests offering computerized score reports will also become linked with 
AJB. Anyone accessing AJB on the Internet will be able to use this 
O*NET Public Version product package once the full linkages are 
established.
    (4) Year 2000--O*NET 2000. By the year 2000, the results from 
completing the first cycle of the O*NET full system will be released. 
O*NET 2000 will be a new, extended database offering linkages to cover 
all occupations and variables in the O*NET Content Model. The 
occupations identified and defined in O*NET 2000 will be derived from 
the proposed new Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system that 
is scheduled to be formally adopted across the entire government. 
Procedures for obtaining O*NET 2000 will be announced in a future 
Federal Register Notice and on the O*NET Home Page.

ADDRESSES: To acquire O*NET 98 Beta, software developers should 
contact: Barbara Smith, Utah Occupational Analysis Field Center, 
Department of Workforce Services, 140 E. 300 South, 3rd Floor, PO Box 
45249, Salt Lake City, Utah 84145-0249; FAX 801-536-7420; e-
[email protected] (these are not toll-free 
numbers).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Donna Dye ETA Office of Policy and Research MS N5637, 200 Constitution 
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone 202-219-7161; FAX 202-219-
9186; E-mail____O*[email protected] (these are not toll-free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: O*NET is part of DOL/ETA's comprehensive 
workforce development strategy to build and display critical 
information for job seekers and employers in a user-friendly manner. 
Along with America's Job Bank and America's Talent Bank, O*NET is 
designed to serve as an occupational/labor market information resource 
for public and private sector use and development. Authority for 
pursuing this research is granted in Section 7D of the Wagner-Peyser 
Act, as amended by the Jobs Training Partnership Act.
    As the automated replacement for the Dictionary of Occupational 
Titles (DOT), O*NET will be the nation's primary source of occupational 
information. In 1993, an Advisory Panel, appointed by the U.S. 
Secretary of Labor, recognized that change in the ``dictionary'' 
approach that defined DOT since 1938 was needed. In its Final Report 
recommending changes to be made, the Panel stressed that ``Today's 
students, educators, trainers, counselors and workers need information 
that fosters the effective integration of technology, skills and new 
workplace structures.''
    O*NET responds to those needs. It is a long-range project to 
develop a database and a system for collecting, classifying and 
disseminating current information about the requirements and 
characteristics of occupations and workers. It provides a new approach 
and database structure for looking at work from two perspectives: What 
people need and what the job requires.
    Technology provides the means by which O*NET's potential will be 
realized. Computers make O*NET possible through an extensive, 
electronic data transfer network. Their use is unforgiving, however, in 
that computers demand a definitive, precise, and widely-accepted common 
language of skills-related terms to perform the information exchange. 
O*NET's common language, the definitions/concepts for describing worker 
attributes and workplace requirements, has been extensively researched 
and systematically developed. The rapid acceptance of the O*NET 
conceptual framework, or Content Model, among varied user groups 
confirms that its terms can be easily accepted and adopted. For 
example, O*NET descriptions have already emerged as

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the language/resource of choice among widely-divergent users that range 
from the Social Security Administration to the Defense Intelligence 
Agency and from America's Job Bank to the Educational Testing Service 
(ETS).
    Creating a common ground of understanding on which public and 
private workforce initiatives can work together, O*NET becomes a 
communication link to help integrate learning, training and work. It 
serves to emphasize the reality that no one effort, public or private, 
can capture all aspects or target all the dimensions involved in the 
changing workplace. Government's participation helps insure objectivity 
and fairness in data collection, but government alone cannot build the 
extensive occupational information network today's economy demands. 
Working with the private sector, O*NET will provide the foundation upon 
which others can build as they assist career counseling, employment and 
job-training activities.
    Offering O*NET products now is a way to encourage the combined and 
extended efforts needed to reach full O*NET development. Enhancements 
made by entities obtaining O*NET 98 Beta and O*NET 98 are expected to 
produce value-added products that will, for example: (1) Develop 
resumes, job orders, and descriptions of personnel positions; (2) 
streamline and improve the accuracy of vocational counseling; (3) fine-
tune assessment measures to benchmark worker skills and requirements; 
(4) evaluate and forecast human resource requirements; (5) restructure 
organizational and staff development; (6) benchmark performance 
appraisals; (7) align educational and job training curricula with 
current workplace content; (8) create skills-match profiles; (9) 
explore career options that capitalize on prior experience; (10) make 
better informed job placement decisions; and (11) reduce recruitment 
costs of workers at all levels.
    O*NET Products will be distributed through ETA's grantees 
developing O*NET. Specific information on the distribution centers will 
be available in the near future. O*NET Beta will be made available to 
software developers who can develop value-added products that will 
expand O*NET's immediate usability. Those who participate in this phase 
of O*NET development will be considered a responsible part of the O*NET 
effort to achieve a fully operational, solidly researched and user-
responsive tool that enhances the employment potential of all 
Americans.

    Dated at Washington, DC, this 11th day of August 1997.
Raymond J. Uhalde,
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training.
[FR Doc. 97-21913 Filed 8-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M