Detailed information is provided here for 1,586 certification programs and 227 accreditation programs. To be included, certification programs must be voluntary, for individuals, and available to people throughout the U.S. Those certifications
required to practice a profession or occupation are listed in another Gale source,
Professional and Occupational Licensing Directory [
RBB D 15 93]; whether this explains the absence from
CAPD of an entry for certified public accountant is unclear. Accreditation programs, to be included here, must be for institutions or programs and must be national, regional, or statewide in scope. Among the certification programs listed are those for professional secretaries, corrosion technologists, and chartered life underwriters. Accrediting programs include ALA's Office of Accreditation.
Descriptions of certification programs are arranged in chapters with titles based on Occupational Outlook Handbook terms. The entry for each program contains, if applicable, up to 19 categories of information including certification title, certification-granting organization, number of individuals certified, education and experience requirements, membership and certification requirements, renewals, examination frequency and sites, pass-fail rate, waiting period to receive scores, fees, endorsing organizations, and whether accredited by the National Commission of Certifying Agencies. Information on the accreditation-granting organization includes, if available, address, phone and fax numbers, toll-free number, e-mail address, and contact person. Information provided for accreditation programs is similarly detailed. Rounding out CAPD are profiles of the certifying bodies covered in the section "Certification Programs" (limited to directory information and a list of certifications offered), an appendix of certification initialisms (called acronyms here), and an 85-page master index.
Recommended for academic, public, and career-center libraries for its wealth of information in an easy-to-browse three-column format.
This unique and comprehensive publication, produced along the lines of Professional and Occupational Licensing Directory (LJ 11/15/93) and a natural companion, supplies national, voluntary certification and accreditation information for about 1600 programs for individuals and over 200 for educational programs, institutions, businesses, and service providers. Compiled from scattered sources, the easy-to-use work contains separate sections for certification and accreditation programs, with job categories and titles borrowed from the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). Within the chapter on certification the information is arranged first by job category and then alphabetically by title, and within the accreditation chapter alphabetically according to specialty area. Entries detail titles awarded; number of individuals certified or institutions accredited; full contact data; requirements in terms of education, experience or other; exam information; application, reapplication, accreditation, and renewal procedures; fees; and endorsements. A third section provides alphabetical profiles of certifying bodies with contact data and titles awarded. A wide audience of individuals seeking professional advancement, consumers searching for highly qualified professionals, persons checking the standards of educational institutions, and professionals interested in certification and accreditation will find this reliable compilation useful. Recommended for career collections.
Marilyn Rosenthal, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, N.Y.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
