Occupational Information Network (O*NET)

Rodney A. McCloy

The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) refers to the database of worker and occupational attributes that succeeds the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) as the primary source of information for occupations in the U.S. economy. Although the DOT had held this title for many years, numerous events—including the explosion of new occupations that accompanied the Internet and technology age, the decline in blue-collar industrial/manufacturing occupations, the dynamic nature of many of today's jobs, and theoretical and methodological advances in our understanding of work and job analysis—necessitated a new system for collecting and disseminating occupational information. The DOL responded by sponsoring the development of a computerized repository of occupational information that would permit rapid revision of the data, as well as easy access by the many individuals who wished to use the data therein. With a strong theoretical framework, a procedure for updating content on a regular ...

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