THE OLD FAS career leaflets - a staple in any career guidance office - have been issued in a new form. Gairm is a computer-based careers information and guidance package, available on floppy disk as well as CD-ROM.

For those whose Irish is a little shaky, Gairm is the Irish word for occupation. Over the past year, FAS has updated and written 226 career leaflets, which are divided into 21 occupational families, and these form the main part of the new package.

Other sections of Gairm provide information on FAS services, addresses of FAS offices nationwide, community and youth training, information on living and working abroad as well as a section providing information on living and working in Ireland.

For those who still prefer information in the printed form or who don't have the technology to run the electronic form, the careers information element is still available in the familiar leaflets.

Father John Dunne, president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, has welcomed the development of Gairm. "It will be a very, useful resource for guidance counsellors in schools, and indeed for the students who will be able to research up-to-date information - in schools which have the facilities," he says.

The Institute of Guidance Counsellors will be investigating the possibility of linking Gairm with its own courses database, QUALIFAX. However, he is concerned that, many guidance counsellors will not be able to run these packages as they do not have the necessary hardware.

"Information is now in CD-ROM format, and it is now critical that schools and guidance counsellors are provided with the financial aid necessary to provide the hardware. Parents will expect the students to have access now that this material is available," he explains.

Gairm will be available through all FAS Employment Services offices. It will also be available at a modest cost to members of the public, libraries, schools, guidance practitioners and other interested groups. Applications forms from Gairm Database, FAS, 27/33 Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 4 (tel: (01)

6685777).