I am looking for occupation/education requirements.  I need credible
information to corroborate the idea that entry-level cerifications
(A+, MCSE...etc...) are a must to compete in today's IT/server-support
job market if you do not posess a related degree. For example:
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos268.htm, states that certification is
essential if you do not possess a degree.  I need 3 more separate
sources of this kind of information.

Hello jadedcritic-ga:

It was a pleasure to work on your question. I have included the links
to quality essays on the usefulness of certifications. I have also
provided a brief summary with each article.

Please browse through every link as some of them may provide
additional links.

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http://certification.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.certmag.com%2Fissues%2Fdec01%2Ffeature_gabelhouse.cfm

The article emphasizes the need for the certification by demonstrating
from authoritative data that certified professionals are of great
value and the demand for them is on the rise.

http://itcertificationnews.com/itcertificationnews-53-20030807ComputerCertifications.html

The article at IT certification News argues that computer
certifications insure that the new IT professionals are abreast of the
changing technologies. It furthermore says that colleges are unable to
provide the necessary hands on experience and the latest technology
trends are not imbedded in their courses. Therefore, computer
certification will always play a major role in securing IT jobs in the
coming future.

http://certification.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crn.com%2Fsections%2Fspecial%2Fssurvey%2Fssurvey02.asp%3FArticleID%3D35952
Also see
http://www.crn.com/sections/Special/certification/certification.asp?ArticleID=44024

The repot argues that when pay increases are increasingly hard to come
by, certifications are becoming more valuable for technicians,
according to the 2002 CRN Salary Survey.

http://www.crn.com/sections/special/ssurvey/ssurvey03.asp?ArticleID=42729

The article emphasize on the usefulness of certifications.

http://jobsearchtech.about.com/library/weekly/aa091399.htm

The article reviews the benefits of the computer certifications and
its effects on the success of the professional. It specifies the
importance of A+, Cisco, MCSE and Novell certifications to an IT
professional. (Please click on pages to move forward, 5 pages)

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OTHER CONTENT THAT MAY BE USEFUL

http://www.computer.org/certification/cert_for_you.htm
Also see
http://www.computer.org/certification/

In the article the CSDP provides reasons that why today’s IT
professionals should attain a certification and why is it so important
to their success in the IT field.

http://www.iccp.org/iccpnew/faq.html

The FAQ section of the ICCP details the questions that every
professional has in mind before going for their certification. The
question is, Why should I be certified and how will it help me? The 23
questions answer help clarify doubts about the certification programs
and promote that the certification is generally very helpful for a
professional who wants to succeed in today’s IT market.

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USEFUL TOPICS

http://certification.about.com/cs/salarysurveys/

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Useful Keywords

Need for certification
Importance of Certification 
Why computer certification
Computer certification
Computer certification survey
Computer certification articles

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I hope that you will find the content useful. Please clarify, if you
need further information.

Thanks for using Google Answers.

Best regards,

Leader-ga.

Good stuff, not great.  While some of the stuff was current, (the
itcertificationnews.com article); others were dated,  (The
jobsearchtech.about.com article), and of limited usefulness.  All in
all, still worthwhile, it saved me the time of having to dig them up
myself.