“How am I ever going to learn a language at 59, live through winters with no heat and no water?” Eileen Marin (left) thought before she joined the Peace Corps and moved to Armenia two years ago. “Well,” says the former market research consultant and three-time cancer survivor, “it became my life very quickly.”

Baby boomers are fueling an increase in Peace Corps applications as economic uncertainty looms, President-elect Obama’s administration takes shape and a generation of retirees turns to overseas service in their encore careers, The Dallas Morning News reports.

By Steven Pascal-Joiner with Meg Busse. Action Without Borders, 2008
This essential resource for encore jobseekers outlines how to move from volunteering to rewarding nonprofit careers. Author Steven Pascal-Joiner digs into the differences between nonprofit work and jobs in other sectors, helping readers reframe their resumes and find meaningful employment. A free download is available at www.idealist.org. The print edition, $55.70, is available from Lulu.com.

Stanford Center for Social Innovation is located at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. The organization publishes the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

The Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship is a research and education center based at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

The How to Change the World Web site showcases the book How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, by David Bornstein, a senior fellow at Civic Ventures.

The Partnership for Public Service is working to make the government an employer of choice for talented, dedicated Americans. The Partnership has a particular interest in encouraging boomers transitioning from the private sector to make encore careers in government service.

By Laura Gassner Otting. Kaplan Publishing, 2007. This book provides an overview of the sector. The author is the head of the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group. Price: $16.95. Available online.

Troops to Teachers helps veterans make the transition to teaching with subsidies and bonuses. Civic Ventures has published a background paper with more information.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has a wealth of information on accelerated programs that provide a fast track to careers in nursing.

By Shelly Cryer. Fieldstone Alliance, 2008
This book offers a clear and comprehensive overview of nonprofit careers. It includes a wide range of profiles that give readers a glimpse into the day-to-day realities of nonprofit work. Q&As with nonprofit luminaries provide deeper insight into the nonprofit sector. Price: $16.95 Available online at www.nonprofitcareerguide.org