ETD Workflow and Training at l'Université Laval (Québec, Canada)

ETD Workflow and Training at l'Université Laval (Québec, Canada)

Pierre Lasou

Guy Teasdale

The Université Laval ETD Collection has officially been launched in 2002 after years of preparation and studies. Our collection is using the etdms schema and is OAI compliant. It has been set up through an exemplary partnership between the Library and The Faculty of Graduates Studies. The Graduate students involved in our ETD project are using an MS Word model (.dot), developed in conformity with the typographic rules set up by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Representatives from both units spent quite a bit of time discussing the training issue and the adequate form of workflow. Pedagogical tools were designed in order to help students to use the MS Word Model properly and some enhanced functionality of the software. During 2002, more than 200 doctorates students participated in training sessions held in a computer lab. This overwhelming success prompted us to develop an online version, using a WebCT platform. The training itself contains lessons, illustrations demonstrations and exercises. Various forms of assistance are available to participants (forum, mail). Our workflow involves an initial submission of the paper which allows us to check the"convertability"of the student etd. At this point, we can spot problems if there be and ask the student to make adjustments before the final submission. The latter is being made only through an electronic format (the paper version of the thesis is not required). In 2003, we plan to support the LaTeX format and enventually an open source format (like Open Office). The ETD training will be available to the Master's degree students in January 2003 and we expect a huge demand even though the electronic submission is not mandatory yet for all programs.

2003