Virtual VET village

Citation

(1999), "Virtual VET village", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 23 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.1999.00323hab.001

Virtual VET village

Virtual VET village

Keywords: Vocational training, Information retrieval, Databases, Bibliographies

The electronic training village (ETV) project was launched last year by CEDEFOP (the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) with the objective of making it easier to find information on vocational education and training (VET) in Europe and in each of the EU Member States. Since its inauguration it has grown dramatically and has begun fulfilling its aim of promoting dialogue and sharing VET information throughout Europe.

The library

The library offers access to a variety of lists, databases and publications. This information is gathered through the documentary information network which comprises a library or documentation centre in each of the EU Member States (plus Iceland and Norway) and CEDEFOP's library, all of which are constantly updating the pool of data in the area of VET, both at European and national level.

The main resource in the library is the Bibliographical Database, a catalogue of over 20,000 documents held in the network libraries. For example, if you want to find all the publications by a certain author, or all the publications in a specific field of training, you simply enter the Bibliographical Database via the link in the library and fill in your search criteria in one of the search options offered. Once you have your initial results, you can ask for more information about the publications - a short abstract in English or French, bibliographical data, or details of where to order the document, etc.

To bring some order into the myriad of Web sites available concerning VET, the library is now classifying and indexing them under subject headings in the Bookmarks file. If you would like to find the address of the Web site of the Department of Education and Science in Ireland, for instance, you would simply follow the Bookmarks link in the library. This link would take you to an alphabetical list of VET-related subject headings. By clicking on the Ministry of Education link, you would find the URLs of the major Ministries of Education in Europe, including Ireland.

The European Research Directory, which is a database of vocational training research projects, can be accessed through the library as well. Other sources are The Glossarium, a compilation of technical terminology in 11 languages, and the Acronyms Database, containing more than 2,700 acronyms related to VET.

Many library products are available online for reading or downloading. These include the Selected EU Documents, a schedule of forthcoming conferences and Documentary Dossiers. The Documentary Dossiers include:

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  descriptions of the apprenticeship system in the EU Member States;

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  certification in the EU Member States - tables listing the training certificates issued in the 15 countries (plus Norway) organized by level; and

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  recent developments in the EU Member States.

The bookshop

The Village bookshop offers a direct link to online publications. It contains a sample of publications in electronic form on a wide variety of vocational training issues. Users are free to browse or download these. Alternatively, the bookshop gives instructions on how you can obtain hard copies of the publications, if you'd rather.

If you go directly to the bookshelves, you will find links to publications by topic, such as:

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  comparability of vocational training qualifications;

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  continuing education and training;

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  costs and funding;

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  exchange of information and experience;

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  the training of trainers

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  European Journal for Vocational Training.

Other Village resources

Looking for a colleague? Why not look in the Community Centre. You can search for them by name, institution, country or keyword. Register yourself as well, so that colleagues can find you. You have the opportunity when registering to give some professional information about yourself and your areas of interest.

The ETV's Listserver Row is a useful stop for anyone interested in the financing of vocational training, mobility or transparency of qualifications. If you sign up with one or more of the listservers, you will receive information and the opportunity to share ideas with others in the same field.

The ETV comes fully equipped with a search engine that will search all sections of the Village for you. You can access the search feature on every page. If you prefer to browse, then check out the Table of Contents where you will find the sections and subsections of the Village.

If you simply want to ask a question and don't know who to ask, visit Speakers' Corner and voice your opinion or ask your question. It's probably the fastest way to find out what you want or start a lively discussion.

You can visit the Electronic Training Village at http://www.trainingvillage.gr. Registration takes only a few minutes and you can begin looking around straight away.

For further information, contact Colin McCullough, Assistant to the Directorate, CEDEFOP, PO Box 27 - Finikas, Thessaloniki, Greece 55102. Tel: 30 31 490 111. E-mail: cmc@cedefop.gr