Strategy for Release of Course Material School of Crystallography, Birkbeck College, University of London

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Procedure

Step 1

Create the new directory in [PD.PDnn]topic.dir, where nn is the last two digits of the current year and topic is the directory name used in previous years. The directory containing last year's course material should then be copied from last year's directory (e.g. [PD.PD(nn-1).topic]) to the release directory for the current year (e.g. [PD.PDnn.topic]). This directory must contain the standard file INDEX.HTML to prevent the directory being searched on a file-by-file basis by the students. It is important at this stage that no links are supplied from the currently accesible course material to the new material.

Step 2

Set the default directory to the new topic directory and update all of the links containing a year date. This can be done with the programs YEARnn and COPYnn in [PD.PDnn]. Check the new *.HTM files and then purge the old ones.

Step 3

All of the links must then be checked page-by-page. In addition, the course material must be read by another person to check for errors or omissions. This will normally be done a person internal to the department and who has a knowledge of the subject. It is the responsiblity of the lecturer lecturer for his/her session to organise this.

It may be necessary to update or revise some of the course material at this point (i.e. first iteration of course revision).

Step 4

Release notes must be copied and updated in the release notes directory for the current year (e.g. [PD.PDnn.RELNOTES]). Links in this file must be tested.

Step 5

Once everything is ready the following sequence of steps should be initiated promptly by either the course organiser or the section lecturer:

• Place a link on the Notice Board for the current year to the new release notes.
• Place a link on the Timetable for the current year to the newly-released material.
• Insert the Section Index for the release into the main Course Material Index for the current year. (This can be prepared in advance by using a copy of PDINDEX.HTM which can then be renamed back to the original filename.)
• Finally, the section lecturer must be sent an email to all of the students on the discussion list (which will be posted onto the Bulletin Board) informing them that the new release is now available.

Step 6

The final step is for the course organiser to document everything that has taken place in the administrative web pages of the course (i.e. in [PD.ADMIN...]).

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