For Users of the VA researchtraining.org Website

By Nicole Duffee, DVM, PhD
Director, AALAS Education & Scientific Affairs

This is for institutions which are users of the VA ResearchTraining.Org web site (RT) for staff training. Below are updates on the transition of the ResearchTraining.Org to the AALAS Learning Library. If you are one of the institutions using RT, please share this with your IACUC staff or research administration.

TRANSITION DATE CHANGED
The transition date for the integration of the VA training website ResearchTraining.org (RT) with the AALAS Learning Library (ALL) has been moved to May 14, 2007 (a delay of 2 weeks). The 90-day period of free use of the ALL has been shifted, accordingly, to end on September 14.

TRAINING AVAILABLE FOR RT ADMINISTRATORS
In the first two weeks of May, we will be scheduling several free training sessions to assist RT Admins in learning how to use the ALL and manage their personnel's training on the ALL. These training sessions will be web-based with audio over toll-free phone lines. RT Admins will receive an invitation email with information about these sessions early next week (around April 23). If your RT Admin has received the update email, please have them contact me.

ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. By April 27, we will send RT Admins a list of instructions to aid their personnel in accessing the ALL and navigating to their courses. These instructions will be appropriate for electronic distribution or posting on a web site.
2. About a week before the transfer, RT Admins will receive an email confirming their ALL logins (username and password). (Some RT logins may have to be changed if they conflict with any ALL login.) The RT Admins' new ALL logins will give these individuals (one per ALL group) the authorities needed to manage their personnel's access to the ALL. (If you are an RT Admin, please plan on participating in one of the free web training sessions to learn how to use the ALL in the capacity of a group coordinator.)
3. By May 14, each institution's logins and user records (all personnel) and any custom courses will be transferred automatically to the ALL, unless an institution specifically requests otherwise.
4. After the transfer has taken place, RT Admins will receive a notification email with information on how many accounts are available to them for staff training through September 14.
5. When the RT transfer has been completed, the RT site will be taken off-line. However, the RT database will be archived for about a year if the need arises to verify data records.

ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE STILL AVAILABLE
If an institution has not yet completed the RT user needs questionnaire, it is not too late. This questionnaire will remain available until May 4 at: http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=648111

The information collected in this survey relates to whether your institution wishes to transfer its RT data and courses to the ALL, and if so, how many persons may be expected to require training on the ALL between May 14 and September 14. We will use your responses to give your institution the number of free accounts needed during this period.

If you have any questions about the transfer of RT to the ALL, please do not hesitate to contact the following AALAS staff:

Nicole Duffee (nicole.duffee@aalas.org)
Pam Grabeel (pam.grabeel@aalas.org)
Alicia Bellow (alicia.bellow@aalas.org)
Brenda Johson (brenda.johnson@aalas.org)