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A Brand New PD Net
Better search capabilities and a new look have made PD Net’s accounting resources more accessible.
FROM:
MAY-JUN 2007 ISSUE
PD NET, CGA-Canada’s professional development website for CGAs and students, relaunched in February with a new look and whole new bag of tricks. It filters. It sorts. It tracks. It organizes. It’s like a search engine designed specifically for the accounting profession and a personal workbook for your career advancement. And “it looks sharp,” says Karen Ashton, supervisor of professional services at CGA-Canada. “The world has changed at PD Network.”
Originally built in 2002, the PD Net site had been a member benefit strictly for CGAs and students. Now it is available to the public, though CGAs and students will continue to have access to special sections and preferential pricing for online courses. “CGAs can now provide this resource to their colleagues and practitioners can point their clients here,” says Ashton. “Before it was behind a wall and only CGAs and students could register. Now the site is open to the world.”
New Features
With more than 2,000 resources on the site, the new PD Net navigation is designed to make searching easy. “We’ve realigned the site,” says Ashton. “The architecture is now built on the concept of ‘faceted navigation,’ which is geared toward the way people are looking for information. There is an intuitive narrowing of search criteria; each level is more specific to a person’s needs within the competency framework.”
The new site also features an information architecture that matches
CGA-Canada’s competency framework, allowing CGAs to quickly access all of the information and resources they require to do their jobs. Specific competencies include technical areas like financial accounting, management accounting, taxation, assurance, personal finance, corporate finance, information technology, and business law, as well as softer competencies in the areas of leadership, professionalism, and general management.
The search function filters results either by competency area, by type of professional development (including courses, products, seminars, webcasts, software, and recommended articles), and by sector (including public practice, public sector, industry, not-for-profit, and small business). “If you’re interested in live seminars only, you can filter and go from 2,000 resources down to 20 with one click,” says Ashton.
A Degrees and Designations page highlights a variety of ways CGAs can further their formal education, and the Offers and Discounts page provides links to deals, especially for CGAs and students.
The Competency Assessment Tool provides a quick and easy way to assess skills and identify development opportunities. “This tool allows you to self-assess and select a profile of a job you aspire to,” says Ashton. “You can compare and see what skills you have and what you need to build.”
The MyPDNet section allows for user customization and stores all your purchased products and preferred resources. “If you see something you want, you can bookmark it,” says Ashton. “If you’re registered for online courses, once you pass, your certificate will show in the My Accomplishments section.”
Innovative Technology
Developed with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, the PD Net site is one of the first in Canada to implement the full software suite including a content management system, search functionality, e-commerce, and workflow tools. The development process took 18 months and started with a detailed review of user patterns, along with interviews with select site users to understand their needs.
Throughout the development process, focus groups, surveys, and user-driven design exercises were employed to find out what tasks users wanted to be able to accomplish. Site users were also involved in evaluating and testing early versions of the new features.
While all user accounts and records have been migrated over to the new site, existing users must validate their accounts to be recognized as registered members. This means logging in with your existing user name and password, clicking the button “I am a CGA/student,” inputting your member ID number, and adding your e-mail address and a security question to your personal settings.
“Anyone who is registered as a CGA will have preferred pricing on seminars, but they
must update their registration,” says Ashton.
The new technology means less back-end development time for CGA-Canada staff, and more opportunities to focus on content. “We are publishing continuously now,” says Ashton, “and making more frequent updates.”
Available in English and French, the PD Net site is now visible to outside search engines, like Google, which allows anyone in the world to learn about being a CGA. “We’re expecting a lot more traffic,” says Ashton.
“Having looked at the competition, there’s nothing like our site – it’s unique; from the competency framework to the architecture. It’s very powerful.”
Visit the new PD Net at
www.cga-pdnet.org.
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