About VOCEDplus
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What is VOCEDplus?
VOCEDplus is a free research database for tertiary education, especially as it relates to workforce needs, skills development, and social inclusion.
It encompasses vocational education and training (VET), higher education, adult and community education, informal learning, and VET in Schools. It is international in scope and contains over 44,000 English language records, many with links to full text documents.
VOCEDplus is produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), based in Adelaide, Australia. VOCEDplus is funded by Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments and is endorsed by the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn, Germany.
VOCEDplus contents
VOCEDplus covers the outcomes of tertiary education in the shape of research, policy, practice, and published statistics. It has extensive coverage of Australian material and includes a wide range of international information.
Each database entry contains standard bibliographic information and an abstract. Entries are predominantly in English and some refer to publications in other languages. We strive to provide full text access via the publisher's website or a digitised copy.
VOCEDplus includes entries for:
- research reports
- journals and journal articles
- books and book chapters
- conference proceedings and papers
- working/discussion/occasional papers
- policy documents
- survey results
- published statistics
- podcasts
- theses
- key Australian and international tertiary education journals
- key organisations worldwide which produce publications about tertiary education (including government bodies, national and international agencies and networks, research centres, universities and commercial publishers)
- direct submissions from users of the database
VOCEDplus statistics
- 280+ journals and newsletters indexed
- 150+ countries covered
- 200+ international producers covered
- 600+ Australian organisations covered
- 13 000+ electronic links direct to full text
How to submit to VOCEDplus
The public is encouraged to submit relevant documents for inclusion in VOCEDplus. Please send an email to voced[at]ncver.edu.au with an electronic copy of the document attached. Alternatively, use the form on the Contact page to send us information about the publication, including details of availability.
NCVER's privacy policy
History of VOCEDplus
VOCEDplus (formerly VOCED) was originally produced with assistance and support from a network of clearinghouses throughout Australia. The network was set up over 30 years ago to share information about activities in the technical and further education (TAFE) sector.
1997-2001
In 1997, the first web version of VOCED was made available from the NCVER organisational website. Over time, VOCED expanded to include international material. 1998 saw the commencement of a major project to upgrade the database and expand its coverage of both Australian and international technical, vocational education and training information, leading to the creation of VOCED’s own web site in 2001.
In 2001, VOCEDplus received endorsement as the UNESCO international database for TVET research information, when NCVER, together with the Adelaide Institute of Technical and Further Education, was established as a joint UNESCO Regional Centre of Excellence in Technical and Vocational Education and Training. This endorsement has strengthened links with all UNESCO member countries and facilitated the acquisition of information from their sources.
2001-2009
The period 2001-2009 saw many changes to the website and database. The impetus to continually improve the product was in response to user feedback, technological innovations and changes in the field of research. Features added to the website included the thesaurus, a list of indexed journals, a list of ‘landmark’ reports that have influenced the development of TVET systems at state and national levels in Australia, and a partners' page listing Australian and international organisations that developed cooperative links with NCVER.
In 2006 the database began including bibliographic records for two adult literacy and learning programs funded by the Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) - the Workplace English Language and Learning (WELL) Programme and the Adult Literacy National Project (ALNP).
In 2007 a project to reconceptualise the Australian clearinghouse network was completed with the transfer of most of the clearinghouse collections to NCVER, to form a centralised repository of resources.
In 2009 NCVER accepted a caretaker role to manage the Reframing the Future (RTF) website and publications following the program’s closure in March 2009. RTF was a vocational education and training workforce development initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments. All RTF resources can be accessed through VOCEDplus.
2009-2011
In 2009-11, NCVER undertook a major rebuild of the database and website over 18 months with funding from DEEWR. NCVER wanted to take advantage of the potential of new technologies to provide improved services in terms of provision of online material, targeted searching, integration with other knowledge sources (websites, portals, libraries, books, journals, and data) and Web 2.0 technologies (RSS feeds, and share and bookmark tools).
