Publishing collective agreements at scale involves more than simply making documents available online. It requires the capacity to manage regularly updated high-quality reference material, preserve a consistent documentary structure, and provide a reliable and consistent research experience over time.
Since 2016, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has relied on Lexum to manage and publish its collective agreements database on Norma. Delivered on a quarterly basis, documents are processed and integrated into a structured, searchable environment designed to support consultation and comparative research.
💡 About CAUT
CAUT is a national organisation representing academic staff across Canada. It maintains a documentary database of collective agreements applicable to its members for research, comparison, and reference purposes.
A quarterly cycle with significant volume
- Collective agreements are received approximately every three months
- An average of 15-20 documents per delivery
- An estimated total volume of approximately 2,700-3,000 pages per cycle
- Occasional updates to previously published agreements (revisions or additions)
A key component of Lexum’s editorial service is to standardise these materials by applying a uniform model and structured styling, ensuring consistency across the database and enabling reliable automated table of contents generation.
Ensure the regular and reliable publication of high-quality batches of collective agreements within a structured, easy-to-navigate database.
An optimised publishing workflow
Each delivery is published on CAUT’s collective agreements database on Norma and maintained through a structured and repeatable editorial process.
Processing steps
- Application of a uniform document template
– Structuring content by applying Microsoft Word styles
– Standardisation of headings and document hierarchy - Publication on the Norma platform
- Ongoing database maintenance and update management (replacements, corrections, additions)
This workflow ensures a consistent structure and an efficient research experience for users, while facilitating the regular publication of new batches.
The CAUT Collective Agreement Database enables users to combine exact phrases, keywords and filters to find relevant collective agreement provisions.
Outcomes for CAUT
- Standardised collective agreements across a corpus originating from multiple sources
- Reliable and timely publication of new document as they become available
- Improved navigation and consistency across the database
- A platform supporting efficient consultation and comparative research
A document infrastructure built to scale
The collaboration between CAUT and Lexum is grounded on a structured and repeatable publishing workflow, supporting recurring volume and evolving documentary needs.
This approach allows CAUT to focus on its mission while relying on a robust infrastructure designed to evolve alongside future needs.
