You mean building from the source package or how to create a debian package (debianize)?
I simply build the package with:
cd source_dir
dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot
To build the package you need:
apt-get build-dep dotlrn
apt-get install build-essential fakeroot
The hard part is debianize the package which is better covered somewhere in the debian's developer corner:
http://www.debian.org/devel/
Hope that helps.