Bridget Robinson - b.r.robinson@ukoln.ac.uk
Welcome to the Agora news bulletin for February
Much of the last month has been spent on the organization of the Hybrid Library events in Manchester and Edinburgh. The bulk of this work has now been done. The next four months will focus exclusively on the Stakeholder Briefing Papers and the case studies.
Library Associate Report (David Palmer UEA)
The case study proposals were accepted by the board in January. It now rests with the library associates - UEA, University of Bath/UKOLN and SELLIC to put in place all the necessary arrangements within their own institutions including, user groups, training, documentation, resources and timescales. It is hoped that the studies will take place in the period March-June but specific case study periods will depend on securing access to, and integration of, the required resources, and ensuring that the technical infrastructure is in place.In regard to resources, access to World of Science was seen as an important part of this process. However, ISI have expressed reservations about participating, so inclusion of this resource is uncertain and will be delayed for when, and if, it does occur. There is however better news with regard to ZETOC; FDI have been working with MIMAS and ZETOC can now be included as an Agora resource.
Additional work is being done to test access to some of the resources at Bath that require ATHENS authentication (e.g. BIDS and EDINA) that have been requested by case study user groups. A final decision will be made by the end of February as to which resources will be available for the case study period
Dissemination
The second Hybrid Library Workshop took place in Manchester on 20th February 2001. It was held in the very spacious Geoffrey Manton Building at MMU. There were 70 delegates from a wide array of institutions, mostly based in the Midlands. An eclectic mix of presentations were made with the formal, morning session adopting a ‘conceptual’ tone whilst the afternoon workshops enabled delegates to gain a much more practical understanding of what each of the projects has achieved and the implications for the wider community. Both HeadLine and Agora bravely offered a "hands-on" workshop in the MMU Computer Lab. Staff at CERLIM are to be especially commended for their wide-ranging and valuable contribution to the success of the day.
The third and final Hybrid Library Workshop will be held in Edinburgh on 27th February.
The Agora glossy has now been printed and was available for distribution at the Manchester workshop where it was very well received. It will also be distributed at Edinburgh and mailed out to a wider audience of Stakeholders.
In line with the printing of the brochure we have now set up an Agora Demonstrator which is accessible via a guest ID and password on the Agora website. This offers users access to all the Agora functionality with the one proviso that ILL requests will not be fulfilled. It is hoped that this demonstrator will generate additional feedback and that it can also be used in the case study at the University of Bath
David Palmer demonstrated Agora to the Library and Learning Resources Committee at UEA in mid-January, and closely followed that with a demonstration to the wider UEA community at an ‘Innovations’ luncheon the following week.