Bridget Robinson - b.r.robinson@ukoln.ac.uk
Happy New Year and welcome to the first Agora bulletin of 2001.
Board Meeting
An Agora Board Meeting was held on 9th January 2001 at BUFVC in London. The meeting discussed the end of stage report and the Release 2 compliance report. It also looked at the issues arising from the case study reports and the proposals for new case studies to be carried out during the spring. The next board meeting is scheduled for 10th July 2001.
Library Associate report (contribution from David Palmer)
It has been relatively quiet for the library associates with everyone enjoying a well-deserved Christmas break. The major development in the last month has been the drafting and acceptance by the Board at the 9 January Board meeting of the case study proposals for the Extension. So far, UEA and UKOLN have confirmed their participation. Heriot Watt is examining possible topics and will make a decision regarding participation by the end of the month. Preparations for the case study at SELLIC are underway with emphasis on establishing/confirming the necessary technical and support infrastructure for the case study. At both UEA and UKOLN, work is now also commencing on preparing for the case studies; selecting participants, drafting support documentation, and ensuring that the system is ready for the case study itself. This work will increase in tempo and intensity in the next month.
Dissemination
Bookings for the two hybrid library workshops in Manchester and Edinburgh are going well. The programmes will be similar to the BL event, however the afternoon sessions will be expanded to offer delegates the opportunity of accessing some of the hybrid library products. This is especially important for Agora as a way of generating user feedback.
An article entitled "Agora : the hybrid library from a users perspective" by David Palmer and Bridget Robinson appeared in the January edition of Aridane which was published on 11th January. The issue also contains articles on MALIBU, and BUILDER, as well as a report on the hybrid library workshop at the BL.
Aridane will also be reporting on the two forthcoming hybrid library workshops.
An update on the Agora project will be appearing in the January UKOLN newsletter.
Brian Kelly from UKOLN attended the VERITY (Virtual and Electronic Resources for Information Skills Training for Young People) Conference in Athens 30th November- 1st December 2000. He gave a talk on "Approaches To Resource Discovery in The UK HE Community " which included screen shots from Agora.
Greg Newton-Ingham gave a demonstration of Agora at the BUILDER Conference on 10th January.
The other major dissemination task for the final phase of the project is the compilation of the Stakeholder Report. This will be made up of a collection of papers focussing on a range of different aspects of the project including : technical implementation, strategy, ILL, CLDs and Landscapes, Service Providers and Users. The report will be circulated widely to ensure that the Agora project will continue to play its part in helping to inform and shape the future direction of the Hybrid Library.