An Agora project team meeting was held at UEA on 17-18 November which was successful in working through a number of issues relating to the next phase:

• A schedule for the functional/technical specification for the first real Agora system was agreed, as well as a methodology (based on SSADM). As an initial part of the specification, a high level user requirements diagram was drafted, which follows the process from user entry point, through landscape definition etc to delivery/retrieval. Feedback from the library associates’ reactions to the prototype provided much of the input to the diagram. To accompany this, a full 'requirements catalogue' will be drawn up and prioritised, also based initially on the library feedback, but with opportunity for team member and all associates to add requirments and comment during December. (BSCW may be used to manage the document.) The full draft functional/technical specification will be distributed to all associates on 11 December.

• The functional spec will form a generic outline of a hybrid library management system, and so will be made generally available on the web. The main document (including technical specification) will be shared with the eLib community.

• It was decided to use the collection description draft attribute set (developed by the working group led by UKOLN) to gather collection/service metadata. There are a number of issues to decide such as subject/keyword approach and also which attributes should be mandatory. RR will consult with other eLib phase 3 projects - a common approach is desirable. The aim is for libraries and service providers to contribute sample collection description records using this attribute set by end January.

• The question of common search attributes is also being taken forward – to investigate whether an agreement is feasible.

Library associates

Demonstrations of the Agora prototype were conducted at Heriot-Watt University, University of Hull, and Bath Spa University College during the week commencing 19 October. The sessions proved valuable as a means of widening exposure to the prototype at each site and gathering feedback. Information from the informal feedback at each session and from the formal questionnaires distributed at each session has been integrated into the feedback report which was circulated to library associates prior to the Agora team meeting on 17-18 November. As noted above, the feedback report forms the basis of the requirements catalogue for the first iteration of the Agora system.

Reaction by the associate libraries to the feedback report, the resultant requirements catalogue, and the full functional/technical specification will be addressed in a meeting with the associate libraries on 16 December

in London. The intent is that library associate input will be incorporated into the specification and will inform the decision of the senior user in January to approve the specification prior to consideration by the full Agora Board.

Service providers

A meeting for service providers was held in London on 11 November, with 10 participants. It was useful to get service providers together to demonstrate the prototype and explore issues such as cross-searching. Participants expressed particular interest in the library associate feedback; this will be circulated to service providers in the form of the

'requirements catalogue' on 11 December.

Comments noted during the service providers meeting are also informing the draft Agora specification. Summary meeting notes were circulated on the agora-associates list.

Systems developers

The meeting planned for 2 November had to be postponed. An alternative date is being arranged during December, when the specification will be available for comment.

In the wider communities

An article based on the Agora presentation at the Leeds hybrid libraries workshop in October is being prepared for the New Review of Academic Librarianship.