The Agora hybrid library project

Rosemary Russell, UKOLN (UK Office for Library and Information Networking)

Agora Communications Coordinator

UKOLN: • a national focus of expertise in network

information management• policy, research, awareness

• digital libraries• web technologies• public library networking

• funded by:• Higher Education Funding Councils• The British Library• Projects

Today’s presentation:

• background - eLib

• what Agora’s about

• information landscapes

• architecture

• some issues

• the future

Agora is funded by eLib...

The Electronic Libraries Programme• higher education• c.70 projects (1994- )• development rather than research• phases 1 and 2 - £15 million• phase 3 (1998-2000)

• clumps (4 projects)• digital preservation (1 project)• hybrid libraries (5 projects)

What is a hybrid library?

• a library…

• provides managed access to:• local and remote resources• print and electronic• mixed media (images, video...)

• seamless integration

• user-centred

Agora =

• a place of assembly or market place• libraries will continue to organise the

places (physical or virtual) where users and information products are brought together

Agora’s aim:

“To explore issues of distributed, mixed media information management based on an open standards-based platform. This includes developing the scalability, enabling infrastructure and change-management tools for successful widespread dissemination and implementation throughout the community”

Agora consortium members

• University of East Anglia

• UKOLN

• CERLIM, Manchester Metropolitan University

• Fretwell-Downing Informatics

Agora associates

• libraries• University of East Anglia• University of Hull• Heriot Watt University• Bath Spa University College

• service providers

• systems developers

Agora development

• developing a Hybrid Library Management System (HLMS) to integrate:• discovery• location• requesting • delivery

Agora framework

• based on MODELS concepts

• a layer of services or ‘middleware’ which will shield the user from complexity, heterogeneity and repetitive processes

• open standards - Z39.50, ISO ILL, HTTP [Whois++, RDF, XML…]

• metadata

‘Broker’ architecture

Local librarycatalogue

NetworkCDs

Subject gateways

Electronicdocuments

ILL systems

User access

Applications frameworkService description and mapping

Distributed service access

User access points (webbrowsers)

HybridLibraryManagementSystem

Hybrid library system component examples

Information landscapes

• a way of presenting different views of information resources to users, according to interests and needs

• simple - set of web links to resources• sophisticated - matching:

• user profiles • collection/service descriptions• access privileges

Progress to date

• prototype (August 98)

• evaluation

• system specification• requirements catalogue• prioritisation

• developing integrated communications environment

Some issues...

• hybrid datasets• no common attributes• no common data structures• multi-level records (archives)

• ‘implementors agreement’ needed?• agreed subset of attribute mappings

• sorting and deduplication• non-Z39.50 searchable resources• collection description

The future

• Agora Release 1 (Aug 1999)• installation and evaluation• support material

• dissemination

• expansion of library associate group

• refine specification

• Agora Release 2 (Aug 2000)

Further info:

• Agora web pages: <http://hosted.ukoln.ac.uk/agora/>

• email:r.russell@ukoln.ac.uk

• subscribe to agora-project@mailbase.ac.uk to receive monthly bulletins