Pilot:

Overview of and Pilot
Collaborative arrangements
Progress and achievements
The next step
Pilot functionality

Overview of and Pilot

Phase 1 was undertaken in two stages:

Stage 1 (March 2001 - February 2002) : Researching, specifying, and designing the user and technical frameworks for the total system and in particular the portal/middle ware layer; and implementing these frameworks through building a demonstrator system.; and
Stage 2 (Jan.2002 - Aug.2002): Testing and evaluation of the pilot system by a sample of library, IT staff and researchers from the project participating organisations, as well as defining how the outcomes of the project can be sustained as a key new layer in the national library system.
It should be noted that Phase 1 did not have as one of its goals, the development of authentication/authorisation, royalty payment and e-commerce layers.

Broad scope of the Pilot

Explored the available software for components of a library portal, as compared with functionality aimed for.
Explored the possibility of establishing an infrastructure, software development and maintenance approach that
• saved duplication of effort;
• was scaleable;
• was sustainable;
Explored technical facets of library portal features, including reliability of functionality of products, and standards met by various software vendors' products and by various data suppliers;
Explored interoperability of portal components
Explored the usefulness of library portal features, to researchers

Collaborative arrangements

A wide range of research organisations (involving Researchers, Information Technology Directors and University Librarians), collaborated in this project including the National Library of Australia, the Victorian regional library cooperative CAVAL Ltd. and nineteen universities across all States.

La Trobe University was the lead institution for the project, which included the participation of 19 other organisations. There was significant input into the design, modelling, development, testing and evaluation by other project participant institutions.

More about : Key personnel, sponsors, hosting and participant Universities and test-sites

Progress and achievements

Selected researchers at the 6 test-site Universities (including University staff and higher degree students) were involved in the evaluation of the project from a researcher's perspective. Library staff contributed to the evaluation of the pilot prototype from an administrative perspective.

At the time of reviewing available software (June 2001), there was no product available which fulfilled all the functionality aimed for. Therefore, the scope of the Phase 1 was narrowed to explore the technical and user aspects of those functionalities which could be implemented during the pilot using purchased software.

The significance of the project is in having developed and explored a range of key library portal functionality, involving a sample of researchers across Australia. Responsibility for evaluating off-the-shelf pilot software was shared among the 6 "test site" participant Universities.

TIMELINE of pilot

May - June 2001	Available software was reviewed and evaluated.
July 2001	AARLIN purchased a one year licence for Ex-Libris' MetaLib and SFX products.
Sep. 2001	The AARLIN pilot server was installed and training was provided.
Oct.2001-Jan.2002	Exploration of technical challenges of the software; and configuration and testing of software to suit institutional subscription details.
Jan.-Aug.2002	The software as made available to a sample group of users from 6 Universities across Australia. Users were surveyed prior to use of the AARLIN prototype, and after 5 months of using the new interface.
Aug.2002	A report on the pilot was presented to Australian Research Council (ARC). This report covered: user needs and responses; technical issues, difficulties, benefits, and challenges; policy issues; comments on future directions; organisational and cultural aspects of the collaborative approach taken in AARLIN.
Aug.2002	Submitted application for further funding of AARLIN.

The next step

In August 2001, the AARLIN Project successfully bid for $2.8 million from DEST's Systemic Infrastructure Initiative funds.

The $2.8 million funding has been provided for the OPERATIONAL PHASE of the project, for the period 2002-2004. It will allow the AARLIN prototype to be developed into a fully operational national system, and to make it available to research students and staff of participating Universities, and eventually most Australian Universities. The funding granted supports the development of component software, extension of services offered, and the purchase of hardware to host the AARLIN service [initially for 1,000 concurrent users], as well as for software licences. The service will initially be deployed for research students and staff.

Functionality aimed for:

Parallel searching of searchable resources
Uniform search interface and search syntax to interrogate a range of databases typically otherwise only searchable using different syntax, navigation, and other design features;
One-stop shop access to (and searching of ) heterogenous resources, such as OPACS, Abstracting and Indexing databases, fulltext databases, Subject gateways, and other searchable datasets.
Streamlined user-pathways
Point-of-need and context-sensitive access to services such deeplinking to fulltext articles, ease of checking availability and location details of non-electronic material, and ease of ILL requesting.
Auto-alerts services;
Capacity to save citations into a Bibliographic Management package;
Capacity to appropriately link from the portal to the native interface of searchable resources;
Library push (to appropriate users);
User pull (personalisation of their research environment);

Last updated [October 13, 2003]