SuperJournal Progress Report

December 1996 Progress Report

Application and Functionality

At the Steering Committee meeting on 10 September we showed the demonstration SuperJournal application. This contained some, but not all, of the functionality we would like to test out on users. We therefore had to take an important decision: what functionality needs to be present on “Day 1” when SuperJournal is launched, and how do we phase in new features thereafter? The starting point was the list of value-added features we think will be important to readers and authors (from the Evaluation Plan). A proposal was agreed for the functionality that should be present on “Day 1” when the Communication & Cultural Studies cluster (CCS) would go live, and rollout of features thereafter. Considerations were:

The priority of each feature
Technical difficulty of implementation
Software/tools available for the job
Timescale (the more you ask for, the longer it takes!)

Using this spec, Manchester developed the demonstration into the final application, this was tested, the publishers signed off on their content in the application, and the CCS cluster was launched in November. It contains all the features agreed for Day 1 and is available to 3 of the user sites (Birmingham, Ulster, and Warwick). The milestone agreed with JISC (application available by the end of 1996 at one user site) was met ahead of schedule and with more user sites.

Development work is under way to implement the new features for the next cluster (Molecular Genetics and Proteins or MGP), including searchable PDF, display of full text as HTML (where the publisher can supply appropriate files), current awareness alerts based on user profiles, and a discussion forum feature.

Rollout Plan

In consultation with the libraries, a rollout plan was agreed:

A new cluster will be launched every 3 months
With each launch a group of new features will be implemented
For each cluster, 3 sites will participate in the evaluation research (the others can have access but won't need to participate in the formal research)
Selection of sites for the evaluation research will be based on fit of the cluster with university research
The sites selected for the first and second clusters (CCS and MGP) should be different to avoid “SuperJournal fatigue”.

Evaluation Research: Readers and Libraries

HUSAT are now conducting the baseline studies at the user sites for CCS: Birmingham, Ulster, and Warwick. This has involved identifying potential users, inviting them to answer a baseline questionnaire to profile their use of printed journals and expectations of electronic journals, and organising focus groups to discuss their preferences and expectations in greater detail.

We are now engaged in an activity to maximise user registration at each site. All the libraries have received briefing documents on the application, the implementation plan, registration, and handouts for users. However there are broader issues to consider:

What is the best method to make potential users aware of SuperJournal?
How can potential users be transformed into real users (get them to register)?
How can one-time users be transformed into regular users (keep them coming back)?
What training should be done and by whom?
How much does the approach taken need to vary per site?

In addressing the above we need to take into consideration that the participating librarians have a limited amount to time to spend on SuperJournal, and HUSAT cannot really participate directly in promoting SuperJournal as there is a conflict of interest with their evaluation role. So in addition to planning promotional activities, we are likely to need a part-time person to coordinate the activities at each site.

Evaluation Research: Authors and Publishers

In parallel to implementing the research focusing on readers, the research focusing on authors is being planned. The content and functionality that readers can have will ultimately depend on what authors are willing to supply. In a meeting with the publishers an overall approach to the author research was outlined:

In the long term we want to establish multimedia standards
However, in the short term we need to encourage authors to submit multimedia content to include in the application
The project will develop a multimedia demo to show what we have in mind, and author guidelines for multimedia formats.
Enthusiastic journal editors will be instrumental in identifying multimedia content and facilitating authors to contribute.

Production

Work focused on the following activities:

Get all the 1996 content for the CCS journals into the application (and publisher sign-off) in time for launch
Develop a production schedule for 1996 and 1997 files for all the clusters in consultation with each publisher
Get the publishers to start delivering files for future clusters
Develop filters to process the SGML full text files of each publisher
Exploit new tools to streamline the production process itself.

In September a part-time Production Coordinator was appointed to handle the scheduling of files and follow up on file submission.

Other Activities

The participating librarians held their first meeting in September and they agreed representatives to the SuperJournal Planning and Steering Committees. They plan to meet bimonthly to share experience, taking turns to host the meetings, and seeing how SuperJournal is implemented at each site. The next meeting is scheduled for January.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the project partners was signed.
The libraries signed a letter of commitment to participate in the project.
A licence agreement has been sent to the libraries which covers terms and conditions of use for the intellectual property contained in the application.
Manchester are writing a Development Plan documenting the development process. Like the Evaluation Plan, this is a supporting document to the overall Project Plan.
To assist in the project self-evaluation, a decision log has been created documenting all decisions since the project start. This spreadsheet has been circulated to the Planning Committee and will be updated regularly.
The Web site is being restructured and updated with new content. An expanded “members only” section (password protected) will contain meeting agendas, meeting papers, and project documentation, be fully searchable, and reduce the amount of paper circulated in big brown envelopes!