Activities

NAAUG Enhancement Request Process

NAAUG Enhancement Groups

Charge 2005-2006  

The NAAUG Enhancement Groups are appointed on an annual basis with a mix of experienced and new volunteers. An attempt is always made to represent as many sites as possible and to balance representation so no one institution has influence above the others.

Each Enhancement Group is charged with identifying enhancements desired to the functional module to which they are assigned.

Each Enhancement Group shall: 

1. identify needed enhancements,
2. clarify and describe the requests, 
3. prioritize the requests and
4. submit their top 3 requests to the Enhancement Coordinators.
    
5. The members of the Enhancement Groups shall hold themselves ready to serve as future approvers/testers of the functional specifications developed by Ex Libris that relate to their year's requests.

The Enhancement Group may use a combination of the requests developed in previous years and new requests that devolve from everyday use of the system. Requests shall be limited to a single function rather than a whole family of functions.

Each enhancement request will contain a NAAUG tracking number, a descriptive title, a problem statement and a clear and concise description of the enhancement requested as well as concise examples [see Template]. The requests should be descriptive rather than proscriptive (i.e., they need to describe the desired result, not the process the system must use to achieve that result).

A closed listserv^© is assigned to each Enhancement Group. The restricted enhancements directory on the NAAUG Website houses previous years' requests and other support documentation for the use of the Enhancement Groups.

Liaison(s) from ICAU shall be non-voting members of the Enhancement Group and will help coordinate requests for enhancement to the functional module from the international Aleph community.

The Ex Libris contact person shall advise on the feasibility of the request, shall verify that the function is not already available, under development, or in an existing contract.

The Enhancement Group will submit their top 3 requests by the deadline established by the Steering Committee and the Enhancement Coordinators.

The Enhancement Coordinators will submit the combined list of 18 requests to Ex Libris. Ex Libris will assign development weights.

The Chairs of the Enhancement Groups will meet with the Enhancement Coordinators and Ex Libris to review the combined list. Further questions of clarification will be channelled via the Enhancement Coordinators.

Functional testing teams will be designated from the Enhancement Groups members to react to functional specs from Ex Libris regarding their proposed solutions, and pre-test the programmed enhancements before the general release of the version.