PRESENTATION NOTES

CLD MEETING
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2000 
Presenter : D. Palmer		

•	OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
-	Caveats
-	CLDs used by Agora
-	Use of CLDs by Agora (Current / Future)
-	Importance for JISC of Agora work / Lessons learned

•	CAVEATS FOR PRESENTATION
-	DP not involved in CLD formulation
-	CLD theory not strong suit of DP
-	Assuming some knowledge of Agora Project by attendees

•	CLD USED BY AGORA
-	RIDING / MLO / Agora CLDs
-	Using VDX as base system

•	USE OF CLDS BY AGORA
Philosophy / Architecture
-	CLDs at the heart of Agora concept of multiple resource discovery & use
-	Used to provide guide to the aggregation of resources into ‘landscapes’ and as a guide to the resources themselves
-	Some limits to use as ‘aggregator-searcher’ as only one attribute at a time searchable at moment
-	Linked to target / database information in VDX – no CLD, no resource for searching
-	CLDs themselves held within VDX
Numbers & Type
-	Approximately 50 CLDs in the system at moment; all resources in system at moment are those agreed to between all Associates
-	Resources include catalogues, gateways, commercial databases, other media (e.g  ELISE/HELIX)
Content & Input
-	CLD content very limited at moment – CLDs input in simple form just to get resource searchable
-	No standardization of content – content determined by DP
-	Input of content all done by Agora Project staff save for Library Associate ‘home resources’

•	FUTURE OF CLDS WITHIN AGORA
-	Agora Project to ‘fill in’ the CLDs common to all systems
-	Each associate will be able / encouraged to add own CLDs in next phase of Project
-	Agora Project to ‘fill in’ the CLDs common to all systems
-	Each associate will be able / encouraged to add own CLDs in next phase of Project
-	New work on CLDs appear to move away from RIDING / MLO / Agora schema – FDI not following the Agora schema
-	Agora sticking with the RIDING schema as the important thing within the Agora Project is to test the use of the CLD concept, not to agree on a specific schema

•	IMPORTANCE  / LESSONS LEARNED
-	Important for JISC because this is a realworld implementation in a very wide context (much wider & more diverse array of resources than Clumps)
-	Lesson #1 – ensure that succession planning is in place – FDI not following up Agora schema – this limits utility & development of Agora
-	Lesson #2 – critical to involve content providers – keeps Project staff sane (updating issue!)