Dear all: 

I wanted to draw your attention to this important meeting in Australia
(and would be grateful for a report back from anyone who attends). 

In addition to the specific aims of CORDRA (see below) they will also be
exploring the idea of a generic framework for repository services. 

The workshop organizers are well-known, and one of them (Kerry Blinco)
worked on the recent DLF publication "Digital Library Content and Course
Management Systems: Issues of Interoperation," co-edited by Dale Flecker
(Harvard) and Neil McLean (IMS Australia):
http://www.diglib.org/pubs/cmsdl0407/

If you are going out for this meeting I also would like to point out at
immediately before it in Sydney is the Information Online conference
(1-3 February): http://conferences.alia.org.au/online2005/.  And do take
a close look at the work going on at the National Library of Australia,
especially in the area of digital preservation -- very impressive.

Best, 

David

**************************************************************

The first International CORDRA Workshop will be held February 4-5, 2005
at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia.

CORDRA (Content Object Repository Discovery and
Registration/Resolution Architecture) is an open model for building
systems than can share and reuse learning content. The project's
specific goal is to describe how to establish federations of learning
content repositories that will enable reuse of content. CORDRA has its
roots in the ADL's SCORM initiative and has the support of ADL, but the
model is not restricted to SCORM content. The project is currently a
collaborative activity among a number of interested organizations.

The focus of the workshop is to foster information sharing and
discussions among members of the international community who are working
on projects related to the creation of an appropriate learning content
repository infrastructure for managing and sharing learning content. It
is the hope of the organizers that the workshop will encourage experts
to share their project's goals, problems and directions, and will also
facilitate collaboration so that the community may reach the ultimate
goal of seamless access to large quantities of learning content.

For more information or to register, please visit:
  http://cordra.net/cordra/calendar/events/workshop20050204/   

If you have any questions about the arrangements, send mail to: 
  [log in to unmask] 

We look forward to seeing you in Melbourne in February.

Workshop Organizers:

Dan Rehak, Learning Systems Architecture Lab (LSAL), US 

Kerry Blinco, Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST),
Australia

Larry Lannom, Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), US