>From: "Conrad, Larry" <LConrad@admin.fsu.edu>
>To: sura-itcom@list.gatech.edu
>Subject: RE: Re: SURA directory services proposal
>Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 14:54:34 -0400
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>Gordon, et al:
>OK, I finally got a block of time to wade thru the "Directory Services for
>Communities of Interest" proposal. This is an interesting proposal and it
>attempts to get at the issue of how might higher ed make effective use of a
>"directory of directories" concept. However, I think it is inappropriate
>for SURA funding.
>
>First a general comment: I CAN get enthused about the prospect of trying to
>solve a specific problem, like how do we make video-conferencing easy to
>set-up and use. It's just not clear to me, though, that we need a general
>communities of interest solution to facilitate communication. It still
>seems to me that is fundamentally a professional association issue. For
>instance, I routinely use the EDUCAUSE site to identify members of my CoI,
>so perhaps I'm being short-sighted, but I'm having difficulty understanding
>"the problem." Plus I do worry about the potential for abuse/misuse. It
>may be unfair, but at one level, I read the proposal as a really efficient
>way to generate more SPAM.
>
>More to the point, though, is that this strikes me as truly a research
>project and perhaps not the best use of the SURA funds. There are
>fundamental (and interesting) questions that need to be addressed before
>there can be a prototype. Given that is the case, the timeline seems pretty
>aggressive and the life-cycle funding fuzzy. It seems to me the basic
>problems should be worked out and then perhaps SURA consider funding a
>proof-of-concept and/or prototype. Also, the ongoing operational funding
>model needs to be worked out. For instance, what happens after the first
>year? Finally, the model for collecting and maintaining the extended data
>for each CoI is unclear. How automated could this be?. I think this is one
>of the research problems that needs to be worked on.
>
>My $0.02.
>
>-Larry Conrad
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