DCMI Agents Working Group

Agents WG Status Report -- October 2004

In 2003-2004 the Agents group worked in four different areas, with limited progress in two areas. The DCMI Architecture working group reported in with examples of how the notion of "related descriptions" from the Dublin Core™ Abstract Model could be applied to DC "agents". A draft of Functional Requirements for Describing Agents was prepared and circulated, and a number institutions returned substantive comments to be folded into the next draft.

The Functional Requirements document has not evolved enough to permit progress in two parts of the working group's charter. It is premature to identify and evaluate existing conventions for agent description against the functional requirements. As a result, it is also too early to develop a recommendation for an agent element set. The delays are attributed to a combination of factors: this year the working group's primary chair resigned and the occupational responsibilities of the individuals tasked with work items have shifted.

Progress could be improved next year by encouraging the release of a new draft requirements document that incorporates the high quality feedback obtained thus far. It may also be productive to try to recruit new chairs whose working responsibilities are more congruent with the group's charge than those of the present chairs.