1. 1 Metadata – Has The Time Arrived? Brian Kelly UK Web Focus UKOLN University of Bath Bath, BA2 7AY UKOLN is funded by the Library and Information Commission, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils, as well as by project funding from the JISC and the European Union. UKOLN also receives support from the University of Bath where it is based. Email B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk URL http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

2. 2 Participants Participants in the session will include: Brian Kelly: UK Web Focus, representative of University web managers on HE Mall Steering Group. Alan Robiette: HE Mall consultant. Former director of several computing services. Chris Harris: University of Newcastle. Member of HE Mall Steering Group.

3. 3 Background High-level recognition of importance of Internet to institutional objectives (getting students) National recognition of this (CVCP, HEFCE, JISC, …) Objectives of HE Community Awareness of difficulties in managing and developing services based on unstructured free text Recognition of technical solutions such as XML, RDF and metadata Delays in standardisation and lack of tools and the “killer application” Awareness of difficulties in managing and developing services based on unstructured free text Recognition of technical solutions such as XML, RDF and metadata Delays in standardisation and lack of tools and the “killer application” Technical Developments JISC Strategic Developments such as DNER, RDN and Information Landscapes.

4. 4 HE Mall The HE Mall: Aims to provide the central portal to the UK HE community “More than a set of links” Aims to address high-level concerns of CVCP and HEFCE Will benefit institutions (and web managers): More hits from potential students, etc. Increased awareness of importance of web Spin-offs for institutions (better local searching, etc.)

5. 5 Aims Of Session The aims of the session are: To enable participants to find out more about the HE Mall To discuss institutional obstacles to the development of new web services such as the Mall To consider business models for the development of new services To consider possible solutions to implementing the Mall To consider how institutional involvement with the Mall may provide additional local benefits

6. 6 About The Participants What is your involvement with the Web? What do you hope to gain from the session? What can you contribute to the session?