Strategies are described for creating a resource item list, for transferring the resource item list from one user to another user or to another destination, and for retrieving resource items from an operations center based on resource descriptors specified in the resource item list. The resource item list can include a number of attributes which are used to identify matching resource items in a content store of the operations center. A schema defines the contents and organization of entries in the resource item list. The use of resource item lists helps users discover and consume resource items of interest extracted from a larger pool of resource items.