Is it worth it to activate the CDI?
Answer
In general, yes. The CDI is made up of millions of records, and sometimes there are linking errors or inconsistencies in the data. As library professionals we will see more of the problems than the successful connections because the problems are what library users report. The CDI provides more granular discoverability for records that otherwise would not be possible for individual institutions or consortia to manage, and it is the only way for article-level records to be discoverable in Primo VE.
That said, if you are noticing a lot of linking errors with a particular collection, you might consider turning off the CDI for that collection. This can be the case with some open access collections that may not be updated as regularly as subscription collections.
With database type collections, CDI is your only option for discoverability. Databases such as PubMed rely on the CDI, so if you turn it off, the only record you will see in Primo VE is the database-level record leading to the collection platform. With selective/aggregator type collections, you can turn off the CDI and still have journal or book level discoverability if you have activated portfolios within that collection.