File dir = new File( System.getProperty( "user.dir" ) );

        // 
        // create an initial context
        //

        DefaultInitialContextFactory initial = 
           new DefaultInitialContextFactory( "avalon", dir );
        initial.setCacheDirectory( getRepositoryDirectory() );
        InitialContext context = initial.createInitialContext();

        //
        // get the plugin reference
        //

        Artifact artifact = Artifact.createArtifact( 
          "artifact:avalon-logging/avalon-logkit-impl#1.0-SNAPSHOT" );

        //
        // build the plugin
        //

        Builder builder = context.newBuilder( artifact );
        Factory factory = builder.getFactory();

        //
        // customize the plugin to you environment
        //

        File file = new File( dir, "logging.xml" );
        Map criteria = factory.createDefaultCriteria();
        criteria.put( "avalon.logging.configuration", file );
        criteria.put( "avalon.logging.basedir", dir );

        //
        // create the logging manager
        //

        LoggingManager manager = (LoggingManager) factory.create( criteria );