Activities
Persistent identifiers
The National Library of Australia is committed to the use of persistent identifiers for the permanent naming of Internet resources. A persistent identifier is a name for a resource which will remain the same regardless of where the resource is located. Therefore links to the resource will continue to work even if it is moved.
In 1998 the Library implemented a PURL Resolver Service to assist creators, publishers and managers of Internet resources to manage these resources for persistent access. 1380 URLs are currently registered. While this service works well on a small scale for one-to-one referrals, the Library has chosen not to adopt it for managing the persistence of its own electronic resources.
In April 2000 the Library engaged a consultant to examine and report on existing standards and processes for persistent identifiers, and a report of the consultant was released in June 2001. The findings of the review are summarised in Persistence is a Virtue, a paper presented by the consultant, Diana Dack, at the Information Online 2001 Conference.
The Library has implemented the recommendations of this report and is now allocating persistent identifiers to the digital objects in its care, according to the guidelines in Appendix 1 of the report. It is managing persistence of its resources through a combination of managed URLs and a resolver system based on directing query strings to our application delivery mechanisms for digital materials detailed in Appendix 2 of the report.
In collaboration with the CASL Digital Issues Working Group and the State Library of Tasmania, the Library is looking at the feasibility of an Australian Digital Resource Identifier (ADRI) and a national agency for its implementation and allocation.
In 2001 the Library released a statement on Managing Web Resources for Persistent Access.
The Library is also an active member of an international working group (the Persistent Identifiers Task Force) which was formed to develop standards and guidelines for national libraries in the use of persistent identifiers. This Group has met twice, in April 1999 and March 2000.
The Library has agreed to participate in a pilot project with the ISSN International Centre to explore the concept of an Electronic Archive Registry and its possible role as part of a resolution system.
The Library is continuing to monitor developments in formal persistent identifier schemes and reports regularly on its activities in this area under Item Identifiers in its National Library Standards Activities page.
