The identifiers used for items from the collection that the Library is making available online are persistent identifiers (PIs). This means that the Library has undertaken to continue to use the identifier unchanged in future to describe the item from its collection, including both the physical item and its digital surrogates. For example, the identifier for the Papers of Sir Edmund Barton is nla.ms-ms51. Persistent identifiers provide a reliable and stable way of naming items from the collection and these identifiers can be used in citations both online and in a print publication. More information on this issue can be found in the document Managing Web Resources for Persistent Access.
The Library has also developed an online resolver service that will redirect a request for an item to the current storage location of the item. For example, the web address for the Papers of Sir Edmund Barton is http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms51 and if this identifier is used in the browser address or location box, the digital copy of the Papers of Sir Edmund Barton will be found no matter where on the Library's website these are currently located.
You can determine whether the web address used for a library item is a persistent one based on whether it includes these features: the web domain name http://nla.gov.au followed by a slash (/) then nla.pic or similar, and a sequence of other characters or numbers depending on which type of material the identifier represents.
| PI Prefix | Collection |
| nla.arc | PANDORA archive |
| nla.aus | Australian books and serials |
| nla.gen | Overseas books and serials |
| nla.oh | Oral history |
| nla.map | Maps |
| nla.ms | Manuscripts |
| nla.mus | Music |
| nla.pic | Pictures |
Persistent identifiers and an asociated resolver service are an attempt to solve the common problem of broken links that occur when resources on the web are moved to a new location. The approach taken by the Library provides both a stable and consistent naming scheme for collection items and a resolver service to redirect users to the current location of an item based on the persistent identifier.
Having persistent identifiers and persistent web addresses for digital material will enable users of the Library's services to cite resources with confidence and build online virtual works that incorporate material from the Library's collection.
The Library is currently undertaking a number of projects that will make digital copies available online for a range of collection material currently only available in traditional physical format.
Each type of material that the Library may make available in a digital version has been assigned a unique prefix. Rules have been developed for constructing a persistent identifier for each material type so that the identifier for an item can be reconstructed in the correct syntax.
For example, a National Library manuscript collection will have a persistent identifier such as nla.ms-ms51-1-1-s1
| nla.ms | PI prefix for manuscripts |
| ms51 | Unique number for the manuscript collection |
| 1 | First level of the hierarchy within the collection - generally the series within the collection |
| 1 | Second level of the hierarchy within the collection - generally the item or folder within the series |
| s1 | The first part of the item or folder (this is a sequence number) |
| -v or -e | If the prefix also has -v or -e following at the end of the persistent identifier, then the persistent identifier is pointing to the view copy of the part (-v) or to the examination copy of the part (-e). |
A PI prefix has been assigned for each type of collection material, eg manuscripts (nla.ms), pictorial (nla.pic) etc.
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