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Persistent identifiers

The most common method of discovering and locating resources on the World Wide Web relies on allocating an identifier to resources. Uniform Resource Locators, or URLs, specify the location of a resource by including a protocol, domain name and the actual name of the file within which the resource resides.

Although URLs have been serving the combined purpose of identifying a resource and describing its location for some time now, they are not a satisfactory means of persistently identifying a digital resource. The URL simply points to the current location of the resource. If a resource is moved to a new location, the previous URL is no longer useful and links to the resource that are embedded in other documents or databases also become redundant. A persistent and unique identifier would preserve access to that resource regardless of its location, provided the persistent identifier were maintained with the correct current associated location when the resource was moved. This form of mapping is generally undertaken via a resolver database.

URI, URN, URL, URC

A Uniform Resource Name (URN) is a standard, persistent and unique identifier for digital resources on the Internet. URNs and URLs are forms of Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). For someone to be able to link to the URL of a digital resource from the URN, a resolver service is required.

Uniform Resource Characteristics (URCs) are metadata encoded information about the resources. However, the development of systems for including this metadata is now chiefly being pursued as part of the DOI and ARK initiatives.

Uniform Resource Name (URN)

All URNs will include a Namespace Identifier (NID) code and a Namespace Specific String (NSS). The NID indicates the identification system being used for the URN and facilitates the interpretation of the NSS. The NSS is the local code that identifies the individual document (see IETF:RFC 1737, Functional requirements for Uniform Resource Names; IETF: RFC 2141, URN Syntax).

The international ISBN and ISSN agencies are registering URNs using ‘ISBN’ and ‘ISSN’ as the NIDs. A URN based on National Bibliography Numbers (NBNs) with ‘NBN’ as the NID has been registered and adopted by the Nordic Metadata Projects.

The Handle System

The Handle System was developed by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) and generally conforms with the URN framework. The Handle System is 'a comprehensive system for assigning, managing, and resolving persistent identifiers, known as "handles", for digital objects and other resources on the Internet' (Handle System Introduction). Handles are resolved through a global handle service, with the capability of also having local handle services integrated with the global system. See: CNRI's home page for The Handle System.

Digital Object Identifier

The development of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system was initiated by the Association of American Publishers, and is now managed by the International DOI Foundation. DOIs have been developed to assist the publishing community with electronic commerce and copyright management of digital objects published on the Internet. The DOI system of unique identifiers is based on the Handle System and allows the allocation of a unique digital identifier to commercial digital publications. A detailed description of the scheme is set out in the DOI Handbook.

Persistent URL (PURL)

The Persistent Uniform Resource Locator (PURL) was developed and implemented by the Online Computer Library Center Inc. (OCLC) as a naming and resolution service for general Internet resources. It is intended as an interim system to be used until the URN framework is well established. A PURL looks just like a URL, except it points to a resolution service instead of the actual location of the digital resource. The resolution service then redirects the user to the appropriate URL. In essence, the PURL is a link to the current location of the particular resource to which it is assigned. If the location of the resource changes, its new location only needs to be updated in the PURL resolver service for users to be able to continue to find it with the same PURL.

Further information about PURLs is available at OCLC's Persistent URL Home Page. This site includes an overview of the PURL service, FAQs and details of the PURL-L mailing list. Organisations wishing to set up their own PURL resolver service can download the PURL software from this site.

ARK (Archival Resource Key)

Most recently, a new approach to persistent identification has been provided by the ARK (Archival Resource Key) scheme. This proposal, released as a preliminary document in March 2001, was developed by John Kunze as part of work undertaken for the US National Library of Medicine. ARK is a system primarily designed for custodians of archived digital objects, and emphasises the principle of stewardship of resources and their naming schemes over time. The scheme is underpinned by three requirements: a link from the object to a promise for stewardship; a link from the object to metadata which describes it; and a link to the object itself (or appropriate substitute). A more detailed explanation of the ARK system, which is location and protocol independent, is available at The ARK Persistent Identifier Scheme.

Last Updated: Aug 2002

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Articles

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Historical I Am a Name and a Number
Miller, Paul In: Ariadne (Date Created: 21 Jun 2000)
This article introduces the debate surrounding persistent identifiers, discusses differences between intelligent and unintelligent numbering schemes and provides a brief overview of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) scheme.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue24/metadata/intro.html
Historical Application of Persistent Identifiers as One Approach to Ensure Guarantee Long-Term Availability of Online Theses : the Established Uniform Resource Name (URN) Management at Die Deutsche Bibliothek
Schroeder, Kathrin (Date Created: May 2003) (Germany)
This article discusses the implementation, management and structure of URNs at Die Deutsche Bibliothek (German National Library), within the international NBN (National Bibliography Number) name space of national libraries. Practical experiences of URN management including workflows, current activities and examples are also included.
http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/etd2003/schroeder-kathrin/HTML/index.html
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Historical Archiving the Web: The PANDORA Archive at the National Library of Australia
Cathro, Warwick; Webb, Colin; Whiting, Julie (Date Created: Jun 2001) (Australia)
This paper describes the National Library of Australia's PANDORA web archive. It includes description of the Library's framework for digital collection management, the reasons for a selective approach to web archiving, the archiving processes, persistent identifiers, access control, preservation plans and opportunities for global cooperation and information sharing.
http://www.nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/2001/cathro3.html
Digital Object Identifier System : an Overview
Chandrakar, Rajesh (Date Created: Jul 2006)
This article gives an overview of the DOI (Digital Object Identifier System), describes its components and briefly discusses the benefits of using DOI.
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=A
rticle&contentId=1567623
Electronic Library, Vol. 24, No. 4 (2006), pp. 445-452. Available as html or pdf.
Digital Object Identifiers for Scientific Data
Paskin, Norman (Date Created: 28 Apr 2005)
This article describes the application of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) in maintaining links to scientific data. It explains the function and purpose of Digital Object Identifiers and presents two case studies of DOI use within large repositories of scientific data sets.
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/dsj/4/0/4_12/_article
Data Science Journal, ISSN 1683-1470, Vol. 4, April 2005, pp. 12-20.
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Historical Digital Object Identifiers: Promise and Problems for Scholarly Publishing
Davidson, Lloyd A. ; Douglas, Kimberly In: JEP - The Journal of Electronic Publishing (Date Created: Dec 1998) (United States of America)
This article is an evaluation of Digital Object Identifiers and describes what they are, why they are needed and how they came into existence. It highlights their limitations and benefits on a range of uses, such as rights management and as persistent identifiers, and concludes with some issues that are still to be resolved.
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3336451.0004.203
Historical DiVA Project : Development of an Electronic Publishing System
Andersson, Stefan; Hansson, Peter ; Klosa, Uwe; Muller, Eva In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: Nov 2003) (Sweden)
This article describes the status of the DiVA (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet) system developed at the Uppsala University in Sweden. It concentrates on publishing workflow, DiVA document format and solutions supporting long-term preservation such as persistent links. Future development plans are also discussed.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/november03/muller/11muller.html
Historical DOI : a 2003 Progress Report
Paskin, Norman In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: Jun 2003)
In July 2003 the International DOI Foundation (IDF) published the 3rd edition of the DOI Handbook. This article discusses the history, development, usage, current issues, funding and metadata implications of DOI (Digital Object Indentifier).
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june03/paskin/06paskin.html
Historical DOI: Current Status and Outlook
Paskin, Norman In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: May 1999)
This paper describes the origin and development of the DOI (Digital Object Identifier). It also discusses URNs, how the DOI fits into the URN framework, and issues involved in implementing URNs.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1045/may99-paskin
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may99/05paskin.html
Historical DOIs : the Key to Interoperability
O'Neill, Shane (Date Created: Dec 2002) (United Kingdom)
This article gives an overview of how DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) help the public sector information community enhance interoperability within and between departments, while retaining flexibility in managing content. This is described within the context of the Stationery Office, which has been appointed as a registration agency for DOI's in the United Kingdom.
http://www.cilip.org.uk/publications/updatemagazine/archive/archive200
2/december/update0212d.htm
in Library and Information Update, December 2002
Historical Getting a Handle on Federal Information : Persistent Identification Using Handles
CENDI (Last Updated: 18 Feb 2003) (United States of America)
Includes presentations from the CENDI Workshop hosted by the National Library of Medicine (US) on January 29, 2003, and covers both traditional and non-traditional implementations of the Handle and Digital Object Identifier (DOI) systems.
http://cendi.dtic.mil/activities/01_29_03_handles_program.html
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Historical Guidelines For URI Naming Policies
Kelly, Brian In: Ariadne (Date Created: 24 Mar 2002)
As part of his regular Web Focus column, Brian Kelly discusses persistence of URIs, noting scenarios that may cause URI naming schemes to fail, such as changes to technical infrastructure, backend technologies and file formats, and raising issues about server redirects, concluding with the need to develop URI naming policies that address all these issues.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue31/web-focus/
Historical Handle System (Overview)
Corporation for National Research Initiatives (Last Updated: 22 Jan 2002) (United States of America)
The Handle System is a comprehensive system for assigning, managing, and resolving persistent identifiers, known as "handles," for digital objects and other resources on the Internet.
http://www.handle.net/overviews/overview.html
Historical IASSIST 2000 : Data in the Digital Library: social, spatial, and government data services: Electronic Presentation Archive
University of Chicago (Date Created: Jun 2000) (United States of America)
Presentations at the 26th conference of the International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST) related to managing, preserving and providing access to digital collections in archives and libraries.
http://www.src.uchicago.edu/datalib/ia2000/presentations/presentation.
htm
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Historical Identification, Location and Versioning of Web-Resources : URI Discussion Paper
van der Werf-Davelaar, Titia In: DONOR (Date Created: 12 Mar 1999)
This paper has good coverage of the different aspects and issues involved in developing a successful system of unique identifiers. It includes: the problems associated with URLs; an overview of the URI-architecture; issues relating to the URN, including the framework, syntax, namespaces, assignment and resolution; The Handle System, DOI and National Bibliographic Number (NBN-as-URN); URI resolution systems; URL management; metadata driven access management; and metadata developments.
http://web.archive.org/web/20000915221628/http://www.kb.nl/coop/donor/
rapporten/URI.html
Identifier Interoperability
Paskin, Norman (Date Created: 22 Sep 2008)
This Digital Preservation Europe (DPE) briefing paper discusses three aspects of interoperability of identifiers (syntactic, semantic and community interoperability), persistence and interoperability and lessons for implementers.
http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu/publications/briefs/identifier
-interoperability.pdf
Digital Ptreservation Europe Briefing Paper
Identifier Interoperability : a Report on Two Recent ISO Activities
Paskin, Norman In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: Apr 2006)
This article reports on two ISO activities which have implications for content management in digital libraries. Firstly, the investigation of the practical implications of interoperability across the family of ISO TC46/SC9 identifiers (better known as the ISBN and related identifiers); and secondly, the implementation of an ontology-based data dictionary that could provide a mechanism for this, the ISO/IEC 21000-6 standard.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april06/paskin/04paskin.html
Identifiers : Unique, Persistent, Global
Coyle, Karen (Date Created: Jul 2006)
In this article the author discusses the importance and qualities of identifiers in the library environment.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2006.04.004
Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 32, Issue 4, (July 2006), p. 347-450
Historical Identifiers and Their Role In Networked Information Applications
Lynch, Clifford (Last Updated: Oct 1997)
This article discusses the importance of identifiers in the networked environment, why URLs are unsatisfactory as identifiers, the proposed URN framework, the OCLC Persistent URL, the Serial Item and Contribution Identifier (SICI) and the DOI.
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/identifier.pdf
Also availble in PDF and in ARL: A Bimonthly Report no 194 (Oct 1997)
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Historical Identifying Metadata Elements with URIs : the CORES Resolution
Baker, Thomas; Dekkers, Makx In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: Jul 2003)
At a November 2002 meeting, the CORES Project (Information Society Technologies Programme, European Union) passed a resolution to assign Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) to metadata elements of several major metadata standards, including DOI, Dublin Core, GILS and ONIX. This article presents the text of the resolution and then summarises the position of organisations that maintain the metadata standards and notes any problems that have emerged in assigning URIs.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july03/baker/07baker.html
Introduction to the Dataverse Network as an Infrastructure for Data Sharing
King, Gary (Date Created: Nov 2007) (United States of America)
This article provides an introduction to the Dataverse Network Project which enables data sharing via a standard citation format which enables persistent identification.
http://gking.harvard.edu/files/abs/dvn-abs.shtml
Also available in Sociological Methods and Research, Vol. 32, No. 2 (November, 2007): Pp. 173--199
Historical Linking Preservation Metadata and Collection Management Policies
Calanag, Maria Luisa; Sugimoto, Shigeo; Tabata, Koichi (Date Created: 2004)
This article focuses on the link between institutional policies and successful long term preservation of digital data. The study has found that in order to do this it is crucial to develop preservation guides that address the metadata granularity issues. The study highlighted a need for flexible approach when determining preservation metadata levels, since highly structured metadata can be set at a higher, collection level, while lower confidence in stability of digital data would require file level metadata. This approach leads to a concept of metadata encapsulated objects, which although representing primarily technical requirements, need also to be addressed at policy level in order to render successful preservation strategies.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mcb/171/2004/00000023/00000002/a
rt00002
in Collection Building (0160-4953), Vol. 23, no. 2 (2004) pp 56-63.
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Historical On Making and Identifying a Copy
Paskin, Norman In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: Jan 2003)
The article canvasses issues associated with distinguishing particular instances and manifestations and the necessary granularity. It problematises the notion of a copy and the need to identify types of copies. The article is motivated by concerns regarding digital rights management, however, such issues are also appropriate to the management of multiple copies within a digital preservation system.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january03/paskin/01paskin.html
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Managing Web Resources for Persistent Access
National Library of Australia (Date Created: Mar 2001)
A set of guidelines, formulated by the Electronic Unit of the National Library of Australia, to assist in the management of links to web resources. The document examines the reasons for link failure, and suggests strategies for maintaining active links.
http://www.nla.gov.au/guidelines/persistence.html
Also published in leaflet form; copies available from the Electronic Unit, National Library of Australia (elecunit@nla.gov.au)
New Memento: Time Travel for the Web
Ainsworth, Scott; Balakireva, Lyudmila L.; Nelson, Michael L.; Sanderson, Robert; Shankar, Harihar; Van de Sompel, Herbert (Date Created: Nov 2009) (United States of America)
This draft of a paper to be presented at WWW 2010 provides an overview of the protocol-based Memento solution for providing temporal access to archival Web content. It describes a proof-of-concept experiment in temporal content negotiation using the archival content of Wikipedia and the Internet Archive and the URI of the original.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0911.1112
ArXiv.org has versions of the paper.
Modelling Information Persistence on the Web
Gomes, D.; Silva, Mario J. (Date Created: 2006) (Portugal)
This paper will be presented at the Sixth International Conference on Web Engineering in July 2006. Over a three year period the researchers measured URL and content persistence using Tomba, the Portuguese web archive. The paper discusses what characterises the persistent URLs and gives reasons for lack of persistence.
http://xldb.fc.ul.pt/daniel/docs/papers/gomes06urlPersistence.pdf
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Historical National Library of Australia: Ensuring Long-Term Access to Online Publications
Phillips, Margaret In: JEP - The Journal of Electronic Publishing (Date Created: Jun 1999) (Australia)
This article gives an overview of archiving networked digital material in the PANDORA project and covers topics such as collection, selection, metadata, access, costs, permanent naming, technological obsolescence and preservation.
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3336451.0004.405
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Historical Persistence is a Virtue
Dack, Diana (Date Created: Jan 2001) (Australia)
This paper, presented by Diana Dack at the Information Online 2001 Conference, discusses issues relating to persistent identifier systems, outlines some current naming schemas, notes progress made by the National Library of Australia, guidelines on managing resources to foster persistent availability
http://www.nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/2001/dack.html
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Persistent Identification : a Key Component of an E-Government Infrastructure
CENDI Persistent Identification Task Group (Last Updated: 7 May 2004) (United States of America)
This report begins by discussing the various approaches to persistent identification (PI) and how they are being used. It then discusses how this technology fits in with the Federal Enterprise Architecture model of e-government currently being developed by the United States government. The report raises several issues for future study including a centralised versus distributed implementation and the proposed framework for a government wide PI scheme.
http://cendi.dtic.mil/publications/04-2persist_id.html
Publication no. CENDI/04-2. Also available in .pdf.
Persistent Identification for the Permanent Referencing of Digital Resources : the Activities of the EPICUR Project : Enhanced Univform Resource Name (URN) Management at Die Deutsche Bibliothek
Schroeder, Kathrin (Date Created: Jan 2006) (Germany)
This article discusses URN management at the Die Deutsche Bibliothek (National Library of Germany) as it occurs within the framework of the EPICUR (Enhancement of Persistent Identifier Services - Comprehensive Method for Unequivocal Resource Identification) project. URNs were included in the National Bibliography Number (NBN) since 2001. The NBNs are used for many types of digital objects. The article discusses the administration and structure of the NBN, NBN resolution services and the URN resolver demonstration site.
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a902690944~db=all~ord
er=page
Serials Librarian, Vol. 49, no. 3 (January 2006). Available via subscription.
Persistent Identification of Digital Resources : Environmental Scan
Morgan, Hilary (Date Created: Feb 2008) (Canada)
This report (32 p.) prepared for Library and Archives Canada as part of the AlouetteCanada Metadata Toolkit, reviews existing persistent identification schemes and related services based on an environmental scan undertaken in late 2007.
http://www.carl-abrc.ca/projects/nmrdi/Alouette-PersistentID_Scan-e.pd
f
Also available in French http://www.carl-abrc.ca/projects/nmrdi/Alouette-PersistentID_Scan-f.pdf
Persistent Identification of Electronic Records and the Future of Footnotes
Lyons, Sue (Date Created: 2005) (United States of America)
This article discusses the wide spread incidence of link rot, or increasing dead links over time, in scholarly literature. A universal system of persistent identification is discussed as a solution to this problem.
http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_llj_v97n04/2005-42.pdf
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Historical Persistent Identification Systems : Report on a Consultancy Conducted by Diana Dack for the National Library of Australia
Dack, Diana (Date Created: May 2001) (Australia)
This report, commissioned by the National Library of Australia, considers the role of persistent identifiers in the provision of long-term access to Internet resources. Existing identification schemes are examined and factors important in the establishment of new naming schemes are discussed. The report concludes by identifying the short-term options for the NLA, and by providing a list of recommendations for ensuring persistent access to resources.
http://www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/persistence/PIcontents.html
Persistent Identifiers
Repositories Support Project (Date Created: Nov 2008) (United Kingdom)
This Repositories Support Project briefing paper introduces some of the current persistent identification systems and points to resources to aid deployment in institutional repositories.
http://www.rsp.ac.uk/pubs/briefingpapers-docs/technical-persistentids.
pdf
Repositories Support Project Briefing Paper
Persistent identifiers : Considering the Options
Tonkin, Emma In: Ariadne (Date Created: Jul 2008)
This article considers current use of persistent identifiers. It describes several current services (URN, NBN, DOI, PURL, Handle System, OpenURL, Archival Resource Key & Webcite) including their theoretical background and use. It discusses practical concerns and open questions and research issues.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue56/tonkin/
Persistent Identifiers distributed system for Cultural Heritage digital objects
Bellini, Emanuele; Cirinnà, Chiara; Damiani, Enesto; Fugazza, Cristiano; Lunghi, Maurizio (Date Created: 30 Sep 2008) (Italy)
This paper given at iPRES 2008 (British Library Conference Centre, 29-30 Sept. 2008) presents a prototype with a novel resolution architecture for an URN based Persistent Identifiers (PI) system in Italy. The National Bibliographic Number (NBN) project in Italy is funded by the Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale and developed together with the National Library in Florence (BNCF), the University of Milan (UNIMI), and the University consortium (CILEA). It has developed a prototype for a national register of digital cultural resources. The paper describes the objectives of the project and the distributed architecture that will be used for resolution.
http://www.bl.uk/ipres2008/presentations_day2/38_Lunghi.pdf
Persistent Identifiers for Cultural Heritage
Bellini, Emanuele; Cirinnà, Chiara; Lunghi, Maurizio (Date Created: 19 Jun 2008)
This Digital Preservation Europe (DPE) briefing paper discusses the requirements for persistent identifiers by cultural institutions and opportunities for research.
http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu/publications/briefs/persistent
_identifiers.pdf
Digital Preservation Europe Briefing Paper
Persistent Identifiers for Digital Resources: The experience of the National Library of France
Bermes, Emmanuelle (Date Created: Dec 2006) (France)
This article briefly describes the Bibliotheque nationale de France use of Persistent Identifiers.
http://archive.ifla.org/VI/4/news/ipnn40.pdf
Available in International Preservation News, Vol 40 December 2006, English pp 23-26, French 16-21
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Historical Persistent Identifiers on the Digital Terrain
Payette, Sandra In: RLG DigiNews (Date Created: 15 Apr 1998)
This article clearly describes URNs and major implementations of persistent identifiers, including PURL, The Handle System and DOI. It also looks briefly at the process of implementing persistent identifiers for digital imaging projects.
http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/1/OCC/2007/08/08/0000070513/viewer/file3
97.html#Identifiers
PILIN Project : Project Closure Report
PILIN Project (Date Created: 20 Dec 2007) (Australia)
This is the final report of the PILIN Project (Persistent Identifier for Linking Infrastructure). It provides an overview of the project and its work towards developing a sustainable shared infrastructure for persistent identifier usage in Australia (National Persistent Identifier Service).
https://www.pilin.net.au/Closure_Report.pdf
Policy Checklist for Enabling Persistence of Identifiers
Blinco, Kerry; Nicholas, Nick; Ward, Nigel In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: 19 Jan 2009)
This article describes the main task and findings of the Persistent Identifier Linking Infrastructure (PILIN) Project. A six point check-list for integrating identifiers into information management developed by the PILIN Project is presented.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january09/nicholas/01nicholas.html
Pronom PUID Scheme : a Scheme of Persistent Unique Identifiers for Representation Information. Digital Preservation Technical Paper 2
Brown, Adrian (Date Created: Nov 2005) (United Kingdom)
As a follow on to the development of the DROID file identification tool, the National Archives (UK) has also released PUID (Pronom Unique Identifier). PUID is designed to provide persistent identifiers for file formats held in the PRONOM registry. This paper outlines the PUID structure, the use of PUIDS, the scheme administration and the expression of PUIDS as Uniform Resource Locators.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/aboutapps/pronom/pdf/pronom_unique_
identifier_scheme.pdf
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Historical Relationship Between URNs, Handles, and PURLs
Library of Congress, National Digital Library Program (Date Created: 08 Dec 1997)
This article describes URNs, the Handle System and PURLs, and provides examples of how they work. There is also a brief outline of how handles and PURLs interoperate.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award/docs/PURL-handle.html
Historical Resolving DOI Based URNs Using Squid
Powell, Andy In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: 15 Jun 1998)
This article describes an experimental system that allows DOIs encoded as URNs to be resolved on behalf of Web browsers. It also provides information on the issues associated with long-term identifiers and possible future developments.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june98/06powell.html
D-Lib Magazine, June 1998
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Historical Syntax for the Digital Object Identifier
National Information Standards Organization (NISO) (Date Created: 12 Dec 2000)
This National Information Standards Organization (NISO)-American National Standards Institute (ANSI) resource, defines the US national standard for the DOI persistent identification system. Later version published in 2005.
http://web.archive.org/web/20051223054820/http://www.niso.org/standard
s/resources/Z39-84-2000.pdf
ANSI/NISO Z39.84-2000
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Towards Electronic Persistence Using ARK Identifiers
Kunze, John A.
This article describes how the ARK (Archival Resource Key) differs from other persistent identifier schemes and how the California Digital Library is using ARKs for the digital objects it controls. The full ARK specification is available.
http://www.cdlib.org/inside/diglib/ark/arkcdl.pdf
UK Government Web Continuity : Persisting Access Through Aligning Infrastructures
Spencer, Amanda; Sheridan, John; Thomas, David; Pullinger, David (Date Created: Dec 2008) (United Kingdom)
This paper describes a study by a working group established by the UK Cabinet Office to ensure that parliamentarians would be able to access information referenced by URLs particularly those referenced in Hansard in perpetuity. The Web Continuity solution was developed after investigation, analysis and comparison of options. In November 2008 The National Archives began comprehensive archiving of the government Web Estate.
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/events/dcc-2008/programme/papers/UK%20Government%
20Web%20Continuity.pdf
Paper of the 4th International Digital Curation Conference, 1-3 Dec 2008, Edinburgh Scotland
UMID - Unique Material Identifier
Wallaszkovits, Nadja; Liebl, Christian (Date Created: Feb 2009)
This Digital Preservation Europe Briefing Paper provides an overview of the UMID - Unique Material Identifier, which is used to identify audiovisual materials and is a key component of digital asset management systems.
http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu/publications/briefs/UMID_Uniqu
e%20Material%20Identifier.pdf
Digital Preservation Europe Briefing Paper
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Historical Uniform Resource Names
Hakala, Juha In: Tietolinja News (Date Created: 15 Mar 1998)
This is an overview of URNs including a basic description of how they work and can accommodate other identifiers; the use of namespaces including how ISBN agencies might use them; the development of a URN resolution service; and the decision of the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL) to implement URNs.
http://www.lib.helsinki.fi/tietolinja/0199/urnart.html
Historical Unique Identifiers in a Digital World
Powell, Andy In: Ariadne (Last Updated: 14 Mar 1997) (United Kingdom)
This article reports on a seminar organised jointly by Book Industry Communication and the UK Office for Library and Information Networking on the use of unique identifiers in electronic publishing. After a brief introduction to unique identifiers, the article discusses three naming schemes currently used by the publishing community: Digital Object Identifier (DOI), Serial/Book Item and Contribution Identifier (SICI/BICI), and the Publisher Item Identifier (PII).
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue8/unique-identifiers/
Historical URN User Guide
Hakala, Juha; Koch, Traugott (Last Updated: 3 Mar 1998) (Finland)
This is a help page for the Nordic libraries' URN creator provided by the Nordic Metadata Project.
http://www.lib.helsinki.fi/meta/URN-help.html
Historical Using XML for Long-term Preservation : Experiences from the DiVA Project
Andersson, Stefan; Hansson, Peter; Klosa, Uwe; Muller, Eva; Siira, Erik (Date Created: May 2003) (Sweden)
This paper describes the DiVA (Digitala vetenskapliga arkivet) Project which originated at Uppsala University in Sweden. The goal of the project is to create a searchable archive (DiVA Archive) for the long term preservation of those documents which are published in an electronic form such as theses, essays and working papers. This paper includes discussion of XML as a long term preservation format, the DiVA document format and the use of URN (uniform resource names) as persistent identifiers.
http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/etd2003/hansson-peter/HTML/index.html
Historical W3C and Digital Libraries
Miller, James S.; World Wide Web Consortium In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: 15 Nov 1996)
This article outlines the need for the Digital Library community to work with the W3C to overcome the 'problems of our social and institutional structures' that prevent the implementation of technical solutions to persistent naming and metadata problems.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/november96/11miller.html
D-Lib Magazine, November 1996
Historical What is a Library Anymore, Anyway?
Herkovic, Andrew C. ; Keller, Michael A.; Reich, Victoria A. In: First Monday (Date Created: May 2003)
Using the LOCKSS system as an example, this article discusses the need for libraries to control persistent access locally to enable long-term preservation and accessibility of digital collections. Local control of collections is critical both to assure permanence and to provide a key degree of selectivity. The LOCKSS system and protocol and similar technologies allow libraries to create, manage and maintain persistent caches of electronic journal content to which they subscribe with minimal cost so that libraries get to retain their role of acquiring, retaining, preserving and building means of access to collections.
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view
/1053/973
Historical What is...a URI?
Peacock, Ian In: Ariadne (Date Created: 1 Dec 1998)
This article is a good introduction to URIs, URLs, URNs and URCs.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue18/what-is/

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Books

Implementing Persistent Identifiers: Overview of Concepts, Guidelines and Recommendations
Hilse, Hans-Werner; Kothe, Jochen (Date Created: Nov 2006)
This 70 page report was written by the Research and Development Department of the Goettingen State and University Library at the request of the Advisory Task Group of the Consortium of European Research Libraries. It explains the principles of persistent identifiers and discusses Digital Object Identifiers, Archival Resource Keys, Persistent Uniform Resource Locators, Uniform Resource Names, National Bibliography Numbers, and the OpenURL.
ISBN: 9069845083
http://xml.coverpages.org/ECPA-PersistentIdentifiers.pdf
Available as PDF at www.cerl.org and www.knaw.nl/ecpa and in print.
Historical In Search of the Unicorn: the Digital Object Identifier from a User Perspective
Bide, Mark; Mark Bide & Associates (Last Updated: Feb 1998)
BNBRF Report 84 (British Library Research and Innovation Report 89). This paper is an in depth look at the DOI and its potential. It starts with a discussion of why new unique identification standards are needed and a detailed look at the DOI system. This is followed by an examination of the usefulness of the DOI system for different groups of users: the academic journal user, the re-user of rights and the consumer user.
ISBN: 1873671199
http://web.archive.org/web/20060103235510/http://www.bic.org.uk/unicor
n2.pdf
BNBRF Report 1989 (British Library Research & Innovation Report 84)

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Events

Digital Curation Centre (DCC) Workshop on Persistent Identifiers
30 Jun - 01 Jul 2005 , Wolfson Medical Building, University of Galsgow, Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom)
Presentations and MP3 recordings are available from the DCC website.
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/events/pi-2005/
Persistent Identifiers : ERPANET Seminar
17 - 18 Jun 2004 , University College, Cork, (Ireland)
Papers and Powerpoint presentations are available.
http://www.erpanet.org/events/2004/cork/index.php
SIEDL 2008. First International Workshop on Semantic Interoperability in the European Digital Library
1 Jun 2008 , Tenerife, Spain (Spain)
Workshop to be held as part of the 5th European Semantic Web Conference, will focus on how the late advances on Semantic Web technologies can facilitate the way that European digital libraries exchange information within the framework of the web. Proceedings are available from the link at the top of the hompage.
http://multimedia.semanticweb.org/siedl/

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Organisations and Websites

Corporation for National Research Initiatives
Corporation for National Research Initiatives (Regularly Updated) (United States of America)
The Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) is a not-for-profit organisation which undertakes, fosters, and promotes research in the public interest. Its activities centre around strategic development of network-based information technologies. It produces D-Lib Magazine, and research areas include naming as in the Handle system, persistent identifiers as in DOI, digital libraries and objects.
http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/
Digital Libraries: Metadata Resources
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (Last Updated: 24 Oct 2005)
This site maintained by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) has links to a large number of articles and sites relating to data documentation and standards. The metadata links are grouped into common types for ease of navigation.
http://archive.ifla.org/II/metadata.htm
DOI System: Developed by The International DOI Foundation (IDF)
International DOI Foundation (Regularly Updated)
This is the website of the International Digital Object Identifier Foundation.The DOI is an identification system for intellectual property in the digital environment. Developed by the International DOI Foundation on behalf of the publishing industry, its goals are to provide a framework for managing intellectual content, link customers with publishers, facilitate electronic commerce, and enable automated copyright management. The website includes factsheets, news, publications including the DOI handbook and DOI System Tools.
http://www.doi.org/
Handle System
Corporation for National Research Initiatives (Regularly Updated) (United States of America)
This site provides links to resources dealing with the Handle system - "a general purpose distributed information system that provides efficient, extensible, and secure HDL identifier and resolution services for use on networks such as the Internet. It includes an open set of protocols, a namespace, and a reference implementation of the protocols. The protocols enable a distributed computer system to store identifiers, known as handles, of arbitrary resources and resolve those handles into the information necessary to locate, access, contact, authenticate, or otherwise make use of the resources."
http://www.handle.net/index.html
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
ICANN (Regularly Updated) (United States of America)
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the non-profit corporation that was formed to take over responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions now performed under U.S. Government contract.
http://www.icann.org/
Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet Engineering Task Force (Regularly Updated)
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. Amongst issues examined by the Task Force is permanent naming.
http://www.ietf.org/home.html
Historical NISO Committee AX : Development of an OpenURL Standard
Van de Velde, Eric (Date Created: 26 Jun 2003) (United States of America)
This website outlined National Information Standards Organisation’s (NISO) activities related to the standardisation of OpenURL. It contains the draft standard; implementation guidelines; the agenda, minutes, and associated documents relating to the proceedings of the Committee AX; press releases and presentations.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070108032806/http://library.caltech.edu/o
penurl/
Archived by the Internet Archive
Safekept
PANDORA - Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources in Australia
National Library of Australia (Regularly Updated) (Australia)
PANDORA began as a project initiated by the National Library of Australia to investigate strategies and implement procedures for the capture, storage, preservation and access to digital data by creating an electronic archive of library materials. It is interested in capturing the full range of materials published online in Australia - including serials, newspapers and books, as well as unique online formats such as homepages (see also Digital Services Project). PANDORA is Australia's web archive managed by the Library with contributions from partners.
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/
Persistent Identifier : eindeutige Bezeichner für digitale Inhalte
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (Regularly Updated) (Germany)
Since 2001, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, formerly Die Deutsche Bibliothek (German National Library) has assigned, administered and resolved Persistent Identifiers (PIs) as part of the Uniform Resources Name (URN) system to online dissertations. This website provides general information on PIs and URNs as well as information on projects, management, statistics and structure of Deutsche Nationalbibliothek's system.
http://www.persistent-identifier.de/
Available in German and English language versions.
Safekept
PURL home page
Online Computer Library Center Inc. (OCLC) (Regularly Updated)
The Persistent Uniform Resource Locator (PURL) was developed and implemented by the Online Computer Library Center Inc. (OCLC) as a naming and resolution service for general Internet resources. This site includes an overview of the PURL service, FAQs and details of the PURL-L mailing list. Organisations wishing to set up their own PURL resolver service can download the PURL software from this site.
http://purl.oclc.org/
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
W3C (Regularly Updated)
The W3C, an international industry consortium, aims to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability.
http://www.w3.org/

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Policies, Strategies & Guidelines

Safekept
Historical Architectural Principles of Uniform Resource Name Resolution (RFC 2276)
Sollins, Karen (Date Created: Jan 1998)
Describes the engineering criteria for a Resolver Discovery Service, a service that assists in resolution of a Uniform Resource Name (URN) by locating an appropriate resolver service. The document covers underlying assumptions, the guidelines for a viable Resolver Discovery Service, including evolvability, usability, security and privacy, and a framework for designing RDSs.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2276.txt
Catalogue of Criteria for Assessing the Trustworthiness of PI Systems
Bütikofer, Niklaus (Date Created: 2009) (Germany)
This document (18 p.) sets out criteria for ensuring the trustworthiness of persistent identifier (PI) systems so as to help providers and users of PIs keep digital objects identifiable, referenceable and accessible over the long term.
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0008-20080710227
Draft for public comment. nestor-studies 13. Also available in German.
Safekept
Cedars Guide To: Digital Preservation Strategies
University of Leeds (Last Updated: 02 Apr 2002) (United Kingdom)
This guide includes recommendations about technical approaches to digital preservation based on the Cedars experience.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/cedars/guideto/dpstrategies/
Safekept
DOI Handbook
Paskin, Norman (Regularly Updated)
The official DOI handbook, containing detailed information regarding the use of DOIs, and their role as persistent identifiers. Also included are notes on the development of the DOI system, a short glossary, and procedures for registering as a DOI user. Latest version available from this website , earlier versions available from the Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.doi.org/hb.html from 2002.
http://www.doi.org/hb.html
Safekept
Historical Functional Recommendations for Internet Resource Locators (RFC 1736)
Kunze, John A (Date Created: Feb 1995)
"This document specifies a minimum set of requirements for Internet resource locators, which convey location and access information for resources." Memo to the Internet Community February 1995.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1736.txt
Safekept
Functional Requirements for Uniform Resource Names (RFC 1737)
Masinter, Larry; Sollins, Karen (Date Created: Dec 1994)
Describes requirements for Uniform Resource Names (URN), examining required functional capabilities and encoding considerations and their implications. There is also some discussion of item equality, naming, resolution and security.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1737.txt
IFLA/CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards : Library of Congress Action Area : URI Resource Pages
Library of Congress (Regularly Updated) (United States of America)
Maintained at the Library of Congress by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office as part of its participation in the IFLA CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards (ICABS), the purpose of this website is to provide information relevant to the library community about URIs, including basic definitions and concepts; URI schemes; what URIs actually do; relationships among URIs, URLs, and URNs. There is also a section featuring the latest URI developments.
http://www.loc.gov/standards/uri/
Syntax for Digital Object Identifier
National Information Standards Organization (NISO) (Date Created: 30 Sep 2005)
This ANZI/NISO standard defines the composition and order of the unambiguous alphanumeric identifier string in the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system used to reference an intellectual property entity in the digital environment. The maintenance agency is the International DOI Foundation.
ISBN: 9781880124680
http://www.niso.org/kst/reports/standards?step=2&gid=&project_key=a83b
89410e67c2d7f6c7f43a6183d3f18e8c3195
ANZI/NISO Standard Z39.84
Safekept
Historical Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax (RFC 2396)
Berners-Lee, Tim; Fielding, Roy T; Masinter, Larry (Date Created: Aug 1998)
This document describes the characteristics of Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and "defines the generic syntax of URI, including both absolute and relative forms" while also providing guidelines for use.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2396.txt
Safekept
Historical URN Syntax (RFC 2141)
Moats, Ryan (Date Created: May 1997)
This document provides a syntax for Uniform Resource Names (URNs), covering namespace identifiers, namespace specific strings and reserved and excluded characters. It also describes support for new and legacy naming systems, URN presentation and transport, and lexical and functional equivalence of URNs.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2141.txt

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Projects and Case Studies

Historical BIBLINK
European Commission (Last Updated: 15 Jul 2000)
Project BIBLINK, funded through the European Commission's Telematics Applications Programme, aimed to establish a relationship between national bibliographic agencies and publishers of electronic material, in order to establish authoritative bibliographic information for the benefit of both sectors. Areas of investigation have included: metadata, permanent naming, data transmission and authenticity. The project finished in February 2000.
http://hosted.ukoln.ac.uk/biblink/
Dataverse Network Project
King, Gary (Regularly Updated) (United States of America)
This project builds on the Virtual Data Center Project but uses new software developed in 2006. It allows publishers and individuals to set up dataverses with special citation mechanisms that act as a persistent identification system.
http://thedata.org/
Historical DONOR
National Library of Netherlands (Netherlands)
The DONOR project ran from May 1998 to May 2000. Its aim was to create an enabling infrastructure for information management and retrieval on SURFnet, the national research network of the Netherlands and to provide a coordinated approach to document and metadata management on the Web, with areas of investigation including persistent identifiers and metadata. The project website provides project details and reports as well as links to related projects and resources.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060820225114/donor.kb.nl/
IFLA/CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards : Library of Congress Action Area : URI Resource Pages
Library of Congress (Regularly Updated) (United States of America)
Maintained at the Library of Congress by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office as part of its participation in the IFLA CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards (ICABS), the purpose of this website is to provide information relevant to the library community about URIs, including basic definitions and concepts; URI schemes; what URIs actually do; relationships among URIs, URLs, and URNs. There is also a section featuring the latest URI developments.
http://www.loc.gov/standards/uri/
Safekept
PANDORA - Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources in Australia
National Library of Australia (Regularly Updated) (Australia)
PANDORA began as a project initiated by the National Library of Australia to investigate strategies and implement procedures for the capture, storage, preservation and access to digital data by creating an electronic archive of library materials. It is interested in capturing the full range of materials published online in Australia - including serials, newspapers and books, as well as unique online formats such as homepages (see also Digital Services Project). PANDORA is Australia's web archive managed by the Library with contributions from partners.
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/
Persistent Identifiers for Digital Resources: The experience of the National Library of France
Bermes, Emmanuelle (Date Created: Dec 2006) (France)
This article briefly describes the Bibliotheque nationale de France use of Persistent Identifiers.
http://archive.ifla.org/VI/4/news/ipnn40.pdf
Available in International Preservation News, Vol 40 December 2006, English pp 23-26, French 16-21
PILIN : Persistent Identifier Linking Infrastructure
(Last Updated: 31 Dec 2007) (Australia)
The PILIN Project was a sub project of the ARROW II Project. The PILIN project ran from Sept 2006 to Dec 2007. It's aims were to: 1. Develop an abstract model for identifiers and their management; 2. Develop shared, standards-based, persistent identifier management infrastructure; 3. support adoption of persistent identifiers and services; and 4. plan for a sustainable shared identifier infrastructure for the Australian Research environment. Policy and technical documents and final report are available from the web site.
https://www.pilin.net.au/
Historical Projekt Indoreg
Dansk Biblioteks Center (Last Updated: 1997) (Denmark)
Project report on the Danish Library Centre InDoReg (Internet Document Registration) on bibliographic control of Danish Internet documents.
http://purl.dk/rapport/html.uk/

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Related Topics: Metadata | Standards

Broader Topic: Data documentation & standards

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