Persistent Identifier Services and their Metadata by John Kunze

Persistent Identifier Services and their Metadata

J o h n K u n z e C a l i f o r n i a D i g i t a l L i b r a r y

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Persistent identifiers (Pids) provide machine-actionable links to data and metadata that are vital to APIs (application programming interfaces) for publishing and citation. APIs are essentially request/response patterns that use Pids to reference things and metadata to describe not only the things themselves, but also any actions requested or taken. As a result, metadata design and standardization is wedded to API design and enhancement. With Pids as nouns and metadata as adjectives and qualifiers, Pid services play a key role in API implementation. [ 30 mins ]

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Decoding the title persistent identifier services and their metadata || || || things, actions, and descriptors || || || nouns, verbs, and adjectives || preserving and serving scholarly communication around data (Context: scholarly research data)

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An identifier is not a string of characters

An identifier is an association between a string and thing. An association is an opinion asserted by an authority. Example 1: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sauteed-fiddleheads Example 2: 4CF3-57AB-2481-651D-D53D-Q

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http://dx.doi.org/10.5072/4CF3-57AB-2481-651D-D53D-Q http://dx.doi.org/10.5240/4CF3-57AB-2481-651D-D53D-Q

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Identifier schemes (v1) • URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

• the first time poor id management is blamed on syntax • URN (Uniform Resource Name)

• first attempt to correct poor id management with syntax • Handle

• second attempt to correct poor id management with syntax • DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

• third attempt to correct poor id management with syntax • ARK (Archival Resource Key)

• attempt to let id management be queryable (not yet realized)

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Identifier schemes (v2) • URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

• world’s first actionable id, now underlying all other types • URN (Uniform Resource Name)

• open infrastructure, not fully realized globally • Handle

• closed infrastructure, fully realized globally • DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

• CrossRef enforces good id management, DataCite learning • ARK (Archival Resource Key)

• open infrastructure, realized locally and globally

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If DOIs won why talk about non-DOIs?

• Cost • Open access • Changing nature of the DOI • Flexibility

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Types of identifier services

• Repository – parking the bits • Data-aware dissemination

• more than just returning parked bits

• Citation management for end user researchers • Research tracking – measuring use and impact • Identifier creation, management, and resolution

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Many service tools, many APIs Repository Tools

• ArXiv * • Dataverse * • Fedora/Hydra • Dspace * • Eprints • DataONE • Merritt/Stash • figshare • Zenodo

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Citation Management • Mendeley • Zotero

Metrics and Tracking • Altmetric • Impactstory • Thomson Reuters Data Citation

Index • Elsevier Scopus

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API concepts

Application Programming Interface (API) • how software talks to a service • unlike a Graphical User Interface (GUI) • more like a Command Line Interface (CLI)

APIs and CLIs use language constructs • Verbs, nouns, and qualifiers are "words”, and • words form commands/requests/responses, • which form scripts and programs.

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APIs are metadata sentences

A command line interface powering an API interaction

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$ sort mydata > sorted_data $ grep Smith sorted_data Smith, Sally 2014-04-01 406B Wong, Frank 2013-11-28 334 $ wget --user=sam --no-check-certificate \ "https://n2t.net/a/ezid/b?set cost 25.50" status: ok

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Problem: traditional standardization

• Change by committee is ugly, costly, and slow • Example: Dublin Core, 15 cross-domain terms

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European Parliament Technology - DG ITEC @ flickr

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Traditional metadata standards are controlled by panels of experts, eg, FGDC, EML, Darwin Core Change by committee is ugly, costly, and slow Example: perhaps most widely use cross domain vocabulary is Dublin Core, 15 cross-domain terms Agreed on in 5 years, lots of local divergence “I love the 15, but my domain needs these 2 terms. How do we add them?” A: Make your own ontology! Multiply by 200 domains and the result is 200 ontologies, 200 panels, 200 islands of non-interoperation

The Metadata Universe

Jenn Riley, IU

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An alternate metadata universe

• Vision: one dictionary, one namespace • All research domains, any part of “metadata speech”

• Names, values, units, relationships, ...

• Search for terms, comment on terms, add terms, edit your terms, API for automated access

• All terms with globally unique persistent identifiers • Available at yamz.net (yet another metadata zoo)

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YAMZ.net dictionary sociology

• Crowd-sourced evolving vernacular terms, stable canonical terms, and deprecated terms

• Use evolving terms depending on your risk tolerance

• Reputation-based (gaming-resistant) voting means strong terms rise, weak terms decline

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Applying lessons learned from Wikipedia, the Internet-Draft/RFC process, and StackOverflow

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Something between crowd-sourcing and an exclusive club Learn from wikipedia, internet RFCs, StackOverflow, and American Heritage Dictionary

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Summary

• Identifiers are not strings, but associations that break when things are not managed well

• People can forget names because we can google, but APIs need persistent names for automation at scale

• APIs are languages using metadata as “words” • Future API building will focus on vocabulary building

• For example, yamz.net

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Thank you! [email protected]

Persistent Identifier Services and their Metadata by John Kunze

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Transcript of Persistent Identifier Services and their Metadata by John Kunze