How to choose the right identifier
DOIs and ARKs have some characteristics in common:
- They both can work like regular hyperlinks.
- They both can be used for any subset or portion of a resource.
- They both become persistent when the target URL they point to is maintained.
Under what circumstances would using DOIs be advantageous?
DOIs have a brand that is well established in the scholarly publishing and archiving world. The DataCite consortium wants to create a thriving "data publishing" and archiving world, which, although still in its infancy, is using the DOI brand to help datasets become recognized as first-class research outputs on the same level as traditionally published research articles.
Because all DOIs created with EZID are registered with DataCite, two of its policies may have an impact on your choice. These are:
- DOIs should be assigned to objects that are under good long-term management, and where there is an intention is to make the object persistently available.
- DOIs must be registered exclusively with metadata that is available to public view.
Under what circumstances would using ARKs be advantageous?
ARKs are flexible, inexpensive, and have a number of unique features.
- They are case-sensitive.
- They can distinguish between special characters and adopt predictable behavior.
- They support suffix passthrough, allowing one ARK registration to identify many thousands of extended ARKS in order to represent the many parts of a dataset.
- They can be deleted.
In the future, they will also have the ability to support metadata queries and commitment statements.
Can DOIs and ARKs work together?
Yes. For example, researchers may choose to use ARKs for unpublished materials associated with an object that has been registered with a DOI. These two identifier schemes can work well together, and EZID offers them both, along with policy support consistent across both schemes.
Please contact us with any questions or comments.
