ark identifiers: lessons learnt at bnf: paths forward

ARK IDENTIFIERSLessons learnt at BnF

Paths forward

OUTLINE

1. Reminder what are ARKs2. 8 years of implementing ARKs at BnF3. Considerations about evolving the ARK

standard

REMINDER: WHAT ARE ARKS

A maintaining institution A specification

A user registry A discussion listhttp://groups.google.com/group/arks-forum

http://www.cdlib.org/uc3/naan_registry.txt

http://tools.ietf.org/pdf/draft-kunze-ark-18.pdf

REMINDER, 2: ARK ANATOMY

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Name assigning authority number(NAAN)

Name

the world the naming authority

the resource

> >bpt6k103039fark:/12148/

Scheme

delivery service

http://gallica.bnf.fr/

page variant> >

QualifiersName mapping authority

>/f26.thumbnail

ASSIGN IDENTIFIERSRESOLVE IDENTIFIERS

RESOLVE IDENTIFIERS

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k103039f/f26.thumbnail

8 YEARS LATERLessons learnt at BnF

- for new objects

- for existing objects : preservation repository, linked data services

RISKS IN PRACTICE: WHAT OCCURRED?

- full text OCR- full text search- audio

renderingChanging domain names

- finding aids- illuminations- museographic

descriptions- born digital

documents- virtual exhibitions

Changing technical environment

Changing organization

Originally: ARKs for - digitized items- bibliographic records from the main catalogue

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New applications New objects Existing apps, additional features

WHAT CONCLUSIONS?

Anything can happen in 8 years, especially unforeseen cases

The only feasible response is organizational: Documentation Commitment Internal advocacy Internal “ARK master” task force

LESSONS LEARNT

DON’T reassign identifiers!

Only reveal what is meaningful for the end user to cite

Be consistent Keep it simple

Stay in touch with ARK usersDocument proceduresAddress needs without overkill

3/ ARK EVOLUTIONS

http://gallica/ark:/12148/btv1b8496236q

ARK REDUXSUGGESTED EVOLUTION

Semantic web best practices : Distinguish the document from the described

object

One way to do it:

This is not compatible with the ARK spec : ARKs can only be followed by “/”, “.” or “?” Could change if nobody used “#” in ARK names

SEMANTIC WEB: NEW ARK QUALIFIERS?

<URI-web-page> <URI-person>

<URI-123456> <URI-123456#classifier>

http://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb11908252k

http://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb11908252k#foaf:Person

ARK INFLECTIONS

Inflections get A (an ARK) to different things A by itself (no inflection) means get the named

thing A? means get the thing’s metadata A?? means get its commitment statement

Possible landing page debate stopper? A/ means get the thing’s landing page (if any) A./ means get the preferred payload (if any)

mikebaird on flickr

WHAT KIND OF PERSISTENCE IS PROMISED?

ARKs need metadata to express things like: Persistent and unchanging content (rare) Persistent but dynamic content (eg, NLM home

page) Persistent but correctable (eg, most curated

content) Persistent but growing (eg, streaming data,

journal)

And who are you to promise that? Your organizational mission Your private/public/non-profit status Any inspectable track record (eg, link uptime

stats)

GOING FORWARD

Discussion about evolving the ARK specification

Sharing best practices and implementation experiences

Interested? Stay tuned on http://groups.google.com/group/arks-forum

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!BnF implementation

sebastien.peyrard AT bnf.fr

jean-philippe.tramoni AT bnf.fr

ARKs at CDL:

john.kunze AT ucop.edu