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Factsheet
Key Facts on Digital Object Identifier System
Version 1.0
Key concepts and abbreviations
- DOI = Digital Object Identifier
- IDF = International DOI Foundation (operating and governing organisation): http://www.doi.org/
- RAs = DOI Registration Agencies (= members of IDF offering the system to customers who wish to assign DOI names)
Status: operational system
- Foundation launched to develop system in 1998; first applications launched 2000
- Currently used by c. 3,000 naming authorities (assigners), e.g., 2,600 publishers, EU documents, science data sets, etc.
- Approximately 40 million DOI names assigned to date
- Via 8+ RAs (international)
- Well established in professional information sector; best known application is CrossRef
- Initial applications are simple redirection
- More sophisticated functionality available, e.g., multiple resolution, data typing, "Application Profiles"
- Becoming an ISO standard (currently at DIS stage)
Scope
- Digital Identifier of an Object (not "Identifier of a Digital Object")
- Object = any entity (thing: physical, digital, or abstract)
- Resources, parties, licences, etc.
- Digital Identifier = network actionable identifier ("click on it and do something")
- Initial focus on entities was documents/media e.g. articles, data sets
- Now also moving into parties and licences
- Extending to other sectors, e.g., Movie industry? Financial sector? Music? Newspapers?
- Extensible by design (as, e.g., URI): not intended as a publishing-only solution (digital convergence)
- International – e.g. in 2007 appointed China RA
What it does
- Provides an actionable, interoperable, persistent link
- Actionable – through use of identifier syntax and network resolution mechanism (Handle System®)
- Persistent – through combination of supporting improved handle infrastructure (registry database, proxy support, etc) and social infrastructure (obligations by Registration Agencies)
- Interoperable – through use of a semantically interoperable data model and grouping mechanisms
Governance
- IDF = operating and governing organisation
- Provides the social infrastructure
- e.g., obligations for persistence, back-up, in event of failure, etc.
- US "Not for profit" open membership (with membership fee)
- Federation of Registration Agencies makes up significant part of the IDF (possibly 100% eventually)
- Elected Board, working groups (including RA Working Group)
- No full time staff (contracted managing agent)
Business Model
- IDF receives membership fees from RAs, contracts technical operator
- RAs also pay operational fees to IDF's technical operator for registering and maintaining DOI names (sliding scale per volume)
- Assigners are customers of RAs
- RAs might have their own existing numbering scheme, existing communities etc. – which can be integrated with a DOI Application not replaced by it (e.g., ISBN)
- RAs are autonomous independent bodies. They offer services to assigners using DOI names
- RAs' business model with their customers is entirely autonomous
- RAs only obligation to IDF is a licence/operating agreement
- RAs may choose to put DOI names "under the hood"
- Inspired by bar code model, ISBN etc: assigner pays
- Some RAs are commercial; others are themselves member communities (e.g., CrossRef)
Technical Infrastructure
- Handle System: persistent identification in digital networks (devised by TCP/IP co-inventor)
- Indecs: principles of contextual ontology data model for associated metadata ("interoperability of data in e-commerce systems")
- Both used elsewhere: aim was not to re-invent the wheel
Standardization
- ISO: currently at DIS (Draft International Standard) stage. Final standard 2009
- Through TC46/SC9 ("Information and Documentation"); IDF a liaison body to TC46 since its inception (historical reasons - connection with ISBN)
- Syntax standardised through ANSI/NISO in 2000
- Invited by TC46/SC9 to standardise the full DOI® System
- URI (within info-URI scheme)
- Mechanism for, and emphasis on, enabling re-use of other existing identifier schemes, e.g., ISBN
- IDF is also the Registration Authority for the ISO MPEG 21 Rights Data Dictionary (which is NOT a part of the DOI System)
Documentation
Origin
- 1996 proposal from the three major international publishing trade associations to develop infrastructure for digital publishing; they brought together expertise in numbering content (the ISO standard ISBN) and expertise in digital network technology (CNRI)
- Need in the digital supply chain for an equivalent of the analogue bar code: migration from analogue to digital networked content cannot rely on URLs as identifiers (e.g., due to "linkrot": "404 not found")
Relation to other schemes
- Strong focus on interoperability and on working with existing and new schemes
- Syntactic, semantic and community interoperability
- Use of DOI names by multiple RAs (through APs and Services)
- Involvement with key activities in the content sectors: ACAP, ONIX, ARK, PURL, info URI, URN, Open URL, GS1, MPEG-21, IETF, RDA, DCMI, FRBR, ITU-T Idm, ICSTI, CENDI, HSAC, indecs, CONTECS-DD (etc!)
- Adopt existing proven components
- Note potential confusion: the term "identifier" can mean several different things – not always clear like-for-like comparison (e.g. URI v ISBN...)
Intellectual Property Considerations
- IDF owns DOI®, a registered trademark trademark for the system
- IDF does not have any patents (or patent applications) on DOI System
- IDF collectively licences appropriate technology from suppliers on behalf of members (CNRI Handle System global license, data dictionary tools, etc.)
- Patent Policy in place
- All RAs must sign RA agreement re use of DOI System
- Optional legal "Community of Interest" agreement to enable sharing of information on relevant patent issues – findings confidential to signatories
- IDF is a participant in the (related) CONTECS:DD ontology work, which has some patents (shared with RIAA, MPAA, Dentsu, Rightscom)
Updated 2 December 2008
DOI® and DOI.ORG® are registered trademarks and the "doi>" logo is a trademark of the International DOI Foundation. Other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.
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