Title:	INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND INTEROPERABILITY STRATEGIES: THE CASE FOR DIGITAL IDENTIFIERS
Author(s):	Robin Wilson
ISBN:	972-98947-1-X
Editors:	Pedro Isaías and Nitya Karmakar
Year:	2003
Edition:	2
Keywords:	Interoperability identifiers DOI information architecture distributed .
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	100
Last Page:	109
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	The move from the current compartmentalised systems into an interoperable environment is the central challenge facing digital development this decade. In the quest for a semantic web, new technologies and systems have become available to address a crucial component in the architectural landscape: identification. In particular , it is at the data, rather than just the application, level that interoperability now needs to be advanced. A data level infrastructure with greater potential capabilities than are common today will form the bedrock upon which a new era of digital services can be built. Significantly, such an infrastructure allows the uncoupling of many important facets of information management: ownership, delivery location and the management. By placing identifier management at the heart of systems development and integration, it is possible to build applications that move beyond current compartmentalised restrictions to access externalised lightweight services and content. Such data-oriented services, reminiscent of the capabilities of the original Internet protocols, can help solve problems in both the digital and physical worlds. Spanning internal and external systems, the concepts of identifier management address issues such as reliability and persistence, whilst providing a framework that enables new business opportunities. Public identifiers often become used in ways not anticipated when they are created (e.g. passports being used to notarise parties in legal services). By recognising this characteristic, it is possible to allow for additional uses/services to be added in a systematic manner. Rather than requiring a priori knowledge about the uses to which an identifier can be put, services can be discovered. In the same way that metadata allows the discovery of resources, identifiers allow the discovery of services (and hence content) available to a particular resource. This capability is vital to the evolution and increased interoperability of distributed information systems.
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