A Beginner’s Guide to Persistent Identifiers

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The guide covers the practice of issuing and maintaining Persistent Identifiers for primary biodiversity data from a beginner's perspective. It also includes information explaining the costs and benefits of implementing Persistent Identifiers.

It was commissioned by the GBIF Secretariat in response to the recommendations of the LSID GUID Task Group, convened with the objective to explore the issues and offer recommendations on the way forward that will enable GBIF to provide architecture leadership and best practices for the implementation of Persistent Identifiers.

Abstract

This guide is intended to cover the essential principles of Persistent Identifiers and demonstrate the requirements to start issuing and delivering Persistent Identifiers for biodiversity informatics datasets. The guide is aimed at the Persistent Identifier novice, highlighting pitfalls and suggesting useful tips to get up and running with identifiers. There is an assumption that standard best-practice data management principles have been followed regarding any applicable dataset.

Authors

Kevin Richards, Richard White, Nicola Nicolson and Richard Pyle

Publisher

GBIF Secretariat

Rights

CC BY 4.0

Available in translation

Citations

Richards K, White R, Nicolson N & Pyle R (2011). A Beginner’s Guide to Persistent Identifiers. Copenhagen: GBIF Secretariat. https://doi.org/10.35035/mjgq-d052.