Hi Jim
If you don't mind I'd prefer to continue on the github issue, that way all
the relevant information is in one place, so folks coming new to the
conversation can read things in chronological order. That said, I'm glad
you brought it up here ... maybe others will get involved.
(I'll copy your message back to the github at
https://github.com/cf-convention/cf-conventions/issues/160)
Cheers
Bryan
On Wed, 26 Jun 2019 at 17:38, Jim Biard <jbiard at cicsnc.org> wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I'd like to continue the discussion about persistent identifiers and DOIs,
> but I'm not sure the current CF github issue<
> https://github.com/cf-convention/cf-conventions/issues/160> is the best
> place for it, so I thought I'd attempt to move it to the listserv.
>
> Disclaimer: I still think ACDD is the best place to address adding any
> persistent identifier attributes.
>
> As Bryan Lawrence points out in the blog posts he references in the github
> issue there is some conflation of purposes for persistent identifiers. I
> tend to see two top-level purposes for persistent identifiers within a
> netCDF file.
>
> * Identifying the file itself uniquely.
> * Identifying some other object that has a relationship to the file.
>
> There are likely others, but these are the ones that occur to me.
>
> Within the second purpose I see a few different, related uses (and there
> are probably more):
>
> * Identifying a collection that the file belongs to.
> * Identifying a published paper that describes the data contained in
> the file.
> * Identifying an organization that is associated with the file
> contents in some way.
>
> It seems to me that it's worthwhile to provide a means to accomplish both
> top-level purposes within netCDF files.
>
> So what about DOIs in relation to the more general topic of persistent
> identifiers in netCDF files?
>
> The International DOI Foundation<https://www.doi.org/index.html> says
> this about DOIs in the Section 1.6.1<
> https://www.doi.org/doi_handbook/1_Introduction.html#1.6.1> of their
> Handbook:
>
> DOI is an acronym for "digital object identifier", meaning a "digital
> identifier of an object". A DOI name is an identifier (not a location) of
> an entity on digital networks. It provides a system for persistent and
> actionable identification and interoperable exchange of managed information
> on digital networks. A DOI name can be assigned to any entity ? physical,
> digital or abstract ? primarily for sharing with an interested user
> community or managing as intellectual property. The DOI system is designed
> for interoperability; that is to use, or work with, existing identifier and
> metadata schemes. DOI names may also be expressed as URLs (URIs).
>
> ...
>
> Unique identifiers (names) are essential for the management of information
> in any digital environment. Identifiers assigned in one context may be
> encountered, and may be re-used, in another place (or time) without
> consulting the assigner, who cannot guarantee that his assumptions will be
> known to someone else. Persistence of an identifier can be considered an
> extension of this concept: interoperability with the future. Further, since
> the services outside the direct control of the issuing assigner are by
> definition arbitrary, interoperability implies the requirement of
> extensibility. Hence the DOI system is designed as a generic framework
> applicable to any digital object, providing a structured, extensible means
> of identification, description and resolution. The entity assigned a DOI
> name can be a representation of any logical entity.
>
> Based on this description of DOIs, it seems to me that a DOI is a valid,
> if poor choice for the first top-level purpose that I mentioned. It also
> seems to me that DOIs are well-suited for accomplishing the second purpose
> uses. They aren't the only way to accomplish these ends, but they certainly
> represent a way to do so.
>
> Grace and peace,
>
> Jim
>
> --
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> >
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--
Bryan Lawrence
University of Reading: Professor of Weather and Climate Computing.
National Centre for Atmospheric Science: Director of Models and Data.
Phone: +44 118 378 6507 Web: www.bnlawrence.net
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