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A persistent identifier (PI or PID) is a long-lasting reference to a document, file, web page, or other object.

The term "persistent identifier" is usually used in the context of digital objects that are accessible over the Internet. Typically, such an identifier is not only persistent but actionable: you can plug it into a web browser and be taken to the identified source.

Of course, the issue of persistent identification predates the Internet. Over centuries, writers and scholars developed standards for citation of paper-based documents so that readers could reliably and efficiently find a source that a writer mentioned in a footnote or bibliography. After the Internet started to become an important source of information in the 1990s, the issue of citation standards became important in the online world as well. Studies have shown that within a few years of being cited, a significant percentage of web addresses go "dead", a process often called link rot. Using a persistent identifier can slow or stop this process.

An important aspect of persistent identifiers is that "persistence is purely a matter of service". That means that persistent identifiers are only persistent to the degree that someone commits to resolving them for users. No identifier can be inherently persistent, however many persistent identifiers are created within institutionally administered systems with the aim to maximise longevity.

However, some regular URLs (i.e. web addresses), maintained by the website owner, are intended to be long-lasting; these are often called permalinks.

Examples

People and organisations:

• Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)
• Research Organization Registry (ROR)

Publications:

• Virtual International Authority File (VIAF)
• International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI)
• International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

Uniform Resource Identifiers:

• Archival Resource Key (ARK), with 8.2 billion ARKs issued.
• Handle System
• Digital Object Identifier (DOI), with 200 million DOIs issued.
• Magnet link (decentralized, with BitTorrent)
• Uniform Resource Names (URNs)
• Extensible Resource Identifiers (XRIs)
• Persistent Uniform Resource Locators (PURLs)
• Software Heritage identifiers (SWHIDs)
• Wikidata Identifier (e.g QIDs)

Combined persistent identifier and archiving functionality is provided by services such as the Internet Archive perma.cc, archive.today, and WebCite such that anyone can archive a web page to prevent link rot of a URL.

References

1. John A. Kunze, "Towards Electronic Persistence Using ARK Identifiers," section 3, California Digital Library
2. Sanderson, Robert; Phillips, Mark; Herbert Van de Sompel (2011). "Analyzing the Persistence of Referenced Web Resources with Memento". arXiv:1105.3459 .
3. Bugeja, Michael (2010). Vanishing Act: The Erosion of Online Footnotes and Implications for Scholarship in the Digital Age. Litwin Books. ISBN 978-1936117147.
4. Kunze, J. (5 April 2013). "The ARK Identifier Scheme".
5. "On constructing persistent identifiers with persistent resolution targets". IEEE Conference Publication. Retrieved 8 April 2018.

External links

• Juha Hakala, "Persistent identifiers – an overview." Posted to Technology Watch Report (TWR): Standards in Metadata and Interoperability, 13 Oct 2010.
• Hans-Werner Hilse and Jochen Kothe, Implementing persistent identifiers: overview of concepts, guidelines and recommendations. London / Amsterdam: Consortium of European Research Libraries and European Commission on Preservation and Access, 2006. ISBN 90-6984-508-3.
• FAIRDATA F1 - F1: (Meta) data are assigned globally unique and persistent identifiers

• Identifiers