Sustained referencing using
persistent identifiers (PID)

In all aspects of research, the amount of digitally stored data is increasing continuously. Thereby the management will be more and more complex, so that the sustainable reference to data and thus their permanent censibility represent a challenge. By a persistent identifier taking a mediator role, references, for example in scientific publications, can remain stable, even if the location of the data changes.

In DARIAH-DE, the EPIC PID service is available as a trustworthy Persistent Identifier service. This service makes possible to create, manage and resolve so-called HANDLE identifiers.

How can I use the EPIC PID service?

First, you should look at the documentation on the EPIC website and develop a concept for usage. PIDs can be used in a variety of ways, for example, to bundle data and metadata into digital objects, to provide stable links for publications, or to organize data archiving.

The condition is the maintenance of the links the PIDs refer, which is why PIDs should be used in connection and consultation with an institution, for example an institute, a data center or a repository. These can ensure the lasting stability of the PID references. If an application scenario exists, you can get an access to handle@gwdg.de and get started directly after the activation. The necessary information on the API and technical details can be found on the EPIC website.

EPIC

The European Persistent Identifier Consortium (EPIC) was established in 2009 with the aim of providing European research communities with a simple HANDLE -based service to create, manage and resolve persistent identifiers (PIDs). Currently the consortium consists of the CSC - IT center for science, the Deutschen Klima Rechenzentrum (DKRZ), the Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung (GWDG), GRNET, PDC KTH und Surf SARA.
Among the beneficiary groups are projects like DARIAH, EUDAT and CLARIN.

What is the difference between EPIC PIDs and other PID providers?

In addition to the EPIC PIDs, there are other technologies. Each of them makes certain basic assumptions about data and their use. Many use the HANDLE system on which the EPIC PID service is based. The advantage of EPIC is that the EPIC PIDS prescribe comparatively few basic conditions to the referenced digital objects. This allows the early usage of EPIC PIDs in the processing procedure, even if the transformation of the object into an archiving is unclear, because EPIC PID schedules a modifiable validity period for the data. In addition if desired by the scientists, EPIC PIDs can be easily transferred in Digital Object Identifier (DOI), as both suppliers use the HANDLE technology.