Abstract
Persistent identifiers (PID) to identify digital representations of physical specimens in natural science collections (i.e., digital specimens) unambiguously and uniquely on the Internet are one of the mechanisms for digitally transforming collections-based science. Digital Specimen PIDs contribute to building and maintaining long-term community trust in the accuracy and authenticity of the scientific data to be managed and presented by the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) research infrastructure planned in Europe to commence implementation in 2024. Not only are such PIDs valid over the very long timescales common in the heritage sector but they can also transcend changes in underlying technologies of their implementation. They are part of the mechanism for widening access to natural science collections. DiSSCo technical experts previously selected the Handle System as the choice to meet core PID requirements. Using a two-step approach, this options appraisal captures, characterises and analyses different alternative Handle-based PID schemes and the possible operational modes of use. In a first step a weighting and ranking the options has been applied followed by a structured qualitative assessment of social and technical compliance across several assessment dimensions: levels of scalability, community trust, persistence, governance, appropriateness of the scheme and suitability for future global adoption. The results are discussed in relation to branding, community perceptions and global context to determine a preferred PID scheme for DiSSCo that also has potential for adoption and acceptance globally. DiSSCo will adopt a ‘driven-by DOI’ persistent identifier (PID) scheme customised with natural sciences community characteristics. Establishing a new Registration Agency in collaboration with the International DOI Foundation is a practical way forward to support the FAIR (findable, accessible interoperable, reusable) data architecture of DiSSCo research infrastructure. This approach is compatible with the policies of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and is aligned to existing practices across the global community of natural science collections.
Highlights
Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) will adopt a ‘driven-by digital object identifiers (DOI)’ persistent identifier (PID) scheme customised with natural sciences community characteristics
A three-point scoring scale has been used in a first step to assign strength/weakness scores to the ability of each persistent identifiers (PID) scheme scenario to support each of the main DiSSCo requirements (Table 4)
Extending the ideas for operationalizing a PID scheme, we look at requirements, roles and responsibilities for becoming an Registration Agency (RA)
Summary
DiSSCo will adopt a ‘driven-by DOI’ persistent identifier (PID) scheme customised with natural sciences community characteristics. Establishing a new Registration Agency in collaboration with the International DOI Foundation is a practical way forward to support the FAIR (findable, accessible interoperable, reusable) data architecture of DiSSCo research infrastructure This approach is compatible with the policies of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and is aligned to existing practices across the global community of natural science collections. For example in the preserved specimens of herbarium collections, machine learning models can lead to new approaches that can project future climate change (Pearson et al 2020) and accelerate conservation action (Albani Rocchetti et al 2021) Such specimens in biological and geological collections that represent our planet's diversity are the curated hard evidence base that underpins important economic activity, environmental and health protection and other policymaking to address troubling societal challenges of the 21st century (green energy, loss of biodiversity, climate change, food/ water security, infectious diseases, etc.). With adherence to the FAIR Guiding Principles as an integral characteristic (Lannom et al 2020) DiSSCo’s chosen ICT model is Digital Object Architecture (Kahn and Wilensky 2006) in which Digital Specimens are digital representations on the Internet that act as complementary surrogates for physical specimens in natural science collections
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