DOI News

April 2011

DOI^® News is a public news release. Information contained within this newsletter may be reproduced and disseminated to all interested parties.

In this issue:

DOI System exceeds 50 million assigned identifiers
DOI System and Linked Data
Revised DOI charging model

1. DOI System exceeds 50 million assigned identifiers

As at April 2011 the DOI System has now assigned over 51 Million DOI Names. The DOI System currently is used by over 4,000 naming authorities (assigners). Around 100 million DOI resolutions are made each month.

2. DOI System and Linked Data

Digital Object Identifiers assigned by CrossRef (www.crossref.org) are now enabled for use in linked data applications. The term "linked data" describes a set of best practices for exposing data in machine-readable form using the standard HTTP web protocol. These best practices support the development of tools to link and make use of data from multiple web sources without the need to deal with many different proprietary and incompatible application programming interfaces (APIs).

A significant advantage of applying Linked Data principles and technologies to DOI-registered material is that it is 'data worth linking to': it is curated, value-added, data, which is managed, corrected, updated and consistently maintained by Registration Agencies. It is also persistent, so avoiding 'bit-rot'. The DOI web proxy (http://dx.doi.org) is now enabled to support content negotiation for DOI names. In the early days of the web, human beings were following most URLs, and it made sense that the DOI web proxy only resolved CrossRef DOI names to human-readable web pages.

This announcement by CrossRef is part of improvements the International DOI Foundation is continuing to make to facilitate more sophisticated uses of a DOI name beyond single redirection to a human-readable landing page, including Linked Data (machine-readable metadata in the form of RDF); delivery of information in other formats (XML, etc.); and multiple typing (multiple URLs, other non-URL types to express semantic relationships, etc. using mapping technologies of the Vocabulary Mapping Framework (VMF). We will be making further announcements on some of these later this year.

For further information see:

3. Revised DOI cost-sharing model

The International DOI Foundation has announced a change in the way in which DOI Registration Agencies fund the common infrastructure of the DOI System.

The DOI System is a cost-recovery system. The cost of common DOI infrastructure (run by the International DOI Foundation on behalf of all DOI Registration Agencies) is met by a charge made to each Registration Agency, whilst allowing each Registration Agency to adopt individual commercial models incorporating DOI registration for their services. As of June 2011, the DOI System will adopt a revised model for this charge, transitioning from the current financial model (a charge per DOI name registered) to a revised model (based on a fixed fee per Registration Agency).

The introduction of this new system will result in lower long term charges, and has been made possible through the successful growth of the DOI System; it is designed to encourage further growth. Registration Agencies remain free to adopt their own charging model for their individual value-added services.

For further information, contact contact@doi.org.

The DOI is a system for interoperably identifying and exchanging intellectual property in the digital environment. A DOI assigned to content enhances a content producer's ability to trade electronically. It provides a framework for managing content in any form at any level of granularity, for linking customers with content suppliers, for facilitating electronic commerce, and enabling automated copyright management for all types of media. The International DOI Foundation, a non-profit organization, manages development, policy and licensing of the DOI to registration agencies and technology providers and advises on usage and development of related services and technologies. The DOI system uses open standards with a standard syntax (ANSI/NISO Z39.84) and is currently used by leading international technology and content organizations.

This is a service announcement for the International DOI Foundation and has been prepared to inform you of developments to enable digital copyright management of intellectual property. For more information, please send your request to contact@doi.org.

Updated April 20, 2011
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