RE: Problems and Opportunities at purl.org

Hi,

We're watching this thread and believe we have something to add. We faced a similar issue a few years ago while working on the Spatial Identifier Reference Framework (SIRF)[1] and also for managing publication of some semantic web resources. We had a list of requirements that include the ones discussed in your conversation, but also add some more ideas:

1. UI for non-technical users, API for integration with other services;
2. Rules using regular expressions or some sort of wildcards;
3. Technology-agnostic solution - ability to serialise rules as CSV/XML/JSON/etc. for improved manageability and governance;
4. Cascading mapping rules - i.e. apply a sequence of rules, starting with the most specific match, then falling through to more general patterns;
5. Rules based on HTTP headers as well as URIs;
6. Mechanism that allow to build highly distributed networks of identifiers resolution services through delegations;
7. Built-in backup functionality.

After a review of available technologies, we developed the PID Service. Some more information can be obtained from the project Wiki at https://www.seegrid.csiro.au/wiki/Siss/PIDService. It is also described in a short paper to be presented at an upcoming conference [2][3]. 

The PID Service is released under an open source licence and is available from GitHub at http://github.com/SISS/PID. So this is available as a potential basis for a new implementation, if the design appeals. We'd love to see this effort succeed, and would be very happy if our work was able to help.

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264083782

[2] http://www.mssanz.org.au/modsim2015/

[3] http://www.researchgate.net/publication/284087065



Kind regards,

Pavel Golodoniuc
Research Team Leader
Mineral Resources
CSIRO
E Pavel.Golodoniuc@csiro.au T +61 8 6436 8776
Australian Resources Research Centre (ARRC)
26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington WA 6151
www.csiro.au
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: David Wood [mailto:david@3roundstones.com] 
Sent: Thursday, 12 November 2015 3:44 AM
To: Norman Gray <norman@astro.gla.ac.uk>
Cc: Haag, Jason <jason.haag.ctr@adlnet.gov>; Pemanent Identifier CG <public-perma-id@w3.org>
Subject: Re: Problems and Opportunities at purl.org

Hi Norman,


> On Nov 11, 2015, at 06:11, Norman Gray <norman@astro.gla.ac.uk> wrote:
> 
> On 11 Nov 2015, at 1:41, David Wood wrote:
> 
>> I actually agree with Jason - but think we need an optional UI for non-technical users on top of the GitHub interface.
> 
> Not just for non-technical users, perhaps.
> 
> The w3id.org solution of letting everyone customise a pile of .htaccess files is a very smart one, because it let w3id.org get up quickly, but I hope it's just seen as an interim solution.
> 
> At present, I can apparently use _anything_ from mod_rewrite in there, which gives me a great deal of scope for being Clever, which would be a vice.  It would also tie w3id.org to Apache, or at least to a mod_rewrite work-a-like for all eternity, so may not be an optimal archival solution.
> 
> A pile of .htaccess files is a fine implementation technology, but not, I think, an interface.
> 
> As an alternative, one could imagine something as simple as a CSV file:
> 
>    /people/nxg/myurl,http://example.org/foo/myurl

>    /people/nxg/tree1/*,http://example.org/bar/$$/index.html

>    /people/nxg/tree2/([a-z]*)-v([0-9*),http://example.org/baz/$1/version-$2

> 
> Put angle brackets round that and call it XML, or curly brackets and call it JSON, and you're up-to-the-minute.  And technology-agnostic.
> 
> Something like that could be prepared (on- or off-line), uploaded, validated, and journaled, quite easily perhaps.
> 
> One could also take a great deal of useful inspiration from DNS zone files.


Yes, I agree, presuming that we wish to collaborate to create a new implementation from scratch. That is tempting, given the state of the available options. None of them really nail the simplicity of PURLs and the common use cases cleanly IMO. I think I can say that with impunity given how many of them I’ve worked on. Hopefully I’ve learned something from the experiences.


> Also, as a more general point, I consider myself a technical user, but I... am not a fan of git.  Not a fan.  A not-fan.  Not, by any means or in any sense, an Enthusiast.


:) As a friend, I advise you to say what you mean. You wouldn’t want to end up with ulcers.

However, your point is well taken. The issue that I have is the longevity of the commercial GitHub service more than git itself, but we end up in the same place for different reasons.

Regards,
Dave
--
http://about.me/david_wood




> 
> All the best,
> 
> Norman
> 
> 
> -- 
> Norman Gray  :  https://nxg.me.uk

> SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, UK

Received on Wednesday, 18 November 2015 10:09:48 UTC