Fwd: [Digipres] NISO Seeking Feedback on Institutional Identifier Midterm Report -- responses needed by August 2

Hi all,

I thought it was worthwhile forwarding the below request for comments  
from NISO regarding their ongoing Institutional Identifier effort.

I have only briefly glanced at the mid-term report, but I found no  
indication that this work is informed by a Linked Data perspective.  
Nor did I find immediate indications that it could not be implemented  
in a way that aligns with Linked Data.

Most of the use cases listed in the report involve libraries and hence  
seem relevant to this group.

Cheers

Herbert

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Cynthia Hodgson" <chodgson@niso.org>
> Date: July 12, 2010 4:28:11 PM CEDT
> To: "Cynthia Hodgson" <chodgson@niso.org>
> Subject: [Digipres] NISO Seeking Feedback on Institutional  
> Identifier Midterm Report -- responses needed by August 2
> Reply-To: <chodgson@niso.org>
>
> The NISO Institutional Identifier (I2) Working Group (WG) has  
> released a
> midterm report:  http://www.niso.org/workrooms/i2/midtermreport/
>
> The NISO I2 WG is soliciting feedback on the report and guidance  
> for  the
> next steps in developing this standard from individuals and groups  
> involved
> in the digital information transactions.  Stakeholders include
> publishers/distributors, libraries, archives, museums,  licensing  
> agencies,
> standards bodies, and service providers, such as library workflow  
> management
> system vendors and copyright clearance  agencies. Anyone involved at  
> any
> level in the distribution, licensing, sharing or management of  
> information
> is invited to participate.
>
> Please read the information below and participate in the evaluation  
> of our
> midterm work by reading the midterm release document and  answering  
> a few
> questions about each development area.  You are the stakeholders for  
> this
> information standard.  We must work to ensure  that it meets your  
> needs, so
> your input is very valuable and  important to us.
>
> BACKGROUND:
> NISO established the  working group in 2008 to develop an  
> institutional
> identifier (I2) to uniquely identify institutions engaged in the  
> digital
> information workspace.  The goal of the I2 Working Group is to  
> develop an
> institutional identifier that is globally unique, robust,  
> interoperable,
> scalable and able to integrate smoothly with current digital  
> information
> workflows.  The working group is currently at the midterm of its  
> efforts
> and  hopes to complete its draft specification by December, 2010.   
> Community
> input was requested through surveys and conferences to refine the
> objectives, create the metadata and identify scenarios of  need.  We  
> are
> currently soliciting midterm review to provide confirmation of our  
> work to
> date, course correction as needed and to  ensure that we have  
> identified and
> are addressing all the issues surrounding this critical enabling  
> standard.
>
>  THE PROBLEM SPACE:
> Obtaining, using, sharing, storing and managing  information often  
> involves
> multiple institutions across the digital  information space.  These
> institutions must be able to identify each  other and to trust that  
> the
> identification is both correct and  unique.  The information managed  
> may
> itself be digital (e.g., the  licensing of an e-book) or analog  
> information
> that is managed over  the digital information space (e.g.,  
> interlibrary loan
> of a physical  book).  Currently, there are many identifiers in use,  
> ranging
> from  simple naming to established codes.  However, no single  
> identifier
> that is globally unique, trustworthy, and able to capture   
> relationships
> among institutions and variant legacy identifiers for  institutions
> currently exists.  As a result, transactions are locked   into  
> proprietary
> workflow silos and management of all the digital information  
> activities of
> an institution are not integrated.
>
> THE PROPOSED SOLUTION:
> The I2 is proposed as a globally unique,  robust, scalable and  
> interoperable
> identifier with the sole purpose of uniquely identifying  
> institutions.   The
> I2 consists of  two  parts: an identifier standard that includes the
> metadata needed to  uniquely identify  the organization -- including
> documenting  relationships with other institutions that are critical  
> for
> establishing identity -- and  a framework for implementation and use.
>
> The I2 is envisioned as a simple, core identifier with the sole   
> purpose of
> identifying institutions in a robust and trustworthy  manner.
> Workflow-specific implementations, such as regional ILL  
> collaborations or
> ebook licensing services, will leverage the I2.
>
> THE BENEFIT:
> Institutions will only have to request and reuse a  single identifier.
> Institutions will be able to robustly identify every institution  
> engaged in
> an information transaction. Institutions  that engage in many  
> different
> information transactions or that work with many different  
> institutions will
> be able to track and manage  institutional activities across multiple
> workflows through the use of a single, authoritative identifier.
>
> The Midterm status report and review survey are available at the  
> following
> link.  Please respond by August 2, 2010.
>
> http://www.niso.org/workrooms/i2/midtermreport/
>
> Thank you very much for your support of this lynchpin digital  
> information
> standard.  Your input is very valuable to us and will be carefully  
> studied
> and considered. Please download the report and keep it open to  
> assist you in
> completing the survey.
>
>
> [Note: This message has been cross-posted to obtain wide input.]
>
> Cynthia Hodgson
> NISO Technical Editor Consultant
> National Information Standards Organization
> Email: chodgson@niso.org
> Phone: 301-654-2512
>
>
>

==
Herbert Van de Sompel
Digital Library Research & Prototyping
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Research Library
http://public.lanl.gov/herbertv/
tel. +1 505 667 1267