Workshop on the DOI System

DOI SYSTEM: SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

International DOI Foundation

• DOI System implementation through policies and procedures

• Principles of DOI System deployment • Registration Agencies: roles and responsibilities • DOI System governance mechanisms• Intellectual property issues • Fee structures • Current issues and developments

Outline / Key concepts in this section doi>

• DOI Handbook Chapter 8, “Registration Agencies” http://www.doi.org/handbook_2000/registration_agencies.html

• DOI Handbook Chapter 9, “Operating Procedures” http://www.doi.org/handbook_2000/how_to.html

Further reading on key concepts in this section doi>

• Costs: need for human intervention and support of an infrastructure. The DOI System operates on the basis that such costs are borne by the assigner of the DOI name. – Number and metadata registration (maintenance of resolution

destinations; declaration of metadata; validation of number syntax and of

metadata; liaison with the IDF registry) – Infrastructure (resolution service maintenance, scaling and further

development; customer guidance and outreach; marketing; administration)

– Governance (common "rules of the road"; further development and support of the system)

• The way in which these costs are recouped depends on the application.

DOI System adds value doi>

• DOI name free to resolve at point of use

• Costs of assignment paid by assigner

• Allow different business models– allow anyone to do what they want

• Distributed system– agencies

IDF principles doi>

• IDF to provide governance layer only– using a federation of registration agencies

• IDF sets out minimum criteria for registration agencies:– rules of the road: not journey maps– technical; information management; $

• Does not prescribe details of individual businesses– user communities set their own agendas

• Comparable models work well:– EAN/UPC; Visa; ISBN etc.

IDF principles doi>

• Variety of potential business models– one size does not fit all; need more flexibility

• Variety of naming authority models – currently model is one per registrant– encourage move to appropriate level – allow subdivision (10.1000.2/123)

• RA’s will develop and offer applications– number registration alone not a “business”

IDF principles doi>

Costs

• For an everyday user: • Free: any DOI name may be resolved by anyone• No obligations

• For an assigner:• Must work through a Registration Agency • Cost depends on application: DOI registration is bundled in

• e.g. CrossRef – crosslinking of citations: for a publisher, from $275 per year (2008)

• For a Registration Agency:• Must be a full RA member of the International DOI Foundation

• Fees based on volume • Developing, managing, implementing, standardising, etc:

• Paid for by International DOI Foundation (open to anyone)

doi>

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5

IDF

IP1 IP2 IP3 IP4 IP4 IP5 IP6IP owners

RA 0 RA 1 RA 2 RA 3RA layer•Registration Services•Data Collection•Provision to VAS•etc.

DOI System operational roles

IP owners: register DOI names with agency

RA 0 RA 1 RA 2 RA 3RA layer•Registration Services•MD Collection•Provision to VAS•etc.

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5

IDF

IP1 IP2 IP3 IP4 IP4 IP5 IP6IP owners

DOI System operational roles

Registration agency:- agreements with IP owners*- registration with DOI System (IDF terms)- metadata collection /added value*- provision of, or to, Value Added Services

by agreement*, etc

* specific to each RA

RA 0 RA 1 RA 2 RA 3RA layer•Registration Services•MD Collection•Provision to VAS•etc.

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5

IDF

IP1 IP2 IP3 IP4 IP4 IP5 IP6IP owners

DOI System operational roles

IDF: minimal common agreements- DOI resolution service- service integrity- Data Type Registries- Policies e.g. archiving, testing, etc

RA 0 RA 1 RA 2 RA 3RA layer•Registration Services•MD Collection•Provision to VAS•etc.

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5

IDF

IP1 IP2 IP3 IP4 IP4 IP5 IP6IP owners

Aim: Registration Agencies run the system

Operating Federation

(all the RAs)

RA

C

Operating costs

Costs/N

$

$

$

doi>

Creation of an organisation

International DOI

Foundation

members &

cost-reduction development spend

Operating Federation

Agencies

Clients

doi>

IDF organisation

IDF

M RA

c

doi>

• RA Working Group: all RAs

• Chair of RAWG is Vice Chair of IDF

• Shift to more RA membership to elected board– Currently 6/13 seats

• future evolution of the organisation

Registration agencies: IDF representation doi>

• Common agreement– level playing field– recognise differences in scale

• “Franchise” model

• Evolving financial model– Sliding scale costs per DOI name allocated– membership of IDF – minimum $20K

• RA working group– Letter of Intent

– Formal agreement

Terms between Registration agencies and IDF doi>

• Functional (application) agencies– applications across borders (e.g. CrossRef)

• National/regional agencies – local services– language documentation– integration with other agencies e.g. ISBN ?– e.g. MEDRA (EC)

Issues (1): Functional v national doi>

• DOI kernel metadata is a small basic set– likely not to be of commercial value alone

• Resolution provides “known item” – DOI name look-up only

• Metadata is not held in DOI System – only a pointer to it

• Metadata promotion maximises value – like a catalogue

Issues (2): Value of metadata doi>

• On a web page; <meta> tag; etc– easy to do, unstructured

• XML (Extensible Markup Language)– logical syntax, wide support, needs more to guarantee

interoperability• RDF (Resource Description Framework)

– Syntax for interoperable semantics; standard still evolving Questions as to acceptability

• Separate database– easy but raises issues of access

• Pointer entry (data type) in DOI name record

– best guarantee of commonality

Issues (3): Make metadata available (syntax) doi>

• e.g. “Missing” DOI names– duplication of prefix; DOI names not entered into directory; citing

of early DOI names, etc • Who will determine rules?

– May be different guidelines for different areas– and who will police them?

• Some checks can be built into system– e.g. attempted duplication

• Who defines kernel, and mappings, ensures conformance?• Rules for user communities?• Who ensures quality control of content?• Who is the authority for each metadata element?• What are the business model implications?

Issues (4): quality control doi>

• “missionary work”– identifiers: precision about what is identified (ISO TC46?)– functional granularity; well-formed metadata, etc.

• what can we learn from other efforts?– e.g. ISBN

• Best explained by examples: applications

Issues (5): Explaining doi>

• Many ISO entities have metadata records– ISBN, ISSN, etc - widely used

• May not be consistent with each other• May not be consistent with indecs mapping• May not be available for DOI name registration on ideal “do it

once” basis– commercial considerations of those agencies

• Can metadata be shared?• Collaboration between RAs

Issues (6): relation to existing services doi>

• DOI System and indecs based on open standards• Who directs evolution?

– governance structure, maintenance agency (ISO standard)– likely not to be of commercial value alone

• Who will invest the resources necessary to make improvements and prevent stagnation?– IDF set up as collaborative forum– Long term funding and sustainability via funding through

use (like bar codes)

Issues (7): management of standards doi>

• User communities want to control their own activities as far as possible – Principle of Subsidiarity– constitutional rules?

• There must be some common rules – Principle of Interoperability – IDF = operations and standards “council”?

Issues (8): governance doi>

• does not own or direct– RAs are independent businesses, members of the Foundation, part of

agreed operating federation

• does not compete with existing agencies – (e.g. ISBN): we mandate declaration of ISBN etc.

• does not determine business models– needs to be done by the sector

• does not enforce one single metadata standard– just principles

• neither “privatises” nor “liberates” data– only a minimal kernel (like book title)

• provides community focus and consensus

IDF in relation to Registration Agencies doi>

• Focus on enabling current RAs to generate more DOI names• New RAs in new areas • Social infrastructure development (RA policies) • Business model:

doi>Current strategy

IDF

RA

C

Incentive scheme: large discounts per DOI name for large numbers of

registrations, e.g. 25% -> 90%+

IDF has no role in this

Current DOI system activity (Oct 2007) doi>

Registration Agency Prefixes DOI registrations Jun-Oct 2007

DOI registrations to date

CrossRef 945 2,135,117 29,517,872

Bowker 74 3,031 745,873

TIB 11 41,583 540,601

CNRI/default (experimental)

66 190 143,477

mEDRA 410 14,111 126,895

Nielsen BookData 211 9 36,578

CAL 270 16 451

OPOCE 300 33 57

Wanfang Data* 2 0 0

TOTAL 2027 2,592,775 28,419,009

Latest figures: see http://dx.doi.org/10.1000/127

• RAs focus on building applications in their existing sectors

• viability of business models • lower costs per DOI name (for volume)

• IDF focus on better tools for RAs:

• Resolution – e.g. Acrobat plug-in • Multiple resolution: DOI-AP framework• Semantic interoperability: Data Dictionary• and additional tools

doi>Implementation of strategy

• Multiple services may exist for an identifier – Don’t assume only monopoly services– One service may be definitive; some may be better than others

• Multiple identifiers – Need to distinguish abstractions, compound objects, etc– Relation of DOI names to other identifiers

• Interoperability becomes more important as an economic feature when there are multiple services or multiple uses – which there will be eventually– Don’t design only for today

• Common frameworks for naming and meaning (to do all this) become important when services cut across silos; across media; from different sources; etc – Indecs–based approach (like ONIX etc)

• Multiple resolution: returns multiple results in response to a request (e.g. a choice, an automated service) – need some way of grouping and ordering those results, e.g.

Handle value typing

Application issues doi>

• IDF member page: information is password access

• Named representative for Member controls access

• Separate RAWG page, documentation (password access)

• Formal agreement for RAs

•Requirements re trademark use, intellectual property, infrastructure (proxies, mirrors, etc), suspension and termination procedures, etc.

doi>RA membership in IDF

doi>Trademark policy

• IDF owns the registered trademarks DOI® and DOI.ORG® and the trademark consisting of the DOI> logo (the “IDF Trademarks”). IDF Trademark policy sets out rules for use: note in particular:

• Use DOI and DOI.ORG trademarks as adjectives followed by nouns describing the product/service (e.g. The DOI® system); never use the trademarks as nouns or verbs (e.g. in phrases such as “registering DOIs,” or “to DOI a document”).

• The mark DOI should never be used as part of a URL.

• Only the IDF and its authorized licensees may use the IDF Trademarks.

• The IDF Trademarks may not be sublicensed or used by any other persons without the express written consent of IDF.

doi>Intellectual property policy

• IDF Patent Policy: – to Support the existing commitment that the DOI System be an open

standard and system available to all who want to use it on equal terms.– Preserve and protect the collective investment in the DOI System and

standard.– Encourage Registration Agencies to develop added-value services and

features on top of the Core DOI System.

• Goals of the patent policy:– To form a generic policy for IDF and all its Registration Agencies.– To establish trust among RAs on patent issues.– To provide RAs and users of DOI names with certainty that they won't

be infringing any patents when operating within the Core DOI System.– To enable and encourage RAs to add value, on top of the DOI Core

specification.– To be simple, practical and easy to implement.

doi>Intellectual property policy

• Key Concept: the Core DOI Specification as a technical document:

– "Core DOI Patent Rights" -- things enabled by the Core DOI Specification;

– "Value Added DOI Patent Rights" -- things not enabled by the Core DOI Specification;

– A notice requirement after an RA files any DOI-related patent application;

– Royalty-free licensing of RA patents that cover items that are enabled by the Core DOI Specification;

– Compulsory licensing, on commercially reasonable terms, of Value Added Patents (i.e., things not enabled by the Core DOI Specification);

– Royalty-free licensing with respect to patents for which the RA fails to satisfy the notice requirement.

• http://www.doi.org/news/050914PatentPolicynews.html

doi>Current RA fee structure

• Fee structure between IDF and RA comprises: – Membership in IDF; plus – Operating Fees (paid direct to IDF’s technical operator), made up of

two elements:• per DOI name Registration Fee, and • Maintenance Fee

• Membership fee: $35,000 per year• Registration fee:

– First 250,000 DOI names per year: $20,000 minimum fee– Sliding scale up to 5M DOI names/year: from 4 cents to 0.05 cents per

DOI name• Maintenance fee: 1 cent per DOI name up to 5M, 0.5 cents per DOI name

thereafter

Under discussion to be changed:• Cost per DOI name to drop to zero after 5M• Maintenance fee to be based on a limited time period

• DOI System implementation through policies and procedures• Principles of DOI System deployment • Registration Agencies: roles and responsibilities • DOI System governance mechanisms• Intellectual property issues • Fee structures • Current issues and developments

Outline / Key concepts in this section doi>

Workshop on the DOI System

DOI SYSTEM: SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

International DOI Foundation