Online seminar on PIDs for persons

The unique and persistent identification of persons working in a scientific or cultural context is recognised as a fundamental principle in Germany. The ORCID iD (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) has emerged as the de facto international standard for this. In German-speaking countries, libraries in particular also use the Integrated Authority File (GND) for cataloguing publications, as it links different resources such as persons and works. In addition, further identifiers for persons are emerging for specific use cases. These include the edu-ID. This is a concept for a self-managed, institution-independent and lifelong digital identity for the research and education sector in Germany. This concept has been developed over the past three years by a working group of the ZKI (Association of Centres for Communication Processing in Research and Education) with the participation of the DFN Association.

These three identifier types were presented in the online seminar "PIDs for individuals", organised by the PID Network Germany project. Over 150 people registered for the event. The speakers' slides have been published and their DOIs linked in the programme. The online seminar was held using Zoom and the event language was German.

Summary of the interactive part

Following the keynote speeches, the 25 or so participants identified needs and deficits in the use and implementation of PIDs for people working in science and culture in an interactive session using a Miro board and identified possible solutions for obstacles.

With regard to the first question "What are your needs with regard to the persistent and clear identification of people working in science and culture?", it became clear that the interoperability of PIDs represents a major need in the application, implementation and use for the participants. The main focus here was on ensuring that PIDs for individuals can be used and linked across system, institutional and national boundaries. In addition, the need was also expressed, for example, to keep one's own ORCID iD for a lifetime, which requires usability in different systems.

The discussion also focussed on the properties of PIDs. The participants want PIDs to be easy to use, verifiable and persistent, but also for their use to remain voluntary, with clearly formulated conditions and purposes of use. In addition, they should also be applicable in various ways, such as for authentication processes or for subsequent use in library systems. At the same time, they must enable automation in order to support researchers in recording and maintaining their publications.

Linked to this is the need for trust and acceptance of PIDs for individuals and their quality. They should be trustworthy and globally recognised so that they are recognisable. At the same time, the possibility of quality assurance for the information provided is desired in order to ensure good metadata quality.

It was interesting that the discussion regarding the second question of the interactive part "What do you see as solutions to deficits and obstacles in the use and implementation of PIDs for people working in science and culture? What would represent real added value?" also centred on the topic of interoperability. Here it was emphasised that it is an obstacle if the PIDs cannot be implemented easily (e.g. via API) and in different systems. It was formulated as a prerequisite for this that the PIDs utilise open and transparent infrastructures. The metadata linked to the PIDs should also enable linking and enrichment.

Furthermore, various challenges in the implementation and application of PIDs for individuals were identified by the participants. These include, for example, a lack of acceptance by scientists or their management level, a lack of resources, and the ambivalence between the free decision as to how much metadata is filled in for PIDs for individuals and the requirements of the institutions behind them in order to really utilise the added value.

In contrast, guidelines such as publication guidelines and specific obligations for the use of PIDs for individuals at the scientific institutions were defined as added value. PIDs for individuals are also required to make work easier so that they provide added value for the institutions and those responsible. This includes, for example, the automatic transfer of certain data (e.g. when creating a GND record) from various sources and the use of data in a professional environment, whereby valid data is a prerequisite.

Another focus of the discussion was on communicating the added value of PIDs for individuals. The participants noted that training programmes for scientists, information events at institutions and exchanges with stakeholders such as publishers are needed to support the added value of PIDs for individuals and thus their use. 

The documentation of the Miro board is linked in the programme below.

Programm:

All interested parties were invited to take part in this open exchange, regardless of whether or not you already have experience with PIDs for persons.

If you have any questions or suggestions, you can contact us at any time at info.pidnetworklistservdfnde.

Thank you for your participation!

The project partners of PID Network Germany are DataCite, the German National Library, the Helmholtz Open Science Office, the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) and Bielefeld University Library. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation.

Event DOI: https://doi.org/10.25798/25ef-fw23