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Thing 14: Identifiers and linked data

Overview

Teaching: min
Exercises: min
Questions

  • What is ORCID and why is the academic world buzzing about it?

Objectives

  • We look at identifiers for people - specifically the global people identifier: ORCID, and stray into the fascinating world of linked data.

  • Choose from 3 ways to cultivate your own ORCIDs.

  • Get hands on with linked data and the semantic web.

Getting started: How unique are you?

In Thing 8 we learned about DOIs as persistent identifiers for data, as well as their role in supporting data citation. What about identifiers for people? Think about the many forms a person’s name may take or common names. Is the author JK Rowling the same person as Joanne Rowling and Jo Rowling? More than 38,000 Americans have the name James Smith!

It’s important to know who’s who when looking at citation metrics as discussed in Thing 7. Universities, funders and publishers worldwide now use ORCID to differentiate between people with the same name by assigning individuals with a unique identifier.

Finding someone’s ORCID

  1. Let’s start by going to ORCID. In the search box at the very top of the page, enter John David Burton to search the ORCID registry. Scan the list of results to find the entry for John David Burton. How many versions of his name do you see?
  2. Now enter Toby Burrows into the search box.
  3. Open his ORCID record to see a wonderful example of a rich ORCID record.
    • Note he has combined his ResearcherID and his Scopus Author ID with his ORCID.
  4. Scroll through his list of works and look closely at Source to see the wide range of sources of his publications. Are any datasets included? (Hint: look for Source: Australian National Data Service (ANDS) Registry but note the publication type for research data!).

Consider: Why do you think there is an exclamation mark in the previous sentence about the publication type for research data…. Learn more: Create or update your ORCID profile

ORCID has recently emerged as the preferred identifier for people by a range of research universities, funders and publishers worldwide. You can choose from 3 activities that will get you in touch with ORCID.

Create your ORCID

If you don’t have an ORCID record create one.

  1. Start here and do steps 1 and 2.
  2. When you’re done, add your ORCID to your email signature, LinkedIn profile and blog
  3. Send your new ORCID number to a colleague and ask for some feedback on your profile.

Enhance your ORCID

When was the last time you logged in to update or enhance your profile? You may be surprised at the additional functionality now available.

  1. Read Alice Meadow’s blog post Six Things to do now you have an ORCID iD
  2. Now go to your ORCID profile and update it to be as current and complete as possible
  3. When you’re done, add your ORCID to your email signature, LinkedIn profile and blog
  4. Consider using the new QR code feature for your ORCID iD in new and unchartered ways.

Keep up-to-date with ORCID

Get up to date with the latest features, functionality and news on the ORCID blog and explore the ORCID Consortium directory.

How will ORCID usage change things?

How will adoption of ORCID by funders, publishers and universities impact you, your institution and researchers?

Identifiers and linked data

Identifiers are an important component of research data management. Computer applications use them for identifying datasets, for searching and retrieval, and for linking or connecting data. In Thing 8 we looked at Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for identifying data. In the Getting started and Learn more activities of Thing 14 we focussed on ORCIDs for identifying people. So, how do identifiers fit with Linked Data?

The term Linked Data refers to a set of best practices for publishing and connecting structured data on the Web. Identifiers are an important component of Linked Data as URIs (or Universal Resource Identifiers), along with HTTP and RDF (Resource Description Framework) are the key technologies that underpin Linked Data. What is Linked Data and the Semantic Web and what is all the hype about?

What is Linked Data

  1. Start by reading an introduction to these concepts from Linked Data Tools.
  2. Have a go at completing some or all of the 5 short (5 min) Semantic Web Primer tutorials:
  3. If you have time: Try out the free online RDF data validator in Tutorial 4 to describe research objects.
  4. Consider: how these tools could be used to support linked data

Key Points

  • Identifiers are crucial to disambiguation of people, accurate attribution and impact metrics.

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