GUID1 Workshop Comments on identity

1
GUID-1 WorkshopComments on identity

• Donald Hobern
• GBIF Program Officer for Data Access and
  Database Interoperability
• February 2006

2
The question of identity
M(D1)
M(D2)
M(D1)
M(D2)
Which of these can be covered by the same
identifier? I.e. which of these are the same
for a given purpose?
D1
D2
D1
Digital World
Real World
O1
Object or Event
3
Example 1 GUID identifies object or real-world
event
GUID-1
GUID-1
GUID-1
GUID-1
M(D1)
M(D2)
M(D1)
M(D2)
Any representation of the object may receive the
same GUID. Note that nothing ensures that the
same GUID is always used for the
object. Possible example GUID for physical
specimen
GUID-1
GUID-1
GUID-1
D1
D2
D1
Digital World
Real World
GUID-1
O1
Object or Event
4
Example 2 GUID identifies digitisation event
GUID-1
GUID-1
GUID-2
GUID-2
M(D1)
M(D2)
M(D1)
M(D2)
Each digital representation of an object receives
a separate GUID. Minor corrections to a
digital representation are ignored. Possible
example Different researchers digitise the same
specimen and record different elements (Note that
these differences could be regarded as variations
in metadata)
GUID-1
GUID-2
GUID-1
D1
D2
D1
Digital World
Real World
O1
Object or Event
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Example 3 GUID identifies (fixed) digital object
GUID-3
GUID-1
GUID-2
GUID-2
M(D1)
M(D2)
M(D1)
M(D2)
Every version of the data receives its own
identifier. Note that this does not preclude
metadata indicating linkages between
versions. Possible example Gene sequence records
GUID-1
GUID-2
GUID-3
D1
D2
D1
Digital World
Real World
O1
Object or Event