Re-using the DataCite Metadata Store as DOI registration proxy and IGSN registry
Abstract
Currently a lot of work is done to stimulate the reuse of data. In joint efforts research institutions establish infrastructure to facilitate the publication of scientific datasets. To create a citable reference, these datasets must be tagged with persistent identifiers (DOIs) and described with metadata. As most data in the geosciences are derived from samples, it is crucial to be able to uniquely identify the samples from which a set of data were derived. Incomplete documentation of samples in publications, use of ambiguous sample names are major obstacles for synthesis studies and re-use of data. Access to samples for re-analysis and re-appraisal is limited due to the lack of a central catalogue that allows finding a sample's archiving location. The International Geo Sample Number (IGSN) [1] provides solutions to the questions of unique sample identification and discovery. Use of the IGSN in digital data systems allows building linkages between the digital representation of samples in sample registries, e.g. SESAR [2], and their related data in the literature and in web accessible digital data repositories. DataCite recently decided to publish their metadata store (DataCite MDS) and accompanying software online [3]. The DataCite software allows registration of handles, deposition of metadata in an XML format, it offers a search interface, and is able to disseminate metadata via OAI-PMH. Its, REST interface allows an easy integration into institutional data work flows. For our applications at GFZ Potsdam we modified the DataCite MDS software for reuse it in two different contexts: as the DOIDB web service for data publications and as the IGSN registry web service for the registration of geological samples. The DOIDB acts as a proxy service to the DataCite Metadata Store and uses its REST-Interface for registration of DataCite DOI and associated DOI metadata. Metadata can be deposited in the DataCite or NASA DIF schema. Both schemata can be disseminated via OAI-PMH. Transformation into the mandatory DataCite schema is done through XSLT stylesheet transformation. With its REST interface DOIDB integrates a number of independent automatic and semi-automatic data publishing systems at GFZ and provides a local summary of the dataset DOIs registered through GFZ as a publication agent. The web service of the IGSN registry is part of the registration structure of the IGSN e.V. Similar to the DOIDB, the IGSN registry inherits all characteristics from the DataCite software except for the metadata schema, which is completely different to the DataCite schema. Since the registry is on top of a 3 level metadata registration architecture, the IGSN Metadata Store holds only the handle, administrative data, and some metadata about the physical status of the sample. Both cases presented here introduce modifications to the DataCite MDS that enable to associate and enrich persistent identifiers of the handle system with own metadata. These metadata can be disseminated with OAI-PMH. Furthermore, the implementation as a proxy service allows to create local handle registries for institutions with a federated publishing structure which can be used to build catalogues of the registered objects and their metadata. [1] http://www.igsn.org [2] http://www.geosamples.org [3] http://github.com/datacite
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFMIN23C1528K
- Keywords:
-
- 1908 INFORMATICS / Cyberinfrastructure;
- 1936 INFORMATICS / Interoperability;
- 1960 INFORMATICS / Portals and user interfaces;
- 1978 INFORMATICS / Software re-use