Permanent Identifiers

Overview | Understanding Permanent Identifiers | Locating Permanent Identifiers 

Overview 

Collections in the DAP are assigned permanent identifiers so they can be easily cited and retrieved. Different types of collections receive different types of permanent identifiers. 

Understanding Permanent Identifiers 

These are the different types of permanent identifiers that are used in the DAP. Collections referred to using these identifiers can all be found by searching on them using the Permanent identifier field in the Advanced Search. 

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 

DOIs are digital identifiers that are used in the DAP for identifying public collections that have uploaded files. A new DOI is generated when a new version of a collection is published if the files have been modified. 

DOIs take the form https://doi.org/10.xxxxx/nnnnnnnnnn where x is a numerical organisational prefix and n a randomly assigned identification code. 

An example from the DAP is https://doi.org/10.25919/9656-6w40 

As well as being used for collections, DOIs can also be created in the DAP for selected sets of specimen images.  While these DOIs can be used for citation and as a way to reliably retrieve the images, the sets of images they refer to can’t be found by searching on the DOI using the Permanent identifier field using the Advanced Search. 

Handle 

Handles are another type of digital identifier, similar to DOIs. These are used in the DAP for identifying public collections that do not have any uploaded files, such as Service collections. 

Handles can also be used to cite all versions of a collection. While DOIs allow a specific version of a collection to be cited, Handles represent all versions and will always resolve to the most recent version. 

Handles take the form http://hdl.handle.net/xxx.yyy.nnnn where xxx.yyy is a numerical organisational prefix and n a randomly assigned numerical code of four or more digits. 

An example from the DAP is http://hdl.handle.net/102.100.100/388157 

CSIRO Assigned IDs 

For collections that are not eligible for either DOIs or Handles, CSIRO assigns our own permanent identifiers. This is done for collections that are not accessible to the public. 

CSIRO assigned identifiers take the form https://data.csiro.au/collection/csiro:nnnnn where n is a randomly assigned numerical code. The unique identifier part is the csiro:nnnnn section. 

An example from the DAP is https://data.csiro.au/collection/csiro:44228 The uniquely identifying part here is csiro:44228. 

Locating Permanent Identifiers 

You can find the permanent identifier for a collection in the boxes on the left of the collection landing page. The “Permalink” box lets you copy just the permanent identifier. The “Cite As” box includes full citation details, including the permanent identifier.