[tdwg-tag] GUID Persistence as Zen kōan

Robert Huber rhuber at wdc-mare.org
Fri Apr 24 11:55:05 CEST 2009


Hi Roger,

> I would rather have a GUID that resolves than one with a certificate. Tools
> like Rod's bioGUID status page are the way to go
>
> http://bioguid.info/status/
>
> More of a consumer watchdog than regulator.  It may transpire that such a
> service becomes so accepted it has the authority to 'bless' data suppliers
> but I believe that to be a long way off.

A GUID provider has to prove persistence by being persistent ? So we
would need a _certified_ watchdog ;)

>
> What I imagine would happen with a regulation is big organisations would
> throw resources at getting the certificate whilst small organisations and
> one-man-bands would actually provide as good or better services but not have
> certificates.

It depends on the audit method, if you take a look at the criteria for
long term archives there surely are several criteria a one man band
would never meet. But if you think of long term persistence (>decades)
it is most likely that a one man band will not be able to ensure
persistence - at least not beyond the lifetime of this person..
Btw. I forgot to mention the _english_ TRAC list of criteria
(http://www.crl.edu/PDF/trac.pdf) in my blog.

best regards,
Robert



-- 
Dr. Robert Huber,

WDC-MARE / PANGAEA - www.pangaea.de
Stratigraphy.net - www.stratigraphy.net
_____________________________________________
MARUM - Institute for Marine Environmental Sciences (location)
University Bremen
Leobener Strasse
POP 330 440
28359 Bremen
Phone ++49 421 218-65593, Fax ++49 421 218-65505
e-mail rhuber at wdc-mare.org



More information about the tdwg-tag mailing list