Folks,
I think that this problem could be solved by using an LSID HTTP proxy, such as the (Biopathways LSID Resolver http://lsid.biopathways.org/resolver/ - http://lsid.biopathways.org/resolver/), to allow clients that are only aware of HTTP to resolve LSIDs without any additional software.
Such a proxy accepts HTTP GET/POST requests following some well-known rules (such as these: http://lsid.biopathways.org/resolver/weblinks.shtml http://lsid.biopathways.org/resolver/weblinks.shtml), resolves the LSID passed as a parameter, and returns either the data or metadata associated with the LSID to the original client. Here is one example:
http://lsid.biopathways.org/resolver/metadata/urn:lsid:lsid.tdwg.gbif.org:st...
The result is very similar, if not equivalent, to what you would have with PURL, without having to give up on the benefits of LSIDs.
The problem then would be to choose whether to use the pure LSIDs or the proxy link. One idea would be to use the proxy links to identify ontology classes and predicates. Also, LSID aware clients could extract the LSID from the the proxy link with one additional well known rule.
Besides the proxy I mentioned for LSID, there are well developed HTTP proxies for both DOI and ARK as well. There is really good documentation about the DOI bridge on the DOI site.
Regards,
Ricardo
Gregor Hagedorn wrote:
Note that part of my concern about the use of concept when talking about classes/properties/data elements is that I more and more believe we will want to use ontology reasoners for uses other than software design, i.e. as part of what we currently consider data (taxon names, concepts, rank hierarchy, parts of organisms, properties of organisms, etc.). All these are ontological concepts, and efforts www.plantontology.org do use OWL to reason on them.
The SDD presentation (the one not held in EDI, attached) contained some examples how we might want to query our data - in ways that OWL-for-software- design seems not to cover - and which using LSIDs would even prevent.
Please discuss:
http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/TAG/WhyWeShouldNotUseLSIDs
http://wiki.tdwg.org/twiki/bin/view/TAG/UsePURLsAsGUIDs
Gregor
Gregor Hagedorn (G.Hagedorn@bba.de) Institute for Plant Virology, Microbiology, and Biosafety Federal Research Center for Agriculture and Forestry (BBA) Königin-Luise-Str. 19 Tel: +49-30-8304-2220 14195 Berlin, Germany Fax: +49-30-8304-2203
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