Identify My Data - How does it work?

The ANDS Identify My Data service allows you to allocate a persistent identifier to the data.   A registration plate for a car is an example of an identifier used for cars.  An ANDS data identifier looks something like a car's registration plate, eg 102.100.100/abc. 

ANDS is part of the global Handles infrastructure that allows users from anywhere on the internet to be directed to the location you nominate for your identifier.  The users of the data simply click on your “registration number”, and they go directly to wherever you nominate.  The “clickable” version of that  identifier would be http://hdl.handle.net/102.100.100/abc (note: this is not a real identifier).

If in the future the dataset changes location on the internet, you update the location details of your identifier in the ANDS identifier registry, in much the same way that you would update the “garage address” of a car with the car registry when you move house and take your car with you.  The registration plate remains the same.  The location address and the registration number are independent.

If someone needs to locate your car, they will use your registration number to consult the vehicle registry for its current garage address.  Similarly, when people try to locate your data, within milliseconds their browsers will consult the identifier registry to find the current location that you nominated in the ANDS service.

More Information:

Identify My Data - Overview

Machine2Machine Identifiers

Getting an Account

Scenarios

The Handle System®