The ARK Identifier Scheme: Lessons Learnt at the BnF and Questions Yet Unanswered

Abstract : The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) looks back at lessons learnt over eight years of implementing persistent identifiers (ARKs). While persistent identification is still a relatively young field, this is enough time to gain practical experience, and to conduct a meaningful gap analysis between what is and what should be, especially in a semantic web context. That analysis has exposed important issues concerning best practices and compliance with existing standards.