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igsn:namespaces [2013/04/29 08:45] jklump Namespace allocation procedure moved to top of page. |
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- | ====== Namespaces ====== | + | :!: The documentation |
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- | ===== Namespace Allocation ===== | + | |
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- | - An Allocating Agent can apply for an IGSN Namespace and associate a URI with it. | + | |
- | - The process of allocating a new namespace is initiated by an Allocating Agent requesting the allocation of a namespace by creating a new ticket in the IGSN ticket system. [[http:// | + | |
- | - The request is reviewed by the IGSN Manager. Conflicting interests are reviewed and mediated by the Executive Board. Cases the Executive Board cannot resolve are referred to the General Assembly to decide. | + | |
- | - The approved namespace is added to the IGSN Metadata Store [[https:// | + | |
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- | ===== IGSN hierarchical namespace governance model ===== | + | |
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- | ==== Recommended Practice ==== | + | |
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- | - IGSN e.V. uses a hierarchical model to govern its namespace. | + | |
- | - Top-level namespaces are governed and assigned by IGSN e.V. | + | |
- | - [[igsn: | + | |
- | - Allocating Agents may extend their allocated namespaces into sub-namespaces by adding characters or numbers. | + | |
- | - IGSN namespaces and IGSN names must conform to the [[igsn: | + | |
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- | ==== Explanation ==== | + | |
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- | A governance model on the level of IGSN must meet three conditions: | + | |
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- | - Flexibility to accommodate | + | |
- | - Assure uniqueness of assigned IGSN names | + | |
- | - Minimal human and technical communication overhead | + | |
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- | These requirements are best met by hierarchical namespace governance ((Bechtold, S. (2003), Governance in Namespaces, Loy. L.A. L. Rev., 36(3), 1239–1320, | + | |
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- | === Flexibility === | + | |
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- | An example of a hierachical namespace governance model is the model now used by the Handle system itself. In the Handle system, DataCite [[http:// | + | |
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- | === Uniqueness and Namespace Exhaustion === | + | |
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- | In the context of IGSN namespaces it is required to support the 9-character syntax of SESAR and alternative naming conventions used by the major core repositories. At the current state of the discussion the standard prefix for a collection is a string of three characters. This rule allows for potentially 17576 (26^3) namespaces. Including numbers would allow 36^3 = 46,656 possible namespaces. NSF GEO reports approximately 15,000 individual researchers that have submitted grant proposals to NSF in the geosciences. This number clearly shows that by allocating three character namespaces to individual researchers would quickly exhaust the namespaces available. | + | |
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- | Using the SESAR format of 3+6 characters, the concatenated sample name is a string of six characters (a-z, 0-9, excluding i and o), which allows 1.55 x 10^9 samples per namespace, which should be sufficient for most purposes. | + | |
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- | To assure unique names for long term operation of the system and to accommodate the requests from the core repositories a few points should be considered: | + | |
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- | - Many collections are much smaller than 1,500 million samples. In most cases four characters would be sufficient, even if the name suffixes are only numbers. | + | |
- | - Using longer collection prefixes as sub-namespaces would multiply the number of collection namespaces by orders of magnitude while still providing a sufficient number of names for small collections of about 10,000 samples. | + | |
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- | The proposed hierarchical namespace governance model would be similar in structure to the IP address space (IPv4) or to telephone numbers in Europe. | + | |
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- | The image below shows the geographical distribution of the first digit of telephone area codes in Germany. Large cities with many subscriber lines have short area codes (e.g. Berlin = 030, Munich = 089, Hamburg = 040), while smaller cities have longer area codes (Potsdam = 0331, Freiburg = 0761), whereas small towns have long area codes (e.g. Groß Pankow = 033983). In turn, the number of digits of a local subscriber line is long (up to eight digits) in large cities, but may be much shorter in small towns. | + | |
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- | {{: | + | |
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- | Source | + | |
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- | === Communication Overhead === | + | |
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- | In a hierarchical namespace governance model the Allocating Agent does not need to negotiate the allocation of sub-namespaces with IGSN e.V. but may solely negotiate with its clients. This is analogous to the current practice in assigning DOI names, or handle names. By delegating parts of the namespace governance to Allocating Agents the communication overhead between Allocating Agents and IGSN e.V. will be minimised. | + | |
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- | === Mnemonic Names === | + | |
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- | Principal investigators applying to an Assigning Agent for a namespace might prefer mnemonic names. However, it is foreseeable that many mnemonic namespaces will soon be allocated. When this point is reached only non-mnemonic namespaces can be allocated. This situation is similar to " | + | |
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- | === Legacy Namespaces === | + | |
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- | The current number of namespaces already assigned by SESAR is small enough to leave already assigned namespaces (legacy namespaces) in place. | + | |
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- | ====== | + | |
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- | [[igsn:start|Back]] to overview | + |