The NISO Institutional Identifier (I2) Working Group (WG) has released a
midterm report:  http://www.niso.org/workrooms/i2/midtermreport/

The NISO I2 WG is soliciting feedback on the report and guidance for  the
next steps in developing this standard from individuals and groups involved
in the digital information transactions.  Stakeholders include
publishers/distributors, libraries, archives, museums,  licensing agencies,
standards bodies, and service providers, such as library workflow management
system vendors and copyright clearance  agencies. Anyone involved at any
level in the distribution, licensing, sharing or management of information
is invited to participate. 

Please read the information below and participate in the evaluation of our
midterm work by reading the midterm release document and  answering a few
questions about each development area.  You are the stakeholders for this
information standard.  We must work to ensure  that it meets your needs, so
your input is very valuable and  important to us. 

BACKGROUND: 
NISO established the  working group in 2008 to develop an institutional
identifier (I2) to uniquely identify institutions engaged in the digital
information workspace.  The goal of the I2 Working Group is to develop an
institutional identifier that is globally unique, robust, interoperable,
scalable and able to integrate smoothly with current digital information
workflows.  The working group is currently at the midterm of its efforts
and  hopes to complete its draft specification by December, 2010.  Community
input was requested through surveys and conferences to refine the
objectives, create the metadata and identify scenarios of  need.  We are
currently soliciting midterm review to provide confirmation of our work to
date, course correction as needed and to  ensure that we have identified and
are addressing all the issues surrounding this critical enabling standard.  

 THE PROBLEM SPACE: 
Obtaining, using, sharing, storing and managing  information often involves
multiple institutions across the digital  information space.  These
institutions must be able to identify each  other and to trust that the
identification is both correct and  unique.  The information managed may
itself be digital (e.g., the  licensing of an e-book) or analog information
that is managed over  the digital information space (e.g., interlibrary loan
of a physical  book).  Currently, there are many identifiers in use, ranging
from  simple naming to established codes.  However, no single identifier 
that is globally unique, trustworthy, and able to capture  relationships
among institutions and variant legacy identifiers for  institutions
currently exists.  As a result, transactions are locked   into proprietary
workflow silos and management of all the digital information activities of
an institution are not integrated.

THE PROPOSED SOLUTION:
The I2 is proposed as a globally unique,  robust, scalable and interoperable
identifier with the sole purpose of uniquely identifying institutions.   The
I2 consists of  two  parts: an identifier standard that includes the
metadata needed to  uniquely identify  the organization -- including
documenting  relationships with other institutions that are critical for 
establishing identity -- and  a framework for implementation and use.

The I2 is envisioned as a simple, core identifier with the sole  purpose of
identifying institutions in a robust and trustworthy  manner. 
Workflow-specific implementations, such as regional ILL collaborations or
ebook licensing services, will leverage the I2.

THE BENEFIT: 
Institutions will only have to request and reuse a  single identifier. 
Institutions will be able to robustly identify every institution engaged in
an information transaction. Institutions  that engage in many different
information transactions or that work with many different institutions will
be able to track and manage  institutional activities across multiple
workflows through the use of a single, authoritative identifier.

The Midterm status report and review survey are available at the following
link.  Please respond by August 2, 2010.

http://www.niso.org/workrooms/i2/midtermreport/

Thank you very much for your support of this lynchpin digital information
standard.  Your input is very valuable to us and will be carefully studied
and considered. Please download the report and keep it open to assist you in
completing the survey.


[Note: This message has been cross-posted to obtain wide input.]

Cynthia Hodgson
NISO Technical Editor Consultant
National Information Standards Organization
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 301-654-2512

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