I think there's a tension here though between pragmatism and functionality. The advantage of singling out a specific standard is that you can then rely on the additional affordances of that standard. ORCID has a useful API that allows the extraction of additional information about the owner of the ID. Such things are possible in other ways for generic HTTP(S) URIs, but there is no standard way of doing so.

At the risk of seeming pedantic, I think it would be better if REF mandated the use of global, persistent identifiers (preferably HTTP URIs), rather than singling out ORCID. Other identifier schemes are available and new ones will undoubtedly appear, and it should make no difference so long as they are global and persistent. Cheers, Paul

On 25 Aug 2017, at 14:36, Bev Jones <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Dear Tom, Diana and All, You are quite right, Tom, the picture isn’t really complete without mention of ORCID. We’re working towards ORCID being the identifier underlying authors in most systems (as our institutional identifier does now). It will be a shame if ORCID isn’t mandatory for REF, but it will still be useful for organising outputs for submission. Your linked data sounds lovely! Many thanks, Bev Jones! http://research.lincoln.ac.uk Research Repository and Information Officer University of Lincoln Library x6721 From: Thomas Elliott [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 25 August 2017 13:48 To: Bev Jones <[log in to unmask]> Cc: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: I hope this reply is not too tangential: At ISAW, we are working toward integrating bibliographic citation (both print and digital), digital archiving, and research/website profile/content across our entire community of faculty, staff, students, visiting scholars, and alumni. In bibliographic records and archive metadata records, our policy is to maintain the name as written in the context of the original publication, but we’ll be tying discovery and presentation together across resources, citations, platforms, etc. using OrcIDs. Our linked data includes both OrcID and VIAF.org (where available) URIs. Tom -- Tom Elliott, Ph.D. Associate Director for Digital Programs and Senior Research Scholar Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (NYU) http://isaw.nyu.edu/people/staff/tom-elliott Humanities Commons: @paregorios OrcID: 0000-0002-4114-6677 On Fri, Aug 25, 2017 at 7:36 AM, Bev Jones <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Dear Diana, As it is a bibliographical record we always try to list the authors as they appear on the original item. We also prefer to keep just one record for each item. We’ve had an author who uses six variants of one name, and one who uses three completely different names for professional reasons, as well as a number of people who have simply changed their name (but often neglected to tell us) so we have come up against this before. We now have a system where the authors have a staff ID, and once that number is there the name can be changed; I’ve attached a couple of images of the workflow, you can see me change my name in the ‘Creators’ field. However, before we did that we got around it with square brackets in the Creator field, so it rendered the author Jones, Bev [writing as Mouse, Mickey], or Mouse, Mickey [formerly Jones, Bev], whichever is most appropriate. This might be best for you, although I’d be interested to see what anyone else can suggest. Do ask for more details if I’m not making sense. Many thanks, Bev Jones! http://research.lincoln.ac.uk Research Repository and Information Officer University of Lincoln Library x6721 From: Repositories discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Diana Hilmer Sent: 25 August 2017 12:05 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Dear all, I was wondering if someone could help me. I have a researcher who recently changed her name. Is there a way on ePrints to connect her old name details with her new ones or would you keep it as two different records and make sure that both versions will be included for the same author in REF? Thank you and kind regards Diana Diana Hilmer Assistant Librarian Franciscan Library The University of Buckingham Buckingham, MK18 1EG Tel: 01280 828369, Internal: 3369 Email [log in to unmask] The University of Buckingham • Top in the UK for student satisfaction since 2006 • Top in the UK for Teaching Quality • Top in the UK for Student-Staff Ratio • Top in the UK for Student Experience The University of Lincoln, located in the heart of the city of Lincoln, has established an international reputation based on high student satisfaction, excellent graduate employment and world-class research. The information in this e-mail and any attachments may be confidential. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately and remove it from your system. Do not disclose the contents to another person or take copies. Email is not secure and may contain viruses. The University of Lincoln makes every effort to ensure email is sent without viruses, but cannot guarantee this and recommends recipients take appropriate precautions. The University may monitor email traffic data and content in accordance with its policies and English law. Further information can be found at:http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/legal.

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