Evolving a NASA Digital Object Identifiers System with Community Engagement

In 2010, NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project began investigating the assignment of unique identifiers to its suite of data products being stewarded at data centers distributed across the country.  This process led to the use of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) and the development of an automated system for the registration of these DOIs.   Since that time, the ESDIS DOI registration system has evolved to be fully functional with over 3000 publicly accessible DOIs and over 1000 being held in reserve status until the information required for registration is obtained.  The goal is to assign DOIs to the entire 9000+ data collections under ESDIS management via its network of discipline-oriented data centers.
 
A key factor in the successful evolution of the DOI registration system has been the incorporation of community input.  Over the last 3 years, ESDIS has solicited community input for making the DOI registration process more efficient through three focus groups under NASA’s Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG).   These groups were largely composed of DOI submitters and data curators from the 12 data centers serving user communities of various science disciplines. The suggestions from these groups were formulated into recommendations for ESDIS consideration and implementation. This poster will describe the process and the activities of each focus group, their recommendations, and how these recommendations were implemented.