This document summarizes a workshop on authority files. It discusses how authority files can transform from library silos to a web of linked data by uniquely identifying entities like people, publications, organizations, and connecting them using identifiers. Four use cases are presented: developing a repository authority file, enhancing a journal authority file to track open access evolution, integrating existing authority files to make cultural data web compliant, and using authority files to enable new analyses and business intelligence from research information systems. The benefits of authority files for discovery, reliability, accountability, and efficiency are outlined. An example of crosswalking different authority files is also provided. The document concludes with an opinion poll on authority file topics.

1. Workshop Authority Files
Jisc Digital Festival 11-12 March Birmingham

2. 2
9.30
• Introduction Knowledge Exchange
• Authority Files
– from library silo to web of data
– why/how beneficial to research
– four use cases
– CRIS transforms into CRIS?
• Opinion poll and discussion
10.10
• Introduction CASRAI
• Work on Authority Files
10.25
• Wrap up & close
Programme
- Bas Cordewener
- Leo Waaijers, Maurits de Graaf
- David Baker
- Verena Weigert

3. 3

4. 4

5. Authority
files
signposts
library silos
Research Information
of
KE publication

6. Web of Documents/
Web of Data
viausing
SPARQL
Our insights

7. Authority Files or ‘Controlled Vocabularies’ are lists
• of entities or ‘things’ (people, publications, journals, data
sets, organisations, repositories, etc.)
• that are uniquely identified by a number (identifiers such as
ORCID for re-searchers, DOI for publications, ISBN for
books, ISNI for organisations, etc.)
• containing information to characterise and qualify the entities
(e.g. if a journal is Open Access, which researcher contributed to a
specific project, which funder financed that project, etc.)
• and are authoritative (maintained by an expert
organisation, registry agent, etc.; or authoritative in itself being
widely recognised, widely used by significant audiences, etc.

8. ‘Crosswalking’ between Authority Files creates value:
• Using these lists, it becomes possible to link entities via their
unique identifiers and by these combinations provide new or
enriched information; e.g. what publications link (via DOI and
ORCID) to a specific project.
• This so called ‘crosswalking’ helps stakeholders in the research
community to combine information, to gain insight, and inform
funding and policy decisions regarding the research.
10

9. Why?
A growing volume and impact
of research results necessitate
more transparancy and
individual, organisational and
national profiling.
7

10. Benefits of Authority Files
• Discovery: Authority files are essential in discovery of research
information by bridging sources that are not interoperable nor
linked.
• Trust and reliability: Authority files support reliable and trusted
identification of key elements in research information.
• Accountability: Authority files support the ability to track, report
and measure aspects like funding, research output, and impact.
Funders can track the research output resulting from their funding.
• Transactional efficiency: Authority Files help to avoid the need
to re-key data many times and support data exchange. This
benefits all stakeholders.
• New knowledge: Authority files greatly facilitate the ability to
draw corre-lations across data and support analytics and decision
making in the management of research.

11. Four use cases
• Where to publish reliably research data?
Needs new authority file for repositories
• How is Open Access evolving?
Needs enhancement of existing authority file for journals
• Making German culture Web compliant
Needs integration of existing authority files
• Analyses and new ‘business’ information
CRIS = Current Research Information Systems

12. That Robbert and André are authors with ISO Name Identifiers x and y: ISNI database (incl. ORCID) at
global level
ISNI: <ISNI: x is_a Author>
That University ABC is a University with ISNI:z
ISNI: <ISNI:z is_a Organisation>
That Robbert (ISNI:x) and André (ISNI:y) have a working relation to University ABC (ISNI:z): HR-database
at University
HR@UniversityABC: <ISNI:z has_employee ISNI:x>
That University ABC has different departments
HR@UniversityABC: <department:n is_a department>
That the departments of University ABC are in a specific Research Area
HR@UniversityABC: <department:n is_research_area NOD:n>
Who work in these departments
HR@UniversityABC: <ISNI:n works_in department:n>
What authors (ISNI) have contributed to which publications (DOI): DOI database at global level
DOI: <DOI:n has_author ISNI:n>
What Journals there are: ISSN database at global level;
ISSN: <ISSN:n is_a ScientificJournal>
What publications (DOI) belong to what journals (ISSN): DOI database at global level;
DOI: <DOI:n published_in ISSN:n>
When a publication (DOI) has been published: DOI database at global level;
DOI: <DOI:n published_on w3c:date:n>
What the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) for each Journal (ISSN): CWTS database at global level;
CWTS: <ISSN:n has_a JIF:CWTS:n>
What the defined Research Areas are. (on a national level, since the reporting in this case is a national
matter): NOD (Nederlandse Onderzoeksdatabase) at national level; In our case
NOD: <NOD:PopularScience is_a ResearchArea>
What the definition is for an A-class journal is per Research Area, by defining a minimal Journal Impact
Factor for each Research Area (in this case Popular Science): VSNU at national level.;
VSNU:A-ClassDefinition: <NOD:PopularScience has_minimal JIF:CWTS:n>
CRIS = Crosswalk Research Information Service?

13. Opinion poll: ‘yes’ or ‘no’
Think great, start small
Statement 1
My institution should start tomorrow creating an ORCID on
behalf of every member of the academic staff who hasn’t one.
Statement 2
Organisations in the scholarly world should mandate ISNIs as
organisational identifiers for their output.
Statement 3
My institution would welcome clinics on cross-walking for CRIS
managers.
Statement 4
My CRIS should not start migrating data to Open Linked Data
format (= RDF triples) soon.
13

14. 14
10.10
• Introduction CASRAI
• Work on Authority Files
10.25
• Wrap up & close
Programme
- David Baker
- Verena Weigert

15. 15

16. 16
10.25
• Wrap up & close
Programme
- Verena Weigert