Overview
ISO/TS 22943:2022 - Information and documentation - Principles of identification - defines the philosophy and core expectations for identifiers and identifier systems. It explains why identifiers exist, how they create value for trade and information management, and which characteristics make an identifier trustworthy and useful. The Technical Specification is aimed at communities that design, operate or rely on identifier standards (for example ISBN, ISSN, DOI, ISNI and other identifier systems) and clarifies principles such as uniqueness, persistence, governance and metadata.
Key Topics and Requirements
The standard describes technical topics and desirable attributes of identifier systems, including:
- Uniqueness: identifiers must unambiguously denote a single referent within their namespace.
- Persistence: identifiers should remain valid and resolvable over time.
- Granularity: identifier scope should match use cases (e.g., title-level vs. article-level).
- Kernel metadata stability: essential metadata that binds identifier to referent should be stable and maintained.
- No ambiguity within namespace: clear rules to avoid conflicting identifiers.
- Access & Resolution: mechanisms to retrieve identifier metadata or referent (where appropriate).
- Absence of semantics: identifier strings should generally avoid embedded meaning to reduce ambiguity.
- Timing of assignment: policies for when identifiers are created and assigned.
- Resilience and error handling: procedures for duplicates, corrections and preferred identifiers.
- Economic sustainability & trustworthiness: governance, funding and community engagement to ensure long‑term viability.
The specification also defines terms such as binding (association of identifier to referent), identifier metadata (administrative data about the identifier), governance, and identifier‑referent metadata schema.
Applications and Who Uses It
ISO/TS 22943:2022 is practical for:
- Libraries, archives and museums implementing cataloguing and discovery systems.
- Publishers, content platforms and rights managers using ISBN, ISSN, DOI, ISNI, ISRC, ISAN, ISWC and related systems.
- Registration authorities and identifier system operators designing policies for assignment, correction and governance.
- Data managers, integrators and software developers building interoperable metadata, resolution and lookup services.
- Supply chain and e‑commerce systems that rely on durable identifiers for ordering, fulfillment and rights data.
Typical applications include authoritative cataloguing, metadata exchange, persistent linking, digital preservation, order processing, and enabling a “web of identifiers” to support discovery and attribution.
Related Standards
ISO/TC 46/SC 9 oversees many identifier standards referenced in the specification, such as ISBN, ISSN, ISNI, ISRC, ISAN, DOI, ISLI, ISWC. ISO/TS 22943:2022 complements these by articulating the underlying principles for designing and evaluating identifier systems.
Keywords: ISO/TS 22943:2022, principles of identification, identifier system, unique identifiers, identifier metadata, persistence, governance, granularity, resolution.