Persistence Policy

Version: 1.2
Date: 18 December 2025

Table of Contents

1. Purpose, status and scope

This document constitutes the formal persistence policy of Plimpton‑322 and describes the policy, organisational, legal and technical principles governing the use of persistent identifiers and resolution services.

The policy applies to all digital objects published or managed by Plimpton‑322, including blogs, publications, datasets, documentation and derivative works.

This document has a normative and policy‑setting status. It defines the principles under which Plimpton‑322 assigns, manages and resolves persistent identifiers (PIDs).

The policy is aligned with commonly used terminology and design principles within European research and data infrastructures, including the FAIR principles and dataspace architectures. The document does not provide contractual guarantees and does not create enforceable rights for third parties.

2. Definitions

For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:

  • Identifier: a stable, location‑independent reference to a digital entity.
  • Persistent Identifier (PID): a non‑semantic identifier assigned by Plimpton‑322 and intended to refer to a digital entity over the long term.
  • Representation: a concrete, context‑ or language‑specific manifestation of a digital entity (for example a Dutch or English version).
  • Location: a current technical reference (such as a URL) at which a representation is accessible.
  • Resolver: a technical service that translates an identifier into one of the available representations.
  • Authoritative External Resolver Repository (AERR): a publicly accessible, version‑controlled storage medium (for example an open‑source repository) maintained outside the direct operational infrastructure of Plimpton‑322 and serving as a mechanism for transfer and continuity.

3. Policy principles

Plimpton‑322 applies the following policy principles:

  1. Identifiers and locations are conceptually and technically separated, so that identification is not dependent on infrastructure, domain names or hosting providers.
  2. Persistent identifiers function as stable administrative anchors within a broader information and publication chain, in line with the FAIR principles for findability and reusability.
  3. Persistence is approached as an organisational and governance responsibility, not as an absolute technical guarantee.
  4. Resolver services, representations and storage components are substitutable without loss of identifying meaning, in accordance with dataspace principles of service substitutability and governance‑driven continuity.

4. Local persistent identifiers

Plimpton‑322 assigns local persistent identifiers in the form of opaque identifiers, without semantic meaning.

These identifiers are generated as UUIDv7 or ULID values and have no semantic relationship to the title, language, date or type of the object they identify.

Example:

p322:blog:01J9ZKQ8R7H4A1FQ9M5Y2C3B8N

Characteristics of these identifiers:

  • they contain no domain name, protocol or semantic components;
  • they are globally unique;
  • they are never reused;
  • they serve as the primary key within the administrative systems of Plimpton‑322.

The choice for non‑semantic identifiers prevents semantic drift, language dependence and renumbering in the event of editorial or substantive changes.

5. Resolution and representations

Plimpton‑322 resolves PIDs to representations of digital entities. A single PID may have multiple representations, for example per language or context.

Resolution is performed by a resolver service that:

  • selects a default representation based on language negotiation (for example Accept‑Language);
  • supports explicit selection via URL path (/<pid>/<lang>) or query parameter (?lang=<code>).

Resolution results in an HTTP 302 redirect to the selected representation. This ensures that:

  • the PID remains the primary and stable reference point;
  • individual representations may change, move or disappear without re‑issuing the identifier.

This approach aligns with European PID practices in which a single identifier may have multiple contextual representations.

Plimpton‑322 reserves the right to modify, migrate or discontinue resolution infrastructure, provided that the administrative PID mappings remain transferable.

In addition to persistent identifiers, Plimpton‑322 uses temporary links for distribution and tracking purposes (so‑called go‑links).

These links:

  • are explicitly non‑persistent;
  • are generated for campaigns, analytics and usage measurement;
  • do not form part of the long‑term identification strategy.

The use, modification or expiration of such links has no effect on the validity or meaning of PIDs.

7. External persistence systems

Plimpton‑322 may decide to use additional external persistence systems, including ARK‑based infrastructures.

In such cases:

  • local PIDs remain unchanged and semantically authoritative;
  • external identifiers function solely as additional resolution layers;
  • no dependency arises on any single external party or resolver service.

Participation in external systems does not imply a transfer of governance or an obligation of permanent service provision by third parties.

8. Transferability, governance and continuity

8.1 Administrative documentation and transferability

Plimpton‑322 documents the relationship between persistent identifiers and their representations in a transferable, version‑controlled form. This documentation is designed to be continued independently of the direct operational infrastructure of Plimpton‑322.

To this end, the full administrative and technical basis for PID resolution is placed in an external, publicly accessible and open repository.

8.2 Authoritative External Resolver Repository (AERR)

The external repository is referred to in this policy as the Authoritative External Resolver Repository (AERR). This term is used as a descriptive designation for a governance pattern and is not a formally standardised term within existing persistent identifier frameworks.

The AERR contains at least:

  • the complete source code of the PID resolver(s);
  • the administrative PID mapping files (including pid-links.jsonl);
  • the referenced content in Markdown form;
  • documentation required to reproduce resolution, governance and transfer.

The AERR is publicly accessible at:

https://github.com/GertjanFi/p322-open-pid-resolver

8.3 Stewardship and continuation

The current maintainer of the AERR acts solely as a steward and does not exercise ownership over identifiers, mappings or resolver logic.

The repository is explicitly intended to be:

  • forked;
  • mirrored;
  • transferred to another steward;
  • re‑hosted under a different organisation or jurisdiction,

without affecting the validity, meaning or continuity of existing identifiers.

No coordination with the steward is required for such continuation.

8.4 Governance and traceability

Decisions concerning identifier generation, resolution mechanisms and representation structures are explicitly recorded in version control. Changes are traceable in time, context and rationale.

Third parties are explicitly not prevented from re‑implementing the AERR for the purpose of continuing PID resolution, provided that existing identifiers remain unchanged.

8.5 Continuity principle

Continuity is pursued through transparency, reproducibility and transferability, not through infrastructure preservation, platform dependence or contractual guarantees.

In the event of termination of activities or transfer of responsibilities, the AERR constitutes the primary transfer basis. Making this documentation available to successor parties constitutes a best‑effort obligation, not an obligation of result.

In addition, Plimpton‑322 commits to a best‑effort obligation to identify and approach, where reasonably possible, one or more independent parties willing to:

  • host or mirror the AERR; and/or
  • continue operating the PID resolver; and/or
  • act as a preservation or transfer party for the AERR.

This obligation aims to reduce the risk of single‑party stewardship and to enhance the practical transferability of PID resolution, without providing any guarantee of permanent availability or maintenance by specific parties.

Persistent identifiers are administrative references and not legal guarantees. Assigning an identifier does not imply a commitment to permanent availability, any ownership right for third parties, or a contractual obligation to maintain specific representations.

The PID identifies a digital entity but does not transfer copyright. Resolution to a representation does not constitute a licence grant unless explicitly stated. Reuse of content remains subject to the applicable licence terms.

9.3 Privacy and data protection (GDPR)

PIDs and resolution mechanisms do not contain personal data. Processed metadata is technical and functional in nature. Persistent identifiers are not considered personal data under the GDPR.

9.4 Archival legislation and retention periods

Plimpton‑322 is not an archival institution within the meaning of national archival legislation. PIDs do not constitute retention‑obligated archival objects but may be used as reference mechanisms within archival and heritage contexts operated by third parties.

9.5 FAIR principles

This persistence policy supports the FAIR principles through stable identifiers, open resolution, separation of identification and representation, and explicit governance. FAIR compliance is a design objective and not an absolute guarantee.

10. Liability and limitation

Plimpton‑322 accepts no liability for direct or indirect damage arising from:

  • the unavailability of resolution services;
  • the modification or disappearance of individual representations;
  • the use of identifiers by third parties outside the context of this policy.

11. Final provision

This policy positions persistence as a form of public and professional responsibility, with sustainability pursued through open standards, transparent governance and infrastructure‑independent design, in line with European approaches to digital sustainability.

The current version of this document is authoritative.