Images Level: Digital Object ID

Definition:  Image identifier generated automatically by DS-Access as each image record is created; the DigitalObjectID (or any other in-house number hand-entered into the field) is necessarily unique to that single copy of DS-Access.

Comment:  DigitalObjectID is set to receive its information automatically from the database itself (from Vers. 9.0.0, as a 7-digit number, padded with zeros to the left, but previously as a 4-digit number beginning at 1000, or even as a straight number beginning at 1). The DigitalObjectID will always be unique to an image; it does not need to be sequential (interruptions to a sequence would occur, for example, if image records were deleted or if additional images were chosen for a manuscript in a second campaign of photography). It may happen that the same DigitalObjectID is repeated in different copies of DS-Access; in data aggregation, however, the DigitalObjectID is paired with the correct Institution and Repository code, rendering the combination of codes and ID unique to the entire DS system.

DigitalObjectID is one of the two fields that may be used to identify an image (the other is CaptureID). Both fields allow the inputter/cataloguer to hand-enter information if an institution prefers an in-house image file-naming system, but only DigitalObjectID programmatically forbids duplication and is therefore safer for use as a unique identifier of an image.

If a DS partner prefers to input its own in-house unique identifier for images, using the field for DigitalObjectID, and if Columbia University will host that partner's images, special restrictions on the format of DigitalObjectID must be followed. Specifically, DigitalObjectID must consist exclusively of ASCII characters and be limited to numbers, letters A-Z or a-z, and the hyphen character (-). The case (upper or lower) of DigitalObjectID characters will not be preserved in Columbia URLs. The following characters are explicitly forbidden:

Please read about incorporating the DigitalObjectID into the image URL in the User Guide to the Database, in its sections 3.5.1.2, "Digital Object ID vs. Image ID" and 5.4.3.1, "Develop URL Pattern."

Example:

• [autogenerated:]  0003491
• [hand-entered:]  augustinepg3of8s

Properties:  Data type: text. Field size: 50 characters.

Required?:  Yes but since the field auto-populates, the inputter/cataloguer doesn't have to perform any action to meet the requirement (assuming the DS partner intends to retain the auto-generated form).