From Text to Trust: Using PIDs in Open Government Data

This session explores how persistent identifiers (PIDs) can improve the quality, interoperability, and long-term usability of open government data in Germany. It focuses on a collaboration between the German National Library (DNB) and GovData, the national open data portal, to promote the use of the Integrated Authority File (Gemeinsame Normdatei, GND) in public sector metadata. Open government data often relies on inconsistent free-text metadata, such as publisher and organization names. Variations in spelling, abbreviations, and naming conventions can make datasets harder to find and reuse. Stable identifiers, such as GND URIs, offer a way to connect these variations to structured, machine-readable authority data. The session outlines the collaboration’s conceptual and technical approach, including how public sector entities might be mapped to existing authority records and how missing or incomplete identifiers can be addressed. It also considers how PID-based workflows could fit into existing data infrastructures and publication processes. Rather than presenting a fully implemented solution, the session reflects on the work undertaken so far and the challenges that arose. The collaboration brought together stakeholders from the library and government sectors, whose differing terminology, data practices, and professional perspectives required alignment and coordination. This use case illustrates the potential for reusing established authority data beyond its original domain and for cross-sector cooperation to support more consistent metadata. Participants will learn about the limitations of free-text metadata and the potential benefits of PID-based approaches. The session is relevant to professionals working with open data, metadata management, digital libraries, and the public sector.