Exploring Identifier Services for Large, Distributed Biological Datasets

Managing data in today’s life sciences research climate is challenging. Biological datasets are big, have multiple contributors, contain components at different stages of completion, and are stored across different platforms. Globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) can support data management in this environment, but come with their own set of challenges: data objects often have multiple identifiers (local or GUIDs), identifiers must be managed both pre- and post-publication, and GUIDs for data need to link to identifiers and metadata for other objects such as specimens, projects, and publications. Existing data repositories are not equipped to address these challenges, and as a result data often ends up siloed after publication. True interoperability across bioinformatics platforms and resources requires data that is discoverable, trustworthy, interpretable, and accessible, no matter where they are located and what stage of completion they are in. Identifier Services (IDS) is an NSF EAGER (Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research) project that is exploring technical solutions to managing distributed data and metadata using available services and tools such as the Agave API. IDS involves a proof-of-concept web portal and micro-services for scientists to register their data, organize and describe them with metadata, and run checks for identity and integrity. Because such services requires intensive computational power, they are run remotely on national supercomputers. Users can schedule tasks for both evolving and completed datasets and information about the results is available through the project interface. IDS also records the relations among data components, including those stored across repositories and storage platforms and in different stages of completion. These relations provide a representation of the dataset, based on a simple generic data model that can be adjusted to represent different types of research. Together, the microservices provided by IDS trace data provenance and establishing authenticity over time, while the web portal and its services are a conduit for learning how scientists understand and use identifiers. This presentation will describe the role of identifiers in interoperability and federations, how the IDS supports that role, and future plans for IDS.