From the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN):
The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) are investigating the feasibility of a national consortial approach to Datacite, the global non-profit organization that provides persistent identifiers (DOIs) for research data and other research outputs.
DOIs are persistent identifiers for digital objects and are widely used for identifying published content, datasets, and other scholarly research outputs. There are over 400,000 DOIs minted in Canada with Datacite and over 57,000 DOIs in Canada were minted in 2018. Up to now, Canadian institutions minting DOIs through Datacite have been supported by the National Research Council Canada as the national organization. This agreement ends as of January 1, 2020.
A collaborative approach to a Canadian Datacite consortium would allow the 45 Canadian institutions and repositories minting DOIs through Datacite to split the cost of the Datacite membership fee. In addition, Canadian institutions that are minting fewer than 100 DOIs per year will be able to participate in the national consortium at no charge. Institutions with more than 100 DOIs per year would pay a fee per repository, and a tiered fee based on the number of DOIs minted per year. A national approach also leverages the community support and leadership in Canada and allows members to engage in the governance and future developments of Datacite through a coordinated national voice.
CRKN and CARL, through the services of Portage, are exploring a model where CRKN offers licensing and billing support and Portage leverages the existing capacity of its Network of Experts to provide community support. This joint initiative ensures that the Canadian institutions who have integrated Datacite as part of their infrastructure continue to be supported with a sustainable model.
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