Jeni Tennison has provided on her blog a very helpful explanation of URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) and why the simple step of establishing permanent identitifier URIs for public sector data resources will be so helpful in opening those resources up for public consumption.
Identifier URIs are what are really important when it comes to opening up your data. They shift the focus from the documents that you serve to the resources that they are about. By assigning URIs to resources, you enable other people to talk about them. Even if that’s all you do, you have done good.
Identifier URIs don’t identify particular documents or particular views or versions of the information; they identify the idea. They can then be used to direct the user to particular documents or views wherever they may be. So, no matter how much the structure of the website changes over time, the URI will remain a reliable, permanent means of addressing the information.
For a law resource a suitable identifier URI can, typically, be constructed from its citation. Jeni and others have recently been responsible for settling for OPSI a URI scheme for legislation and we can look forward to publication of that scheme very soon. So, for example, ukpga/2008/32 will be the identifier for (UK Public General Act) 2008 c. 32. That simple, reliable, permanent address can then be used by OPSI to direct us to a particular view of the information, for example the web document for the Act.
A small step, but a huge boon “for anyone to re-present, mash-up, analyse and generally do whatever they want to do”.
Now wouldn’t it be good if we could look forward to similar schemes being adopted by the courts? Unfortunately there are a host of problems there, not least that the High Court does not publish its own judgments. And although the systems of standard neutral citation adopted in recent years by the higher courts in all jurisdictions and in some other courts and tribunals provide an obvious basis for identifier URIs, settling sensible schemes for older judgments and in other courts requires a good deal more thought.
Although only the courts can settle URIs for their own resources, we must do what we can to inform and influence that process.
