How to Participate

There are no participation instructions for the Access Management Service (AMS) -- participation is automatic when digital objects are delivered from HUL infrastructure systems. The remainder of this page is dedicated to NRS participation instructions.

Name Resolution Services (NRS) are available to any Harvard-affiliated organization. Registering to use NRS involves identifying an appropriate authority path, determining format of the persistent identifier you will use, and selecting a method to assign persistent identifiers. Any NRS-related registration will be handled by your local NRS administrator.

Below is summary of the steps necessary to prepare for using NRS. Questions about NRS participation should be directed to your local administrator or to the NRS support team in OIS.

1. Review contents of the NRS User Guide. Use the NRS preparation checklist in the User Guide (section 1.3) to assist with NRS preparations.
2. Identify your local NRS administrator.
   Consult the NRS status page to view a list of authority paths and the local administrator for each path. If a path has no local administrator listed, contact the NRS support team.
3. Work with your local administrator to:
   • Select an appropriate authority path (or have one created). See Finding an Authority Path (NRS User Guide section 7) for more information.
   • Determine the resource name format you will use. See Resource name format (NRS User Guide section 4.4) for more information.
   • Register staff who need access to the NRS Web Admin interface (to create or update persistent identifiers).
4. Select a method for assigning persistent IDs. In most cases, PIDs are assigned to objects at DRS batch deposit or by a staff member authorized to use the NRS Web Admin interface. See Creating Persistent Identifiers (NRS User Guide section 4) for more information.
5. Assign persistent IDs as needed.
6. Use NRS Web Admin to update the URL associated with a persistent ID if the resource’s URL changes. (If the resource is stored and delivered using HUL systems, this type of maintenance will be performed by OIS.)