Ethan, As Mark mentioned we have implemented the ARK inflections of ? and ?? with our systems. I remember the single ? being a bit of a problem to implement in our system stack (Apache/mod_python/Django) and from what I can tell isn't possible with (Apache/mod_wsgi/Django) at all. The ?? inflection wasn't really a problem for us on either of the systems. From conversations I've had with implementors of ARK, the issues around supporting the ? and ?? inflections don't seem to be related to the frameworks issues as other issues like commitment to identifiers, the fact that ARKs are being used in a redirection based system like Handles, or the challenges of accessing the item metadata for items elsewhere in their system. I think having a standard set of request parameters or other url conventions could be beneficial to the implementation of these features by others. Mark ________________________________________ From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, December 6, 2014 8:23 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Functional Archival Resource Keys This brief exchange on Twitter seems relevant: https://twitter.com/abrennr/status/296948733147508737 On Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 12:50 PM, Mark A. Matienzo <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Ethan, > > I'm hoping Mark Phillips or one of his colleagues from UNT will respond, > but they have implemented ARK inflections. For example, compare: > > http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5828/ > http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5828/? > http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5828/?? > > In particular, the challenges posed by inflections are described in this > DC2014 paper [0] by Sébastien Peyrard and Jean-Philippe Tramoni from the > BNF and John A. Kunze from CDL. > > [0] http://dcpapers.dublincore.org/pubs/article/view/3704/1927 > > Cheers, > Mark > > > -- > Mark A. Matienzo <[log in to unmask]> > Director of Technology, Digital Public Library of America > > On Fri, Dec 5, 2014 at 2:36 PM, Ethan Gruber <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > I was recently reading the wikipedia article for Archival Resource Keys > > (ARKs, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archival_Resource_Key), and there > was > > a > > bit of functionality that a resource is supposed to deliver that we don't > > in our system, nor do any other systems that I've seen that implement ARK > > URIs. > > > > From the article: > > > > "An ARK contains the label *ark:* after the URL's hostname, which sets > the > > expectation that, when submitted to a web browser, the URL terminated by > > '?' returns a brief metadata record, and the URL terminated by '??' > returns > > metadata that includes a commitment statement from the current service > > provider." > > > > Looking at the official documentation ( > > https://confluence.ucop.edu/display/Curation/ARK), they provided an > > example > > of http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf5p30086k? which is supposed to > return > > something called an Electronic Resource Citation, but it doesn't work. > > Probably because, and correct me if I'm wrong, using question marks in a > > URL in this way doesn't really work in HTTP. > > > > So, has anyone successfully implemented this? Is it even worth it? I'm > not > > sure I can even implement this in my own architecture. > > > > Maybe it would be better to recommend a standard set of request > parameters > > that actually work in REST? > > > > Ethan > > > -- Tod Robbins Digital Asset Manager, MLIS todrobbins.com | @todrobbins <http://www.twitter.com/#!/todrobbins>