Mediumid

Mediumid is a proposed digital identifier system designed to provide globally unique, persistent IDs for media items such as videos, audio recordings, images, and multimedia works. The aim is to enable reliable cross-platform references, simplify metadata portability, and support aggregated search, citation, and rights management across libraries, archives, streaming services, and content repositories.

A Mediumid typically consists of a registry prefix, an issuer or registrant segment, a resource type, a unique item number, and optional qualifiers for versioning or rights. For example, a hypothetical Mediumid might appear as mid:reg123:video:00098765:v2. The exact syntax and governance are still under discussion among standardization efforts, and multiple registries may operate under shared principles.

Background and status: The concept grew from collaboration among libraries, archives, and media platforms seeking improved citation, provenance, and long‑term access to digital media. As of 2024, pilot implementations exist in several experimental projects, but broad adoption has not yet occurred. Interoperability with existing schemes such as DOIs, ISAN, and UUID-based identifiers remains a central focus of ongoing work.

Impact and challenges: Mediumid could support persistent citations, rights tracking, and programmatic metadata enrichment across diverse systems. Challenges include establishing robust governance, ensuring registry scalability, addressing privacy and rights concerns, and maintaining backward compatibility with current cataloging practices. If widely adopted, Mediumid could serve as a unifying layer for media‑item identification in a fragmented digital ecosystem.