Registreid

Registreid is a term used in Estonian to denote registers or registry entries, and, depending on context, the identifiers assigned to items within those registries. The word can refer to the complete set of records held in a registry as well as to individual records or their unique identifiers. In information management, registreid are structured data units that typically include fields such as an identifier, a descriptive name, a date or validity period, status, and metadata about provenance or relationships to other records. The identifiers themselves are intended to be unique and, where possible, persistent, supporting data integration and cross-registry linking.

Registreid are central to government and organizational data systems. Examples include population registers, vehicle registers, land and property registries, and business or professional registers. In libraries and archives, cataloging registries and authority records function as forms of registreid, enabling disambiguation and reliable retrieval. In computing, the concept aligns with registry entries in databases or with software registries that store component identifiers and metadata.

Challenges in managing registreid include ensuring data quality and consistency across registries, protecting privacy and sensitive information, and enabling interoperability through common identifiers and standards. Persistent identifiers such as UUIDs, DOIs, or domain-specific IDs are often used to maintain stable links as datasets evolve.

These concepts relate to broader topics such as registries, databases, data governance and the use of persistent identifiers.