ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Persistent identifier

Okay kiddo, imagine you have a very special toy. You love this toy so much, and you want to make sure you never lose it. So, you give it a special name, like "Buddy". Now, every time you want to play with Buddy, you know exactly where it is and how to find it because you remember its name.

Similarly, scientists, researchers, and other people who work with data have very special and important pieces of information that they don't want to lose or forget. These could be things like scientific papers, research data or even software. To keep track of them, they give each piece of data a special name or number that never changes, no matter where it goes or who uses it. This special name or number is called a persistent identifier.

Now let's say your toy "Buddy" gets old and worn out. You might have to replace it with a new toy, but you still want to remember all the memories you had with Buddy. With a persistent identifier, even if the data changes, such as it gets updated with new information or is moved to a different location, its special name or number will remain the same, making it easy to find no matter what.

So, in summary, a persistent identifier is like a special name or number that is given to important data to help people remember and find it easily, even if it changes over time.