The British Library, HighWire Press, Ringgold Inc., Swets Information Services B.V. and a group of HighWire-affiliated publishers have announced the launch of an initiative that will see these parties joining forces in 2006 to explore the creation, prototype Implementation, and value of a common institutional identifier that can be used throughout the industry, from purchaser to end user.

According to Econtent Magazine, the participants in this pilot project share the belief that integration and standardization are of importance to the flow of information. The project will set up real-use case scenarios to discover whether or not the creation of such a standard identifier for institutions will be beneficial to all parties involved and test implementation strategies. The pilot will be limited to the UK customers of all the participants.

The British Library will be working with the pilot to look at the implications of providing access to electronic archives. The role of HighWire Press is as a technical advisor per the request of the HighWire-hosted publishers involved in the project. Ringgold have been working with publishers to create a database of institutions and their metadata, which will form a basis of the pilot. Swets' role will be to oversee how a standard identifier will affect the workflow between the publishers and consumers of information. Regular reports and findings discovered throughout the project will be published online, along with comments from the participants involved in the project.