Towards a European global resolver service of persident identifiers

In this paper we present the ltalian initiative that involves relevant research institutions and national libraries, aimed at implementing an NBN Persistent ldentifiers (PI) infrastructure based on a novel hardware/software architecture. This solution can be the base infrastructure towards the implementation of the European Global Resolver Service of Pl. The proposal is about a distributed and hierarchical approach far the management of an NBN namespace and illustrates assignment policies and identifier resolution strategies based on request forwarding mechanisms. Starting from the core motivations far the assignment of "persistent identifiers" to digitai objects, this paper outlines a state of art in Pl technologies, standards and initìatives, and illustrates other NBN implementations. The structure and goals of our initiative are described as well as the features already implemented in our system and the results of our testing activities. The paper ends with a proposal far the extension of this approach to the EU scenario.