What are ARKs?
ARKs (Archival Resource Keys) are high-functioning identifiers that lead you to things and to descriptions of those things.
For example, this ARK gets you a thing: https://n2t.net/ark:/67531/metadc107835/
You can add a '?' to get a description: https://n2t.net/ark:/67531/metadc107835/?
What's an identifier?
On the internet, an identifier is a URL or part of a URL. For example, this core ARK identifier,
is carried below inside two different URLs (Uniform Resource Locators, or web addresses):
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8449691v/f29
https://n2t.net/ark:/12148/btv1b8449691v/f29
ARKs are especially good at being persistent identifiers.
What's a persistent identifier?
The average lifetime of a URL has been said to be 44 days. The lifetime the period after which you can expect a typical published URL to give you the well-known and dreaded 404 Not Found error. Irritating as that can be, it's a disaster for libraries, archives, museums, and other memory organizations. They want persistent identifiers, that should continue to work far into the future.
How do ARKs differ from DOIs, Handles, PURLs, URNs, and UUIDs?
Those are all major kinds of persistent identifier that appeared between 199? and 2001.
