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RSM ID

The identity system, not another identifier

The universal identity infrastructure of RSM, governed by RSM Core.

RSM ID Learning Center2 min read

RSM ID is the name of a whole system: the rules and services that give a resource a permanent identifier, register names for it, control who may issue those identifiers, keep an authoritative record of each identity, and resolve identifiers into permitted information. It is governed by RSM Core and defined by Document 08, with Document 09 describing a proposed reference implementation.

Inside RSM ID, the permanent identifier is the RID. RRNs and RSNs are registered names. The RSM Identity Record preserves issuance, naming, lifecycle, and authority information, and resolution connects all of it to the representations a Semantic Space is willing to share. The system governs identity — not the meaning, content, ownership, or behaviour of the resources it identifies.

Example

A Wellzai research paper, a Musewoods fieldnote, and the RSM concept of Formation each receive an RID, each have a registered RRN, and each live in a Semantic Space that has its own RID and RSN. A Wellzai document can then refer to the RSM concept by RID, and any conforming resolver can tell a reader which space is authoritative for it — without either space copying the other's knowledge.

A common misconception

“An RSM ID is the code printed on a resource.” That code is an RID. Saying “an RSM ID” for a single identifier collapses the system into one of its parts and hides everything that makes the identifier trustworthy: registration, delegated authority, lifecycle, and verified resolution. The identifier alone proves nothing; the system around it is what gives it meaning.

The RID is the permanent identifier; the RRN and RSN are registered names; the Identity Registry preserves identities and authority; the resolver connects identifiers to permitted representations. The architecture Viewgraph shows them together.

In the specification

System boundary and composition: Document 08 §2.0. Design principles: §1.4. Ownership of the standard by RSM Core: §16.1.