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Glossary

block
A sequence of bytes identified by a hash and subsequently a CID. The hash-based identification makes a block effectively immutable. Can be exchanged using various protocols. Can be easily cached, because due to the immutability a block can never be cached in an outdated version.
CID
content identifier: a label identifying content (in particular, an IPLD block). See also: IPFS CIDs
Reference to (usually) a CID, implemented using the Domain Name System (DNS). Commonly used as updatable name for content addressed data. See also DNSLink Standard
DOI
A DOI is an identifier of a digital object. It doesn’t rely on content verification (as CIDs do), but instead creates a contractual framework which encourages DOI providers to properly take care of the referenced objects. It’s commonly required for scientific publication. See doi.org for general information and DataCite Docs for information about DOIs for scientific datasets.
Good Scientific Practice
Overarching rules which apply to research work. See Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (2025)
IPLD
InterPlanetary Linked Data. Flexible data model and encoding schemes for content addressed storage. See also: IPLD docs
landing page
A website intended as an overview for a given entity. Often: a dataset landing page: a page showing a brief overview of a dataset (e.g. ORCESTRA: BEACH dropsonde Level 4). See also DataCite on DOI landing pages
Pin
To keep (and if required fetch) data identified by CID. In many cases pinning is done recursively (i.e. data referenced by the pinned CID is pinned as well).
References
  1. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. (2025). Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice. Code of Conduct. 10.5281/ZENODO.14281892