BASICS  •  The ARK Tutorial introduces Archival Resource Keys in 30 minutes.  •  NAAN form to get started creating ARKs or to update your existing NAAN.  •  See the current and evolving specifications to keep up with the latest.  •  First ARK paper, Towards Electronic Persistence Using ARK Identifiers, 2003.  •  General identifier concepts and conventions, first articulated for ARKs.  •  ARK Identifier Scheme specification for technical details.  •  The Archival Resource Key at wikipedia.  •  ARK logos, no background, PNG and SVG.

The Mazarine Library, Paris, which assigns ARKs under the NAAN 61562 (photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen).

• The Arklet-Frick software package is the Frick Collection’s enhanced version of an Internet Archive tool, which adds bulk operations, suffix passthrough, shoulder rules, extensive metadata, inflections, and more.
• N2T.net resolver: Name-to-Thing, a global resolver for ARKs and other identifiers, currently hosted at the CDL.

Plug-ins and software

A non-exhaustive scan of open source software modules implementing ARK services turned up this set of packages. Some may not be currently maintained. To get your software listed please let us know about it.

• arklet: a Python Django application for minting, binding, and resolving ARKs, created by the Internet Archive
• Arklet-Frick: the Frick Collection’s adaptation of the Internet Archive’s arklet tool, with improved security and bugfixes, as well as bulk operations, suffix passthrough, shoulder rules, extensive metadata, ?info and ?json endpoints, and more
• arknoid: docker application to simplify setting up and managing ARK minters
• Noid: (Nice Opaque Identifiers), original open source Perl software for minting and resolving ARKs on your own
• Pynoid: Python implementation of Noid
• ARKBeizli: a lightweight SQLite application to mint and store ARKs; it comes with a command-line tool and a Python library
• Golang Noid: Golang/Docker implementation of Noid
• Ruby Noid: Ruby implementation of Noid
• PHP Noid: PHP implementation of Noid
• OJS Plug-in: ARK plug-in for the Open Journal System (OJS) of the Public Knowledge Project (similar to its DOI plug-in) that works with versions 3.1.X, 3.2.X, and 3.3.X, and with locales for the Spanish and English (more languages coming). Installation and configuration in English (ARK Plugin Guide for OJS) and Español (Guia del Plugin ARK para OJS).
• ArkAndNoid “Omeka Classic”: module to create and manage ARKs for the Omeka Classic open source web-publishing platform
• ArkAndNoid “Omeka S”: module to create and manage ARKs for the Omeka S open source web-publishing platform
• Archival Resource Key Identifier Name Mapping: module for Drupal which allows your Drupal site to act as a Name Mapping Authority
• EZID UI codebase: Provides a user interface to minting and resolving that enables you to become an ARK service provider (requires significant expertise to set up and run)
• N2T resolver codebase: Using python and SQLite, this code was deployed in 2024 as a lightweight upgrade to the ARK resolver infrastructure. It is complemented by the arks.org codebase.
• legacy N2T code: Picking up where Noid development left off, this code reflects an older architecture and development paradigm. It requires significant expertise to set up and run, and consists of a generic Eggnog minting, binding, and resolution package plus a legacy N2T admin package. Replaced by the resolver code above.

Selected presentations

• Getting Started with ARK Persistent Identifiers (PIDs), 2024-03-31, recommended ARK (Archival Resource Key) tutorial for beginners. video (30 mins)
• Brief Introduction to ARKs for GLAMs, 2023-08-03. slides (15 mins)
• ARK Training, 2023-06-06, 3-hour tutorial from 2023 IIIF Annual Conference. slides
• ARK Alliance Update and Three Use Cases, 2023-01-18, presentation. video (28 mins)
  • Introduction
  • ARKs for physical samples
  • ARKs for biomedical AI
  • ARKs for vocabulary terms
• IIIF Community Call: Intersection of IIIF and ARKs, 2023-01-25, meeting. video (58 mins)
• Discoverability and future developments in the Louvre Museum’s collections portal, 2022-12-13, Anne-Laure Huet and Benoît Deshayes, speaking at the French National Institute for Art History (INHA). video (19 mins, in French 🇫🇷)
• The ARK Alliance: 20 years, 850 institutions, 8.2 billion persistent identifiers, 2021-10-22, presentation (English). slides
• [obsolete] ARKetype – Ask Me Anything, 2021-01-27, presentation (English) plus interactive questions and answers (English, French, German). video (75 mins); based on [obsolete] INCIPIT: An ARK Allocation Service in Switzerland, 2020-11-16, Julien Raemy. video (12 mins).
• ARKs in the Open: 3.2 billion Persistent Identifiers, 2020-04-23, John Kunze, Bess Missell, Karen Hanson, Tom Creighton. abstract | video (62 mins) | slides
• Integrating ArchivesSpace and ARKs, 2020-03-04, John Kunze, Seth Shaw, Christine di Bella. abstract | video (60 mins) | slides
• ARKs in the Open: community owned identifier infrastructure, 2020-01-24, John Kunze. slides
• ARK Identifier Summit, National Library of France, 2018-03-21, Sébastien Peyrard, John Kunze, Bertrand Caron, Nicolas Thouvenin, Roxana Maurer-Popistașu, Bruno Revellin, Delphine Jamet, Franck Bernardet, Adrien di Mascio, Guillaume Lory, Alexis Moisdon, Emmanuelle Bermès. abstract | collected videos (5 hours, in French 🇫🇷)
• Keynote address at ARK Identifier Summit, 2018-03-21, John Kunze. video link (45 mins, in French 🇫🇷) | English transcription
• Using Archival Resource Keys (ARKs) for Persistent Identification, 2008-06-05, Mark Phillips. slides