DOI Metadata > DOI Data Model > DOI Kernel Metadata > Basic Information Contained in the DOI Kernel

The DOI Kernel Metadata Declaration should answer basic questions such as:

•What is the DOI name assigned to the referent?

•Is the referent commonly referenced with another identifier?

•What is the referent usually called?

•What is the primary type of the referent (examples: creation, party, event)?

•What is the structural type of the referent (for example, for a creation: physical, digital, performance, abstraction)?

It answers other questions about the referent depending on the primary type of the referent, and the following administrative questions:

•Which Registration Agency issued this DOI name?

•When was the declaration issued?

•Which Kernel version is it?

The data elements of the Kernel are specified by the DOI Kernel Schema (see DOI Kernel Schema for more information).

NOTE Registration Agencies can add new values to open lists of allowed values of the DOI Kernel: see Data Model Extension and Maintenance.