ORCID: Author Identifiers for Librarians

Generating accurate publication lists by researchers can be challenging when faced with scholars who have common names or who have published under name variations. This article describes ORCID and the goal of generating author identifiers for scholars to connect their research outputs. Included are the reasons for having author identifiers as well as the types of information within individual profiles. This article includes information on how academic libraries are playing a role with ORCID initiatives as well as describing how publishers, institutions, and funders are employing ORCID in their workflows. Highlighted is material on academic institutions in Pennsylvania using ORCID. The purpose of the article is to provide an overview of ORCID and its uses to inform librarians about this important initiative