Building Better DOI Metadata: Lessons from the PID Network Germany Pilot at TU Dortmund

The quality and interoperability of metadata are essential for connecting research outputs, people, organizations, and infrastructures across the scholarly record. As a project partner in the PID Network Germany project, DataCite addresses this need by bringing together stakeholders from research and cultural heritage sectors to strengthen the adoption, standardization, and practical implementation of persistent identifier (PID) systems in Germany. As part of this work, pilot implementations with LMU Munich and Technical University Dortmund explore how community-informed metadata guidance can be translated into concrete improvements in local repository and DOI workflows. These experiences closely align with DataCite’s vision of metadata as a shared global asset that is open, connected, reusable, and maintained through community collaboration. This interview explores how the pilot of TU Dortmund contributes to DataCite’s overall goal of improving metadata. In this interview, Kathrin Höhner from TU Dortmund University Library responds to our questions about the pilot, the resulting improvements to DSpace, and the lessons learned during implementation.