There are several ways an integration can keep track of researchers and their activities. What you use will depend on your use case and membership level.
Webhooks
Webhooks enable an integration to ‘watch’ ORCID records and be notified if they are modified. This feature is only available to ORCID premium members.
See our API tutorial on Webhooks for more details.
Lambda file
The Lambda file contains a list of all records together with the date they were last updated. Using this file you can identify the records you need to read, read them from the API and update your system. This feature is only available to ORCID members.
Members should contact their Engagement Lead for more details.
Public Data Sync
The public data sync contains a snapshot of all public data in the ORCID Registry associated with any ORCID record that was created or claimed by an individual. Using these files alongside the public data file, ORCID premium members can use the data within their own systems.
For more information, please see our tech tutorial or contact your Engagement Lead.
Search
You can use our search API to find all records that have been modified since a given date. You can then read the records using the API and update your system. Search is freely available.
See the Search API tutorial for more details.
Public data file
For those that only need periodic updates, the public data file provides an annual snapshot of the registry contents. This can be read and updates done in bulk once per year.
See the working with bulk data for more details.