In research communication,
unambiguous referencing of documents is essential.
Referencing a baseprint using a location on the world wide web is not sufficient,
as multiple websites can present the same baseprint and there is no authoritative source.
Instead of a website location,
baseprints are referenced with an intrinsic identifier,
such as a Software Heritage ID (SWHID).
The identity of a baseprint is determined by its exact digital encoding,
which is a sequence of bytes
when it is a single file.
When the baseprint is more than a single file, other digital encodings,
such as a *git tree*, are possible.
A SWHID identifies a baseprint using a cryptographic hash of its digital encoding.
