Libraries do something they call "name authority control". For most people in IT, this would be called "assigning unique identifiers to names." Identifying authors is considered one of the essential aspects of library cataloging, and it isn't done in any other bibliographic environment, as far as I know.
E. Benazera, and E. Chanthery. Procedings of the 19th International Workshop on Principles of Diagnosis (DX'08), page 15-22. Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia, (September 2008)
N. Beetz, M. Harrison, M. Brede, X. Zong, M. Urbanski, A. Sietmann, J. Kaufling, M. Barrot, M. Seeliger, M. Vieira-Coelho and 15 other author(s). J Clin Invest, 119 (12):
3597-3612(December 2009)Beetz, Nadine Harrison, Michael D Brede, Marc Zong, Xiangang Urbanski,
Michal J Sietmann, Anika Kaufling, Jennifer Barrot, Michel Seeliger,
Mathias W Vieira-Coelho, Maria Augusta Hamet, Pavel Gaudet, Daniel
Seda, Ondrej Tremblay, Johanne Kotchen, Theodore A Kaldunski, Mary
Nusing, Rolf Szabo, Bela Jacob, Howard J Cowley, Allen W Jr Biel,
Martin Stoll, Monika Lohse, Martin J Broeckel, Ulrich Hein, Lutz
HL082798/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States In Vitro Research Support,
N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't United States
The Journal of clinical investigation J Clin Invest. 2009 Dec;119(12):3597-3612..