Uniform resource name (URN, English: uniform name for resources) is uniform resource Identifier (URI) with the pattern urn, which as a durable, localindependent designator for resources serves.

Structure

URNs are URIs with the pattern urn. The schemen specific part of the URIs is further in name area (NIDs, namespace IDentifiers) subdivided:

urn: <NID>: <NID specific Teil>

Some name areas are arranged into further undername areas. The assignment of designators in a name area or a part of a name area can be delegated here.

A URN can here - dependent on the name area - either a completely new designator or already by other mechanisms assigned designators like ISBN or ISSN to be.

A complete list of the defined name areas is under http://www.iana.org/assignments/urn-namespaces (English).

Use

Purpose of URNs is it to identify resources (and only this) over their entire life span. Thereby several URNs can be assigned to resources.

Since URNs (contrary to URLs) are independent of the place or other characteristics of resources, a URN can be maintained, even if the physical place of resources changes. Turned around a new URN must be assigned to another resources, even if this is put down at the same place.

Furthermore it is conceivable that several logical resources and thus also several URNs are assigned to physical resources. So the expenditure 01/2004 of a magazine would know (physical resources) both under the URN for the "“current expenditure"” and for the "“special expenditure 01/2004"” (to be derived from a SICI can) to be available.

Turned around a URN can be also a collective term for several resources, e.g. a URN (to be derived from a ISSN could) could designate all expenditures of a magazine.

Dissolution

URNs cannot be called directly. Rather they must be translated only into URLs or other URIs. These must not necessarily directly looked for resources designate, but can also to Metainformationen or sources of supply lead.

Like that it would be for example conceivable that a user does not arrive to ISBN with the call on-line bookshop preferential by a derived URN at (on-line possibly not available) the full text of the book, but hilfsweise at the catalog side its (in the Browser adjusted).

See also

PURL, DOI, OCLC, ISBN, collecting main: URN

Related links

• http://nbn-resolving.de - service of the German library for dissolving URN and DOI
• RFC 2141 - URN syntax
• RFC 3044 - Using The ISSN (international Serial standard NUMBER) as URN (uniform resource Names) within at ISSN URN namespace
• RFC 3187 - Using internationally standard Book Numbers as uniform resource Names
• http://www.persistent-identifier.de/ urn: nbn (assignment by national libraries)

Articles in category "Uniformly resource name"

We found here 9 articles.

Related Websites

We found here 5 related websites.

• Citations: RFC 1738: Uniform Resource Locators - Berners-Lee ...
  Names: Web content names are drawn from an infinite space of globally unique Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) which are structured as a fully qualified ...


• GUIDs Unique Identifiers
  A Uniform Resource Name addresses the requirements of global uniqueness, ... The outstanding issue presented by the Uniform Resource Name scheme is the ...


• Network Working Group J. Goodwin Internet-Draft ISO Expires ...
  Abstract This document describes a Uniform Resource Name Namespace Identification (URN NID) for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ...


• Papers: Uniform Resource Identifiers: overview of developments
  The URI working group has been discussing the topic of Uniform Resource Names (URNs) for over three years. As of today there is no consensus on how a URN ...


• URI-WG Historical Documents
  The handle system provides all the capabilities listed in RFC 1737, K. Sollins, L. Masinter, "Functional Requirements for Uniform Resource Names", ...