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* Uniform Resource Names (URNs) are intended to serve as persistent, location-independent, [[URI|resource identifiers]].
== Definition ==
 
* Uniform Resource Names (URNs) are intended to serve as persistent, location-independent, universal [[URI|resource identifiers]] (URIs).


* URNs have been formalized in the [http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2141.txt RFC 2141] and are also addressed in the  [http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3986.txt RFC 3986 URI Syntax] specification.
* URNs have been formalized in the [http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2141.txt RFC 2141] and are also addressed in the  [http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3986.txt RFC 3986 URI Syntax] specification.


Today, most popular URNs are probably DOIs
== Examples ==
 
Today, most popular URNs are probably [[DOI]]s (stable URIs used by publishers of scientific articles).
 
Here are a few URN examples (frankly, I don't understand why the "urn" is needed here - [[User:Daniel K. Schneider|Daniel K. Schneider]]):
 
  urn:issn:1082-9873
  urn:issn:1082-9873
  urn:doi:10.1000/1
  urn:doi:10.1000/1
urn:oasis:names:specification:docbook:dtd:xml:4.1.2
== URNs vs. URLs ==
As everybody knows, URLs change all the time. Web pages move and CMS/Databases are reorganized. Some of the information won't be dead but it will be moved to other places. If information is important (e.g. identification of a scientific article, URN resolvers may be able to find it again).
Example of a URI in both URL and URI form (from RFC 3986):
http://example.com:8042/over/there?name=ferret#nose
      \_/  \______________/\_________/ \_________/ \__/
      |          |            |            |        |
    scheme    authority      path        query  fragment
      |  _____________________|__
      / \ /                        \
      urn:example:animal:ferret:nose


== Links ==
== Links ==
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; Introductory articles
; Introductory articles
* Dan Connolly (2005). Untangle URIs, URLs, and URNs, Naming and the problem of persistence, IBM developerWorks article,  [http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-urlni.html HTML]
* Dan Connolly (2005). Untangle URIs, URLs, and URNs, Naming and the problem of persistence, IBM developerWorks article,  [http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-urlni.html HTML]
[[Category: standards]]
[[Category:Networking technologies]][[Category:web standards]]

Latest revision as of 09:48, 31 July 2009

Draft

Definition

  • Uniform Resource Names (URNs) are intended to serve as persistent, location-independent, universal resource identifiers (URIs).

Examples

Today, most popular URNs are probably DOIs (stable URIs used by publishers of scientific articles).

Here are a few URN examples (frankly, I don't understand why the "urn" is needed here - Daniel K. Schneider):

urn:issn:1082-9873
urn:doi:10.1000/1
urn:oasis:names:specification:docbook:dtd:xml:4.1.2

URNs vs. URLs

As everybody knows, URLs change all the time. Web pages move and CMS/Databases are reorganized. Some of the information won't be dead but it will be moved to other places. If information is important (e.g. identification of a scientific article, URN resolvers may be able to find it again).

Example of a URI in both URL and URI form (from RFC 3986):

http://example.com:8042/over/there?name=ferret#nose
     \_/   \______________/\_________/ \_________/ \__/
      |           |            |            |        |
   scheme     authority       path        query   fragment
      |   _____________________|__
     / \ /                        \
     urn:example:animal:ferret:nose

Links

References

Standards
Related standards
Introductory articles
  • Dan Connolly (2005). Untangle URIs, URLs, and URNs, Naming and the problem of persistence, IBM developerWorks article, HTML