DOI® is a unique identifier for digital content, assigned by external registrars and maintained by the International DOI® Foundation. It provides persistent identification and can be used for various types of content, with flexibility in structure. The system allows resolution to provide metadata about the content.
A digital object identifier (DOI®) is a method of uniquely identifying documents and other types of content in digital form. In the system, content is assigned an immutable identifier called a DOI® name. This name can be assigned to different types of content, such as electronic documents, graphics, and software, and can be used in conjunction with other identifiers. Consequently, DOI® names can also be “resolved” to provide additional information. The International DOI® Foundation (IDF) maintains the system and grants other organizations the right to assign names.
When the IDF was formed in 1998, it was clear that existing identifiers could not adequately bridge the gap between electronic and paper sources. Documents with similar titles, for example, may be confused if only the name is referred to, and an item’s Uniform Resource Locator (URL) becomes useless if the item is moved or deleted. Unique numbering schemes, such as the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), could be used, but they did not provide an easy way to locate content online. The digital object identification system was conceived as a way to address some of these problems and add new capabilities powered by digital technology.
At the heart of the digital object identification system is a string of characters, or a string of letters and numbers, called a DOI® name. Each piece of content that uses the system is assigned a unique DOI® name. These names are designed to be persistent; while a title or position on the web may change, its DOI® name will remain the same. This is especially important in academic fields; for this reason, some style guide authors such as the American Psychological Association (APA) now recommend using DOI® names in bibliographies and citations.
A variety of different content, from software to graphics within a text article, can use the digital object identification system. However, the IDF does not define the necessary size or scope of an object to receive a DOI® name. An academic journal, for example, might have a name assigned to each issue, each article within an issue, or even something specific like a table of data within an article. The IDF also allows great flexibility in the structure of the DOI® names themselves, so an existing identifier can be used. Publishers of scientific journals, for example, can use an identifier called a Publisher Item Identifier (PII) when creating a DOI® name, thus enabling compatibility between the two systems.
Unlike identifiers found in other cataloging systems, however, the DOI® system can provide additional information via the Internet. In a process known as resolution, a DOI® name is submitted to an online service which responds with metadata about the content. This metadata can include the name, the author, the publication date, and even a location on the web where the content can be found. The metadata may change if the content is updated, but the DOI® itself should remain the same.
Most DOI® names are not issued directly by the IDF but by external registrars who assign names to various clients. The agencies pay operating fees to the IDF, which oversees and maintains the digital object identification system. The IDF has also been successful in getting the DOI® system approved as an official standard by various standards organizations around the world.
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