Handles

Links

• The Handle System (http://www.handle.net/) - Main site run by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives

What is a Handle?

The Handle System is a comprehensive system for assigning, managing, and resolving persistent identifiers, known as "handles," for digital objects and other resources on the Internet. Handles can be used as Uniform Resource Names (URNs).

The Handle System, written in Java and available for download at no cost for research or experimental use, includes an open set of protocols, a namespace, and an implementation of the protocols. The protocols enable a distributed computer system to store handles of digital resources and resolve those handles into the information necessary to locate and access the resources. This associated information can be changed as needed to reflect the current state of the identified resource without changing the handle, allowing the name of the item to persist over changes of location and other state information. Each handle may have it own administrator(s), and administration can be done in a distributed environment. The name-to-value bindings may also be secured, allowing handles to be used in trust management applications.

Handles are used in the implementation of DOIs.

Discussion

Projects using Handles

• ''Add projects here''

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