Re: [Handle-info] Handle as PID :Was: Please help me understand the value of Handle

[Larry Lannom <llannom@cnri.reston.va.us>]

Hi,

Yes, the handle system is intended as a persistent identifier  
infrastructure and in your example the identifier is

xxx/objid-generated_in_some_way

and it can map to multiple attributes of the object identified by xxx/ 
objid-generated_in_some_way. The main job of the global handle root  
is to point whatever handle server(s) is currently responsible for  
xxx, and that server or set of servers can change over time. So a  
million handles of the form xxx/1-1M can all be moved to another  
handle server(s) by changing one entry in the root system.

Resolving handles is the handle system's one big trick - give it a  
handle and it returns typed attributes. This is hidden from even many  
technical folks by the fact that most use is through web-to-handle  
proxy servers that most easily deal with URLs, but the type/value  
pairs can be anything, not just URLs. As I mentioned in a previous  
post, this capability is not widely used at the moment, but is  
readily available.

Larry

On Mar 26, 2007, at 11:53 AM, Konstantin Rekk wrote:

> Hello,
>
> according to my uncomplete understanding of handle, handle is not
> only a resolving/mapping service but also provides an PID
> infrastructure!?
>
> So is there any sense in using handles for objects without an URL?
>
> In Fedoras Handle Extension the Fedora PID will be the handle:
> hdl:xxxx/objid-generated_in_some_way
>
> So in our teams discussion there is a little confusion about what the
> actual PID
> ist xxx/objid-generated_in_some_way or  objid-generated_in_some_way?
>
> If xxx/objid-generated_in_some_way this is the PID then we have to use
> this as PID consistently for all kinds of objects, regardless if there
> are an URL or not like f.i. library records (thinkable).
>
> Thanks for any clarification on this topic?
>
> Yours, Konstantin
>
> --
> Konstantin Rekk
> VZG (GBV), Göttingen, Berlin
> 0176 2100 6000
> 030 29003511
> skype: krekk1970
> rekk@gbv.de
> http://www.gbv.de
>
>
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=========================================
Larry Lannom
Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI)
Suite 100, 1895 Preston White Dr, Reston, VA 20191

email:  llannom@cnri.reston.va.us
tel:  703 620 8990



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