Status Line

• Collections & Technical Services
• Sept. 07
• Issue: 215

OCLC Persistent URL Service

OCLC and Zepheira, LLC will work together to re-architect OCLC’s Persistent URL (PURL) service to more effectively support the management of a “Web of data.” The software developed will be released under an Open Source Software license allowing PURLs and the PURL infrastructure to be used in various applications for public or proprietary use. OCLC and Zepheira are collaborating to extend the open and inclusive community of PURL users.

The PURL service has been hosted by OCLC for twelve years and provides persistent, stable World Wide Web (www) addresses for the international library and education community; government, business, and nonprofit organizations; and private citizens. PURLs are Web addresses or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that act as permanent identifiers in the face of a dynamic and changing Web infrastructure.

Instead of resolving directly to Web resources, PURLs provide a level of indirection that allows the underlying Web addresses of resources to change over time without negatively affecting systems that depend on them. This capability provides continuity of references to network resources that may migrate from machine to machine for business, social or technical reasons.

PURLs grew out of the long involvement of OCLC’s Office of Research with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Uniform Resource Identifier working groups. You can read the full press release at http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200669.htm.

[OCLC, edited by Lauren Pinsley, OCLC Services Manager, Nylink]

Collections & Technical Services Contact Information

Please contact Lauren Pinsley (pinsleyl@nylink.org), Lynne Graziadei (graziadeil@nylink.org) or Mary Edgerton (edgertonm@nylink.org) at Nylink with any questions. They are available via email or phone (518-443-5444/800-342-3353).