Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
20.500.12345/example (a generic handle).
- Is an instance
11122/1234 (a German national handle prefix used for repository objects).
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A regular HTTPS URL not registered with the Handle System is not a Handle.
- Not an instance
A UUID is not a Handle even if used as the local suffix of one.
Editorial commentary
The Handle System was developed by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) in the 1990s and is the underlying resolution infrastructure for DOI, RAiD, and several other PID systems. Each handle prefix is delegated to an organisation that runs (or contracts) a Local Handle Service. Handle resolution is independent of DNS and supports multiple typed data values per handle (URLs, public keys, free-text metadata). DOIs are a particular naming policy on top of the Handle System administered by the International DOI Foundation.
References
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Also known as
CNRI Handle · Handle.net identifier
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Handle"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/handle" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"name": "Handle",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/handle",
"description": "An identifier in the CNRI Handle System (RFC 3650-3652), of the form Prefix/Suffix (e.g. 20.500.12345/abcd), resolved by a distributed system of Handle servers that map the identifier to one or more current URLs or other typed data values.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/the-persistent-identifier-ecosystem/",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/handle",
"sameAs": [
"CNRI Handle",
"Handle.net identifier"
],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}
