Using International Standard Book Numbers as Uniform Resource Names

Abstract

This document discusses how International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) can be supported within the URN (Uniform Resource Names) framework and the syntax for URNs defined in RFC 2141. Much of the discussion below is based on the ideas expressed in RFC 2288.

Uniform Resource Names (URNs)

“…However, a single resource MAY have more than one URN assigned to it, either in the same URN namespace (if the URN namespace permits it) or in different URN namespaces, and for either similar purposes or different purposes. (For example, if a publisher assigns an ISBN [RFC3187] to an electronic publication and that publication is later incorporated into a digital long-term archive operated by a national library, the library might assign the publication a national bibliography number (NBN) [RFC3188], resulting in two URNs referring to the same book.) Subject to other constraints, such as those imposed by the URI syntax [RFC3986], the rules of the URN scheme are intended to allow preserving the normal and natural form of names specified in non-URN identifier systems when they are treated as URNs.…”

“…These issues are beyond the scope of URN syntax and the general rules for URN namespaces, because they are specific to the community defining a non-URN identifier system or a particular URN namespace (e.g., the bibliographic and publishing communities in the case of the "ISBN" URN namespace [RFC3187] and the "ISSN" URN namespace [RFC3044] or the developers of extensions to the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol [RFC6120] in the case of the "XMPP" URN namespace [RFC4854]).…”

“…A URN namespace is a collection of such URNs, each of which is (1) unique, (2) assigned in a consistent and managed way, and (3) assigned according to a common definition. (Some URN namespaces create names that exist only as URNs, whereas others assign URNs based on names that were already created in non-URN identifier systems, such as ISBNs [RFC3187], ISSNs [RFC3044], or RFCs [RFC2648]. )…”

Report from the Joint W3C/IETF URI Planning Interest Group: Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), URLs, and Uniform Resource Names (URNs): Clarifications and Recommendations

“…* 'ietf', defined by "URN Namespace for IETF Documents" (RFC 2648) [3] * 'pin', defined by "The Network Solutions Personal Internet Name (PIN): A URN Namespace for People and Organizations" (RFC 3043) [4] * 'issn' defined by "Using The ISSN as URN within an ISSN-URN Namespace" (RFC 3043) [4] * 'oid' defined by "A URN Namespace of Object Identifiers" (RFC 3061) [6] * 'newsml' defined by "URN Namespace for NewsML Resources" (RFC 3085) [7] * 'oasis' defined by "A URN Namespace for OASIS" (RFC 3121) [8] * 'xmlorg' defined by "A URN Namespace for XML.org" (RFC 3120) [9] * 'publicid' defined by "A URN Namespace for Public Identifiers" (RFC 3151) [10] * 'isbn' defined by "Using International Standard Book Numbers as Uniform Resource Names" (RFC 3187) [15] * 'nbn' defined by "Using National Bibliography Numbers as Uniform Resource Names" (RFC 3188) [16] …”

Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace Registration Transition

“…URN namespaces were subsequently registered for ISBN [RFC3187] and ISSN [RFC3044] as well as for a fairly large collection of other identifiers including National Bibliography Number (NBN) [RFC3188]. The comprehensive list can be found in the IANA Uniform Resource Names (URN) Namespaces registry [IANA-URN] (see also Section 4).…”