# Re: URNs and Meta-Information - The Value of ISBN

Michael Mealling (ccoprmm@oit.gatech.edu)
Tue, 19 Oct 93 21:03:53 EDT

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    From: ccoprmm@oit.gatech.edu (Michael Mealling)

    Message-Id: <199310200103.AA14009@oit.oit.gatech.edu>

    Subject: Re: URNs and Meta-Information - The Value of ISBN

    To: jak@violet.berkeley.edu (John A. Kunze)

    Date: Tue, 19 Oct 93 21:03:53 EDT

    In-Reply-To: <199310191833.LAA21912@violet.berkeley.edu>; from "John A. Kunze" at Oct 19, 93 11:33 am

John A. Kunze said this:
> This may be a naive example: two libraries hold a copy of "Huck Finn",
> same publisher, same edition. Library one assigns an internal acquistion
> number N1, library two assigns it N2. The books also have an ISBN, a
> Library of Congress number and a Dewey Decimal number.
>
> It may be argued that only the LoC number, or the ISBN, should be used
> as the URN. But each of the five numbering schemes has *value*. To some
> users the internal numbering scheme of their departmental secretary will
> consistently have the highest perceived value. URNs need to work there.

This was just an off the top of my head thought but what about
Uniform Resource Name Aliases? Some entity that has uniqueness over time
but that instead of resolving to a URL resolves to a URN which is the
URN assigned by the publisher. Then you can assign one URNA to multiple
URNs to denote what YOU think is one item but that what the publisher
thinks of as many. This also allows for your above problem. The
department or organization can assign an internal alias that best
matches their internal scheme.

Basically this follows the IP idea of a URL being an IP address,
a URN being a hostname and a URNA being a cname.

Does it work?

-MM

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