Fax: (+32 2) 788 78 99 

E mail: info@ean int.org

URL: http://www.ean int.org

Uniform Code Council, Inc.

Princeton Pike Corporate Centre

1009 Lenox Drive, Suite 202

Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

USA

Tel: (+1 609) 620 0200

Fax: (+1 609) 620 1200

URL: http://www.uc council.org

13. ISBN and Other Identifiers

13.1 DOI

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a system for persistent actionable identification and

interoperable exchange of intellectual property on the Internet. The International DOI

Foundation (http://www.doi.org), a non profit organisation, manages development, policy,

and licensing of the DOI system to Registration Agencies. DOIs may be used to identify

(i.e., name) any intellectual property entity, including those already identified by an ISBN,

and can be used compatibly with ISBN (as part of the DOI syntax), to offer the added

functions of resolution, data model, and policy components   providing persistence and

semantic interoperability. The DOI conforms to the functional requirements of the two

generic approaches for naming first class objects on the Internet: the Uniform Resource

Name (URN) and the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).   

The DOI syntax (ANSI/NISO Z39.84 2000,  Syntax for the Digital Object Identifier ) has

two components: 

prefix 

and 

suffix,

 which together form the DOI.  The prefix is assigned by

a DOI Registration Agency to a Registrant (an organisation that wishes to register DOIs);

multiple prefixes defining imprints, journals, etc., may be assigned to one Registrant.  The

Registrant assigns a unique suffix per each of its entities to be identified. The combination

of prefix and suffix ensures uniqueness in the DOI system and avoids a requirement for

the centralised allocation of DOI numbers. There is no limitation on the length of a DOI.

An existing standard identification system number such as the ISBN may be integrated

into a DOI as the DOI suffix. The format of this integration will be agreed by the

Registration Agency or agencies offering such a service: ISBN recommends that precisely

the same entity be specified by the two systems (common metadata), and that the syntax

explicitly denotes the ISBN. In such case, the DOI could assume the following form: 

Example:

10.nnnn/[ISBN]9780110002224 

or

10.nnnn/9780110002224

where  10  is the number assigned to DOI within the Handle resolution system,  nnnn  is

the registrant number, and the string after the slash is the suffix incorporating the ISBN.

The registration authority for DOI is:

International DOI Foundation

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