Web and XML Glossary

The Handle System is a comprehensive system for assigning, managing, and resolving persistent Identifiers, known as "handles", for digital objects and other resources on the Internet. Handles can be used as URNs. The Handle System includes an open set of Protocols, a name space, and an implementation of the Protocols. The Protocols enable a distributed computer system to store handles of digital resources and resolve those handles into the information necessary to locate and access the resources. This associated information can be changed as needed to reflect the current state of the identified resource without changing the handle, thus allowing the name of the item to persist over changes of location and other state information. Combined with a centrally administered naming authority registration service, the Handle System provides a general purpose, distributed global naming service for the reliable management of information on networks over long periods of time.