Digital Object Identifier - DOIs

APPENDIX D
Application Issues
Location and Presentation of the DOI
Representation to End Users
Using DOIs in HTML pages requires decisions as to how the DOIs will appear on the pages.
The DOI will be represented as a normal hypertext link, so a word or phrase or title can be
designated to appear in a specific color to signal that it is a DOI that will result in an action
when "clicked." In many of the Prototype applications of the DOI, copyright holders chose to
signal the use of DOIs by providing an icon or a distinctive button that would tell the user that
the link was in fact a DOI and could be trusted. But for design purposes this is not necessary.
Conventional hypertext links will work as well. Encoding issues complicate presentation to
users (see Appendix D for encoding requirements). The idea is that in most cases the user
should not need to see the DOI or could cut and paste. However, it is inevitable that in some
cases DOIs will be printed and read and rekeyed by humans.
Directories
An identifier is created by the Registrant who registers it with the appropriate directory. The
directory maintains the current location (e.g., a Uniform Resource Locator, or URL) of the
digital object.
Administration of the DOI
A Registration Agency assigns the DOI Prefix and the DOI Registrant determines the Suffix.
The components of the DOI make it unique in the world and over time, and also allow the DOI
to be assigned by the content owner locally. Once a DOI is assigned to an object it will never
be reassigned. There is no limit to the number of objects that can be identified by DOIs, nor is
there a minimum size or characteristic of an object. A DOI may identify a poem, an abstract or
an entry in a reference work as well as an article or a book, a chapter within a book or an
image within the chapter.
In determining what objects should be assigned DOIs, the registrant should consider what
objects are likely to be individually bought, sold and electronically downloaded or retrieved.
Encoding Requirements
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