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> > We want to use urls in our MARC records and EAD to link to content in our > Fedora repository as well as things like web pages on our company's website. > What are you folks using out there for this? The Handle System seems to be > a good choice, or a purl service. I might also use it to link to Fedora > content as well. > > Ideas, suggestions? > I haven't found anyone who buys my take on this problem, but I'm offering it anyway. IMO, persistent URLs are a lost cause and are often an outright liability. Instead of messing with persistent URLs, the emphasis should be on persistent identifiers. Here's the rub -- no amount of indirection or abstraction can alter the fact that *people* ultimately say where things are. Purls, handles, and all other resolution services must be told where the item actually is in order to work. When this doesn't happen (and it often doesn't as I've encountered plenty of dead purls and handles), finding the real item is that much harder because you don't even have the original URL which can be a useful access point for finding related materials and is even helpful for finding items that moved elsewhere. There is also the issue that a resolution service itself is dependent on key things that make ordinary URLs unstable such as organizational changes. It's much easier to just embed a unique identifier. As a practical matter it doesn't matter much how this is done (though there is some utility in having a predictable URL friendly syntax). The item can move anywhere, access becomes less dependent on specific technologies, and so long as an indexing engine that your discovery interface can connect to has access to the item or metadata, you're set. kyle