The Uniform Resource Name (URN) is a system used for the unique and persistent identification of resources. The German National Library uses this standard to identify online publications, assign permanent addresses to publications regardless of where they are stored in the internet, and keep them accessible in the long term.

We are actively cooperating on the development of this standard and are also represented on the expert group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that reviews the registration of new URN namespaces. The German National Library is responsible for the namespace “urn:nbn:de” and organises its use through the URN service.

More about URN service

More about collecting non-physical media works