What's a handle?

Answer

A handle is the unique, permanent identifier given to each item in UVicSpace. They can be emailed to others or included in a citation so people can access your work. Here's an example: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/316

Though working much like web URLs, handles are permanent because they are actually link redirections. All handles go through Handle.net, a service provided by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), which then points to the correct items in UVicSpace. Unlike web links, if an item is moved, the handle will stay the same but will direct users to the new location. This makes the link permanent.

CNRI's Handle System is the same technology used to resolve Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), a numerical tag given to digital objects of intellectual property such as journal articles. Although UVicSpace handles are not considered DOIs, they can be resolved with the DOI System at dx.doi.org. For the example above, you would use 1828/316 as the identifier.

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  • Last Updated Nov 02, 2017
  • Views 91
  • Answered By University of Victoria Libraries

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