Overview

PURLs are Web addresses or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that act as permanent identifiers in the face of a dynamic and changing Web infrastructure. Instead of resolving directly to Web resources, PURLs provide a level of indirection that allows the underlying Web addresses of resources to change over time without negatively affecting systems that depend on them. This capability provides continuity of references to network resources that may migrate from machine to machine for business, social or technical reasons.

General Documentation

• PURLZ Frequently Asked Questions

Technical Documentation

• Public URL design (RESTful interface)
• Source documentation in Doxygen (for PURLZ Server version 1.4)
• Original Requirements documentation for PURL rearchitecture

Ready Reference

• Untangle URIs, URLs, and URNs, Naming and the problem of persistence, Dan Connolly (connolly@w3.org), Technical Staff, W3C/MIT
• What's in a URI?, Have you ever wondered about the syntax of a web resource name? Take a look at the semantic web through one of its lowest-level specifications, Brian Sletten (brian@zepheira.com)
• PURLy Gates and Gift Horses a post form Stu Wiebel which provides some background context on PURLs and and a hint at future work.