Using National Bibliography Numbers as Uniform Resource Names
RFC 8458

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                         J. Hakala
Request for Comments: 8458               The National Library of Finland
Obsoletes: 3188                                             October 2018
Category: Informational
ISSN: 2070-1721

     Using National Bibliography Numbers as Uniform Resource Names

Abstract

   National Bibliography Numbers (NBNs) are used by national libraries
   and other organizations in order to identify resources in their
   collections.  NBNs are usually applied to resources that are not
   catered for by established (standard) identifier systems such as
   International Standard Book Number (ISBN).

   A Uniform Resource Name (URN) namespace for NBNs was established in
   2001 in RFC 3188.  Since then, a number of European national
   libraries have implemented URN:NBN-based systems.

   This document replaces RFC 3188 and defines how NBNs can be supported
   within the updated URN framework.  A revised namespace registration
   (version 4) compliant to RFC 8141 is included.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are candidates for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8458.

Hakala                        Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 8458                        NBN URNs                    October 2018

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2018 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents

   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
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   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  Fundamental Namespace and Community Considerations for NBN  .   5
     3.1.  The URN:NBN Namespace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.2.  Community Considerations for NBNs . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   4.  National Bibliography Number URNs . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     4.1.  Assignment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     4.2.  Syntax  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
       4.2.1.  Usage of r-component and q-component  . . . . . . . .  10
       4.2.2.  Usage of f-component  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     4.3.  Encoding Considerations and Lexical Equivalence . . . . .  10
     4.4.  Resolution and Persistence of NBN-based URNs  . . . . . .  12
     4.5.  Additional Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   5.  URN Namespace ID (NID) Registration for the National
       Bibliography Number (NBN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   8.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     8.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     8.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
   Appendix A.  Significant Changes from RFC 3188  . . . . . . . . .  18
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18

Hakala                        Informational                     [Page 2]
RFC 8458                        NBN URNs                    October 2018

1.  Introduction

   One of the basic permanent Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) schemes
   (cf. [RFC3986] and [IANA-URI]) is Uniform Resource Name (URN).  URNs
   were originally defined in RFC 2141 [RFC2141].  In 2017, a revision
   was adopted with new definitions and registration procedures
   [RFC8141].  Any traditional identifier, when used within the URN
   system, must have a namespace of its own that is registered with IANA
   [IANA-URN].  National Bibliography Number (NBN) is one such