Digital Object Identifiers and Their Use in Libraries

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifications that are assigned to any entity in order to manage intellectual content on digital networks. The DOI system has been managed by an open membership consortium, the International DOI Foundation (IDF), founded in 1998. Usage of the DOI system is cross-industry beyond academic publishing. This article provides an overview of what a DOI is; the structure of DOI; DOI registration agencies (RA); metadata associated with DOIs, and advantages for libraries.