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It is good practice to use Persistent Identifiers to address items in a digital repository. There are many different systems for Persistent Identifiers: Handle, DOI, urn:nbn, purl and many more. It is far out of the scope of this document to discuss the differences of all these systems. For several reasons the Handle System is deeply integrated in DSpace, and DSpace makes intensive use of it. With DSpace 3.0 the Identifier Service was introduced that makes it possible to also use external identifier services within DSpace.

DOIs are Persistent Identifiers like Handles are, but as many big publishing companies use DOIs they are quite well-known to scientists. Some journals ask for DOIs to link supplemental material whenever an article is submitted. Beginning with DSpace 4.0 it is possible to use DOIs in parallel to the Handle System within DSpace. By "using DOIs" we mean automatic generation, reservation and registration of DOIs for every item that enters the repository. These newly registered DOIs will not be used as a means to build URLs to DSpace items. Items will still rely on handle assignment for the item urls.

DOI Registration Agencies

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