DOI stands for "Digital Object Identifier" -- a DOI functions as a unique, persitent identifer.
A DOI name (for example: 10.1111/j.1439-0396.2007.00778.x) is a unique character string assigned to an item within the DOI system. |
The DOI system stores the DOI name plus additional information such as the location of the object (for electronic documents, location is usually expressed as a URL). |
DOIs can save users from the frustration of broken URLs. |
Searching for a document based on its DOI means you can locate the document no matter how often the URL changes, because the DOI system will resolve to the most recent URL listed for that DOI. |
To express a DOI name as a URL: |
Add "http://dx.doi.org/" onto the front of the DOI name. For example:
DOI name: 10.1111/j.1439-0396.2007.00778.x
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0396.2007.00778.x |
See DOI.org for more information.