doc: Add RFC documents

1 files changed, 619 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/doc/rfc/rfc3187.txt b/doc/rfc/rfc3187.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ffd7954
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/rfc/rfc3187.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,619 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Network Working Group                                          J. Hakala
+Request for Comments: 3187                   Helsinki University Library
+Category: Informational                                     H. Walravens
+                                           The International ISBN Agency
+                                                            October 2001
+
+
+              Using International Standard Book Numbers as
+                         Uniform Resource Names
+
+Status of this Memo
+
+   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
+   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
+   memo is unlimited.
+
+Copyright Notice
+
+   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.
+
+Abstract
+
+   This document discusses how International Standard Book Numbers
+   (ISBN) can be supported within the URN (Uniform Resource Names)
+   framework and the syntax for URNs defined in RFC 2141.  Much of the
+   discussion below is based on the ideas expressed in RFC 2288.
+
+1. Introduction
+
+   As part of the validation process for the development of URNs, the
+   IETF URN working group agreed that it is important to demonstrate
+   that the current URN syntax proposal can accommodate existing
+   identifiers from well established namespaces.  One such
+   infrastructure for assigning and managing names comes from the
+   bibliographic community.  Bibliographic identifiers function as names
+   for objects that exist both in print and, increasingly, in electronic
+   formats.  RFC 2288 [Lynch, et al.] investigated the feasibility of
+   using three identifiers (ISBN, ISSN and SICI) as URNs.  This document
+   will analyse the usage of ISBNs as URNs in more detail than RFC 2288.
+
+   A registration request for acquiring Namespace Identifier (NID)
+   "ISBN" for ISBNs is included in chapter 5.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 1]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+   The document at hand is part of a global joint venture of the
+   national libraries to foster identification of electronic documents
+   in general and utilisation of URNs in particular.  The document was
+   written as a co-operative project between the Helsinki University
+   Library and The International ISBN Agency.
+
+   We have used the URN Namespace Identifier "ISBN" for ISBNs in
+   examples below.
+
+2. Identification vs. Resolution
+
+   As a rule the ISBNs identify finite, manageably-sized objects, but
+   these objects may still be large enough that resolution into a
+   hierarchical system is appropriate.
+
+   The materials identified by an ISBN may exist only in printed or
+   other physical form, not electronically.  The best that a resolver
+   will be able to offer in this case is bibliographic data from a
+   national bibliography database, including information about where the
+   physical resource is stored in the national library's holdings.
+
+3. International Standard Book Numbers
+
+3.1 Overview
+
+   RFC 2288 [Lynch] describes the ISBN system in the following way:
+
+      An International Standard Book Number (ISBN) identifies an edition
+      of a monographic work.  The ISBN is defined by the standard
+      NISO/ANSI/ISO 2108:1992 [ISO1]
+
+      Basically, an ISBN is a ten-digit number (actually, the last digit
+      can be the letter "X" as well, as described below) which is
+      divided into four variable length parts usually separated by
+      hyphens when printed.  The parts are as follows (in this order):
+
+      *  a group identifier which specifies a group of publishers, based
+         on national, geographic or some other criteria,
+
+      *  the publisher identifier,
+
+      *  the title identifier,
+
+      *  and a modulus 11 check digit, using X instead of 10.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 2]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+      The group and publisher number assignments are managed in such a
+      way that the hyphens are not needed to parse the ISBN
+      unambiguously into its constituent parts.  However, the ISBN is
+      normally transmitted and displayed with hyphens to make it easy
+      for human beings to recognize these parts without having to make
+      reference to or have knowledge of the number assignments for group
+      and publisher identifiers.
+
+   Groups usually cover only one country, but occasionally a single
+   group is used in several countries.  For instance, group "3" is
+   utilised in Germany, Austria and German-speaking parts of
+   Switzerland.  "976" is used in Caribbean community (Antigua, Bahamas,
+   Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica,
+   Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the
+   Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Virgin Islands (Br))and "982" in
+   South Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru,
+   Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu; Vanuatu, Western
+   Samoa).  For each international group, the International ISBN Agency
+   has assigned ranges of publisher identifiers to individual countries.
+   These ranges are listed on the ISBN web site (http://www.isbn.spk-
+   berlin.de/html/prefix.htm).  The group identifiers are listed at
+   http://www.isbn.spk-berlin.de/html/prefix/allpref.htm.
+
+   There are plans to extend the ISBN into 13 digits in order to make
+   the system more suitable for identification of electronic monographs.
+   So called Bookland ISBN will consist of a traditional ISBN preceded
+   by the 978 or 979 EAN flag.
+
+3.2 Encoding Considerations and Lexical Equivalence
+
+   RFC 2288 [Lynch] says that:
+
+      Embedding ISBNs within the URN framework presents no particular
+      encoding problems, since all of the characters that can appear in
+      an ISBN are valid in the identifier segment of the URN.  %-
+      encoding, as described in [MOATS] is never needed.
+
+      Example: URN:ISBN:0-395-36341-1
+
+      For the ISBN namespace, some additional equivalence rules are
+      appropriate.  Prior to comparing two ISBN URNs for equivalence, it
+      is appropriate to remove all hyphens, and to convert any
+      occurrences of the letter X to upper case.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 3]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+3.3 Resolution of ISBN-based URNs
+
+   The existing ISBN structure is suitable for URN resolution purposes.
+   The group identifier can assist in the resolver discovery process.
+   For instance, the group identifier "951" means Finland.  In this
+   case, the Finnish national bibliographic database will be able to
+   resolve the URN either into bibliographic data or - if the resource
+   is available in the Internet - to the document itself.
+
+   If a group identifier does not identify a single country but a
+   language area, there are two means for locating the correct national
+   bibliography.  First, it is possible to define a cascade of URN
+   resolution services - for instance, German national bibliography,
+   Austrian national bibliography and Swiss national bibliography, in
+   this order - into the DNS records describing the resolution service
+   for ISBNs starting with "3".  Second, the publisher identifier ranges
+   assigned by the International ISBN Agency could be defined into the
+   DNS records.  This method is better than cascading, since the correct
+   resolution service can be found immediately.
+
+   In some exceptional cases - notably in the US and in UK, where
+   international companies do a significant portion of publishing - the
+   information provided by the group identifier may not always be fully
+   reliable.  For instance, some monographs published in New York by
+   international publishing companies may get an ISBN with the group
+   identifier "3".  This is technically appropriate when the
+   headquarters or one of the offices of the publisher is located in
+   Germany.
+
+   Information about such a book will not be available in the German
+   national bibliography, but via the Library of Congress systems.
+   Unfortunately, the appropriate national bibliography cannot be known
+   to the resolver discovery service.
+
+   As a fall back mechanism a large union catalogue, such as WorldCat
+   maintained by OCLC (http://www.oclc.org ) could be used to complement
+   the default services provided by national bibliographies.
+
+   The problem described above may well be less severe than it looks.
+   Some international publishers (Springer, for example) give the whole
+   production to the national library of their home country as legal
+   deposit, no matter which country the book was published.  Thus
+   everything published by Springer in New York with group identifier
+   "3" will be found from the German national bibliography.  On the
+   other hand, when these companies give their home base also as a place
+   of publication, the "home" national library requires the legal
+   deposit.
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 4]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+   Due to the intelligent structure of ISBN, group identifier or even
+   the publisher identifier can be used as a "hint".  Technically, it is
+   possible to incorporate into the common structure also URN resolution
+   services maintained by publishers.  For instance, "951-0" is the
+   unique ISBN publisher identifier of the largest publisher in Finland,
+   Sanoma-WSOY.  If they launch their own URN resolution services,
+   resolution requests for ISBNs starting with "951-0" will be directed
+   to the publisher's server, and all other requests to the national
+   bibliography.
+
+3.4 Additional considerations
+
+   The basic guidelines for assigning ISBNs to electronic resources are
+   the following:
+
+   *  Format/means of delivery is irrelevant to the decision whether a
+      product needs an ISBN or not.  If the content meets the
+      requirement, it gets an ISBN, no matter what the format of the
+      delivery system.
+
+   *  Each format of a digital publication should have a separate ISBN.
+
+   The definition of a new edition is normally based on one of the two
+   criteria:
+
+   *  A change in the kind of packaging involved: the hard cover
+      edition, the paperback edition and the library-binding edition
+      would each get a separate ISBN.  The same applies to different
+      formats of digital files.
+
+   *  A change in the text, excluding packaging or minor changes such as
+      correcting a spelling error.  Again, this criterion applies
+      regardless of whether the publication is in printed or in digital
+      form.
+
+   Although these rules seem very clear, their interpretation may vary.
+   As [Lynch] points out,
+
+      The choice of whether to assign a new ISBN or to reuse an existing
+      one when publishing a revised printing of an existing edition of a
+      work or even a revised edition of a work is somewhat subjective.
+      Practice varies from publisher to publisher (indeed, the
+      distinction between a revised printing and a new edition is itself
+      somewhat subjective).  The use of ISBNs within the URN framework
+      simply reflects these existing practices.  Note that it is likely
+      that an ISBN URN will often resolve to many instances of the work
+      (many URLs).
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 5]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+   Publishers have also in some occasions re-used the same ISBN for
+   another book.  This reasonably rare kind of human error does not
+   threaten or undermine the value of the ISBN system as a whole.
+   Neither do they pose a serious threat to the URN resolution service
+   based on ISBNs.  An error will only lead into the retrieval of two or
+   more bibliographic records from a national bibliographic database.
+   Based on the information in the records, a user can choose the
+   correct record from the result set.
+
+   Most national bibliographies and especially the Books in Print
+   correct ISBN mistakes.  The systems then provide cross references
+   ("incorrect ISBN -> correct ISBN").
+
+   Further details on the process of assigning ISBNs can be found in
+   section 5  (Namespace registration) below.
+
+4. Security Considerations
+
+   This document proposes means of encoding ISBNs within the URN
+   framework. ISBN-based URN resolution service is depicted here only in
+   a fairly generic level; thus questions of secure or authenticated
+   resolution mechanisms are excluded.  It does not deal with means of
+   validating the integrity or authenticating the source or provenance
+   of URNs that contain ISBNs.  Issues regarding intellectual property
+   rights associated with objects identified by the ISBNs are also
+   beyond the scope of this document, as are questions about rights to
+   the databases that might be used to construct resolvers.
+
+5. Namespace registration
+
+   URN Namespace ID Registration for the International Standard Book
+   Number (ISBN)
+
+   This registration describes how International Standard Book Numbers
+   (ISBN) can be supported within the URN framework.
+
+   Namespace ID:
+
+   ISBN
+
+   This Namespace ID is the same as the internationally known acronym
+   for the International Standard Book Number.  Giving NID "ISBN" to any
+   other identifier system would cause a lot of confusion.
+
+   Registration Information:
+
+   Version: 1
+   Date: 2001-01-25
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 6]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+   Declared registrant of the namespace:
+
+   Name: Hartmut Walravens
+   E-mail: hartmut.walravens@sbb.spk-berlin.de
+   Affiliation: Director, The International ISBN Agency
+   Address: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz -
+   D-10772 Berlin, Germany
+
+   Declaration of syntactic structure:
+
+   An ISBN is a ten-digit number (actually, the last digit can be the
+   letter "X" as well, as described below) which is divided into four
+   variable length parts usually separated by hyphens when printed.  The
+   parts are as follows (in this order):
+
+   *  a group identifier which specifies a group of publishers, based on
+      national, geographic or some other criteria,
+
+   *  the publisher identifier,
+
+   *  the title identifier,
+
+   *  and a modulus 11 check digit, using X instead of 10.
+
+   Example:
+
+   URN:ISBN:0-395-36341-1
+
+   Relevant ancillary documentation:
+
+   The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique machine-
+   readable identification number, which marks any edition of a book
+   unambiguously.  This number is defined in ISO Standard 2108.  The
+   number has been in use now for 30 years and has revolutionised the
+   international book-trade.  154 countries are officially ISBN members,
+   and more countries are joining the system.
+
+   The administration of the ISBN system is carried out on three levels:
+
+      International agency
+      Group agencies
+      Publisher levels
+
+   The International ISBN agency is located within the State Library
+   Berlin.  The main functions of the International ISBN Agency are:
+
+   *  To promote, co-ordinate and supervise the world-wide use of the
+      ISBN system.
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 7]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+   *  To approve the definition and structure of group agencies.
+
+   *  To allocate group identifiers to group agencies.
+
+   *  To advise on the establishment and functioning of group agencies.
+
+   *  To advise group agencies on the allocation of international
+      publisher identifiers.
+
+   *  To publish the assigned group numbers and publishers prefixes in
+      up-to-date form.
+
+   More information about ISBN usage can be found from the ISBN Users'
+   Manual.  4th edition of this document is available at
+   http://www.isbn.spk-berlin.de/html/userman.htm.
+
+   Identifier uniqueness considerations:
+
+   ISBN that has been assigned once should never be re-used.
+   Nevertheless, publishers do occasionally re-use the same number.
+   From the point of the URN resolution system proposed here, this will
+   typically cause retrieval of two bibliographic records.  A user can
+   choose the correct publication using the data in the record, such as
+   the author or title.
+
+   Incorrect ISBNs are routinely corrected in national bibliographies
+   and Books in Print catalogue.
+
+   Identifier persistence considerations:
+
+   The ISBN accompanies a publication from its production onwards.  It
+   is persistent; ISBN once given - if correct - will never leave the
+   publication.
+
+   Identifier assignment process:
+
+   Assignment of ISBNs is always controlled by ISBN group agencies,
+   which are often national and quite frequently located in the national
+   libraries.  Publishers are usually given blocks of ISBNs, from which
+   they pick identifiers for their newly published items.
+
+   As pointed out earlier, in spite of the common rules of how to use
+   ISBNs, there is some variation between different publishers in ISBN
+   assignment.  In practice these differences are so small that they do
+   not pose a threat to the usability of the ISBN system.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 8]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+   Identifier resolution process:
+
+   URNs based on ISBNs will be primarily resolved via the national
+   bibliography databases.  Since ISBN group agencies are as a rule
+   located in national libraries, the national bibliography databases
+   cover almost every publication which does have an ISBN.
+
+   If group identifier does not define a country but a language area
+   there may be many countries using the same group identifier.  In such
+   cases, the International ISBN Agency has divided publisher
+   identifiers into ranges assigned to each country within the group.
+   The appropriate resolution service can be found by using the group
+   identifier and publisher identifier information.  Alternatively a
+   cascade of national bibliographies can be defined.
+
+   Resolution carried out in national bibliography databases may be
+   complemented by so called union catalogues, which contain huge amount
+   of bibliographic data (up to 42 million records).  This complementary
+   service is only needed if the ISBN group identifier information is
+   misleading.  This is not common.
+
+   The International ISBN Agency maintains a list of publishers who have
+   been assigned a publisher identifier within the ISBN system.  The
+   publisher identifier may be used to allow participation of resolution
+   services maintained by publishers into the URN resolution system for
+   ISBN.
+
+   Rules for Lexical Equivalence:
+
+   For the ISBN namespace, some additional equivalence rules are
+   appropriate.  Prior to comparing two ISBN URNs for equivalence, it is
+   appropriate to remove all hyphens, and to convert any occurrences of
+   the letter X to upper case.
+
+   Conformance with URN Syntax:
+
+   Embedding ISBNs within the URN framework presents no particular
+   encoding problems, since all of the characters that can appear in an
+   ISBN are valid in the identifier segment of the URN %-encoding, as
+   described in [MOATS] is never needed.
+
+      Example: URN:ISBN:0-395-36341-1
+
+   Validation mechanism:
+
+   Validity of an ISBN string can be checked by modulus 11 check digit,
+   included in the ISBN.  X is used instead of 10.
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                      [Page 9]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+   Validity of ISBN assignments can be checked from the group agencies
+   or directly from the publisher.
+
+   Scope:
+
+   Global.
+
+6. References
+
+   [Daigle] Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R. and P. Faltstrom,
+            "URN Namespace Definition Mechanisms", RFC 2611, June 1999.
+
+   [Lynch]  Lynch, C., Preston, C. and R. Daniel, "Using Existing
+            Bibliographic Identifiers as Uniform Resource Names", RFC
+            2288, February 1998.
+
+   [Moats]  Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, May 1997.
+
+7. Authors' Addresses
+
+   Juha Hakala
+   Helsinki University Library - The National Library of Finland
+   P.O. Box 26
+   FIN-00014 Helsinki University
+   FINLAND
+
+   EMail: juha.hakala@helsinki.fi
+
+
+   Hartmut Walravens
+   The International ISBN agency
+   Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz -
+   D-10772 Berlin
+   GERMANY
+
+   EMail: hartmut.walravens@sbb.spk-berlin.de
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                     [Page 10]
+
+RFC 3187                  Using ISBNs as URNs               October 2001
+
+
+8. Full Copyright Statement
+
+   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.
+
+   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
+   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
+   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
+   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
+   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
+   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
+   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
+   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
+   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
+   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
+   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
+   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
+   English.
+
+   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
+   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
+
+   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
+   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
+   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
+   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
+   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
+   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Acknowledgement
+
+   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
+   Internet Society.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hakala & Walravens           Informational                     [Page 11]
+