Planning for NRS Naming

The Name Resolution Service (NRS) is a Harvard Library service for creating, maintaining, and resolving persistent identifiers (URNs or location-independent names) for network-accessible resources. Before making plans to use NRS, review the NRS User Guide to learn more about this service.

To plan for NRS use, follow these steps:

1. Will URNs be needed? A URN is required for objects that will be delivered out of the DRS (for example, image files delivered to users of the VIA union catalog). A URN is optional for objects intended for storage only (for example, archival versions of objects). 
2. Should URNs be requested at batch deposit? A URN can be requested for a digital object during batch deposit or after the object is in the DRS. To make requests at batch deposit (the easiest way), the project manager will need to select an authority path and resource name format and pass this information to the deposit agent. To request a URN after the object is deposited, you can use the administrative interface for NRS or DRS.
3. Select an authority path. Consult the NRS Support to determine if a top level naming authority has been activated for your tub.
   • If your top level name authority is inactive, contact NRS Support to get help activating the appropriate authority path.
   • If your top level name authority is active, contact your local NRS Administrator and with the Administrator's help, determine the authority path to use in your project. If you don't know who is your local NRS Administrator, contact NRS Support.
4. Select a resource name. See Resource Name Format (in the NRS User Guide) for information on options for format of resource name.
5. Register to access NRS Web Admin. Use the Web Admin to create URNs or to update the URLs associated with existing URNs. Your local NRS administrator can grant NRS Web Admin access.